Defending Champions Bounced From MLS Playoffs

MLS Playoff Wrap Up

Real Salt Lake (4-2) Columbus

The first game between the 1 and 4 seeds in the East went to Salt Lake thanks to a late goal by Robbie Findley. Knowing that they were playing against the defending MLS champions, Salt Lake knew the importance of getting a result at home. A tie or a loss would provide a tough battle going into the stadium of the Supporter Shield winners where the Crew once held a 24 home game unbeaten streak that was stopped on October 3rd.

In the second game of the series, two first half goals by Guillermo Barros Schelotto, who was left on the bench in the first leg of the quarter final, put the Crew ahead 2-1 on aggregate. However, Salt Lake answered with two of their own before halftime, taking back the lead in the series.  The second half provided the final blow to Columbus when a free kick from Salt Lake’s Andy Williams sneaked its way through traffic in the box and beat goal keeper Will Hesmer far post.

Chicago (3-2) New England

The second Eastern Conference semi-final matched up Chicago and New England. This was the fifth consecutive year that the teams had faced each other in the MLS playoffs. The two sides were tied head-to-head in playoff play (each with six wins and a single tie). The first leg went to New England 2-1 thanks to Shalrie Joseph’s first playoff goal and Emmanuel Osei’s first MLS goal, both of which were off of set pieces. Chris Rolfe scored the lone goal for Chicago.

The second leg of the series belonged to the home team Chicago. The Fire were a goal down after the first game and needed to win by at least two goals to move on and Chicago did just that. John Thorrington, who had not seen action since mid-August, and Cuauhtemoc Blanco scored on either sides of the half to win the game 2-0 and sealing the Fire a trip to the next round.

Chicago will play Real Salt Lake in the Eastern Conference Championship in Chicago, Saturday, Nov. 14 at 7 p.m. CT

Houston (1-0) Seattle

A single goal was all that was allowed when two of the best defenses in the league met in one side of the Western Conference semi-finals. Expansion side Seattle hosted the two-time MLS Champions in the first leg of the series. The game ended in a scoreless draw, but the game was not uneventful. Both sides were on the attack and forced skilled saves from Onstad and Keller. Referee Ricardo Salazar handed out six cautions during the game with both teams receiving three.

The first game put more pressure on this year’s Open Cup champions to perform when they traveled to Houston for the final leg of the series. Much like the first, the second game featured strong play by both teams’ keepers and back lines. When regular time had ended, the game was still scoreless and went into overtime. In the early minutes of the first of the two overtimes, Houston’s Brian Ching scored what he called the best goal of his career, when Sounder Sebastian Le Toux was unable to clear a cross and the ball deflected off Houston midfielder Brian Mullan and came to Ching. Ching volleyed the ball into the upper corner of the goal sending the Dynamo to the next round.

Galaxy (3-2) Chivas USA

The SuperClasico made its first appearance in the post season and the top team in the Western Conference, the LA Galaxy, faced city and stadium rivals Chivas USA. Chivas played the home team in the first leg of the conference semi-final. Unlike its rival semi-final the first game was not dominated by defense and ended in a 2-2 tie with all four goals coming off of defensive lapses coming from rookie of the year candidate Omar Gonzalez for the Galaxy and Yamith Cuesta and Maicon Santos for Chivas USA.

The last SuperClasico of the season decided the post-season fate of the LA teams. Like the first game, the second leg of the conference semi-final provided a lot of chances, some of which came again from defensive mistakes, but did not provide any goals until the second half. After the Galaxy’s Mike Magee was taken down just inside the corner of the goal box, league MVP candidate Landon Donovan faced Goalkeeper of the year Zack Thornton from the spot. Donovan caught Thornton leaning the wrong way and sent his PK into the back of the net, scoring his 16th career playoff goal and sending the Galaxy to the Western conference finals.

Minnesota native and former Thunder player Tony Sanneh did not dress for either of the playoff games.

The Galaxy will host Houston in the Western Conference Championship at the Home Depot Center, Friday, Nov. 13 at 10 p.m. CT