The New England Revolution did what D.C. United, Toronto FC and FC Dallas could not. The Revs won to clinch a playoff berth.
New England beat the Columbus Crew, 1-0, on a Jeff Larentowicz free kick on Sunday to secure the final MLS playoff berth and eliminate the Colorado Rapids from playoff contention.
Houston Dynamo also helped clear up the playoff picture by virtue of its 3-2 win vs. Chivas USA on Sunday. The victory gave the Dynamo the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference playoffs, setting up a pair of very intriguing match-ups. The Dynamo will now take on the Seattle Sounders while Chivas USA will face arch-rival Los Angeles Galaxy in the first playoff meeting between the LA clubs.
Here is a rundown of the MLS playoff pairings:
EAST
(1) Columbus Crew vs. (4) Real Salt Lake
(2) Chicago Fire vs. (3) New England Revolution
WEST
(1) Los Angeles Galaxy vs. (4) Chivas USA
(2) Houston Dynamo vs. (3) Seattle Sounders
What did you think of Sunday's matches? Now that the playoff field is set, which first-round match-up is the most intriguing? Which is the biggest mis-match? Think Real Salt Lake can go on a run like the 2008 New York Red Bulls did?
Share your thoughts below.
Go Galaxy!!
Galaxy-Chivas=Galaxy-Huston=Galaxy-Crew=Galaxy MLS CUP!
what are the MLS rules that hold back teams from being great – do you mean the DP stuff?
EL SUPERCLASSICO! Times two! ha ha ha. Best Euro-idea MLS ever had.
But now that New England is involved the playoffs just became 12.5 percent more boring.
I agree it looks good on paper, but history has been cruel to us in this match up on paper, ha ha. I just want some fresh blood is all.
Goal differential is the second tie breaker after head to head record.
It’s going to get loud up there. If you sneeze in the upper deck it echos down onto the field.
Of the other series I’m interested in Chivas vs LA. The league is probably extatic to have Beckham in the playoffs. They’ll get at least two nationally televised games out of it and the atmosphere should be crazy.
On another note does anyone know why they don’t do home and home series straight to the MLS cup?
Two LA-chivas games,I love it!!!!!!
Away goals dont count in MLS playoffs,do they??
Dejen de molestar a NE…Dios me voy reir mucho cuando ellos sean los campeones de la MLS CUP este año… Every one of u are going to be like stupid when u see NE like a champs… NE rule’s….
I watched the RSL last night on FSC. They looked like the first team in MLS that had high-CCC level potential the way they all played together and connected..and the goals they scored were brilliant. I wouldent be suprised to see a Seattle-RSL Final. Findley just showed so much more class than Casey. Casey must have had the half of his carrer down in Honduras because he has been horrible most of the time recently and even yesterday in MLS. Corry Gibbs looks athletic and has good instincts for Colorado back their. His CB partner kept letting him down on every goal.
That was my initial reaction too minus the GD
It is an easy matchup on paper though.
I’d give $20 towards it, as long as it’s in the proposed Brickbottom location in Somerville
On another note, I would not at all be surprised if the west averages over 27,500 a game in attendance. All should have beautiful weather and rabid fans.
Oh God.not empty NE stadium again.
Can we all chip in $5 so they can buy themselves a better stadium?
When do the playoffs begin??
This is gonna be a good playoff. I’m looking for Salt Lake City and Seattle to make some waves. Not that I think they will even make it out of the first round, but I do think they will compete, and obviously play extremely attack minded, appealing soccer
What’s a guy gotta do to see a playoff schedule? MLSnet.com is hopeless.
RSL Vs C-Bus will be on Saturday at 4pm Mountain time.
This could be an upset in the first round.
I hope the Crew goes through the next round.
sounders sold out their game in 30 minutes. ok, their version of “sold out,” but still. they opened up part of the upper decks to sell more. should make for good tv on thursday.
They didn’t have the football lines at New England last year or the year before…that was NY.
LA battle in the first round will be intense
I don’t think Kraft is a cheapo, it’s just an absolute nightmare to get anything built in Massachusetts, especially anything close to Boston.
He would probably love to build an SSS, but much of Massachusetts (I have lived here my whole life, so I know of what I speak) has a “not in my backyard” mentality.
About the NE pitch grid lines, the Patriots aren’t playing next week so chances are the the grid lines won’t be there. I noticed this season that the NFL grid lines are only present on the weeks when the Pats are playing at Gillette.
word came out…sounders/dynamo on espn2, thursday at 7 pm pacific.
let’s go sounders!
LA-CHV should be fun and emotional. Can’t wait. I like the Seattle-Houston matchup too.
Do you know how long it took me to realize what you meant by “quarter filled dick’s” and how alarmed I was at my initial misunderstanding?
these are gonna be some entertaining playoffs. best ever? (yeah i know you can’t decide that until well after they’re over, just sayin’ is all).
a quarter filled dick’s still looks a lot better on tv than the razor..especially when the cameras pan out and you can see one side of the stadium is totally empty. Grass and no NFL logos to boot
for all the heat some redbull fans give ownership….atleast RB isnt owned by a cheapo like Kraft. NE is doomed until he sells the team
After TFC lost the only thing I was hoping for was for was that New England did not make it. They are the last (thankfully) terrible place to watch a game from on TV.
Uhhhh…read the words above the comment text box???
“Comment below or sign in with TypePad Facebook Twitter and more…”
if you were at home watching and you could see the replays you would see that the ref’s were not horrible at all. actually were above average. moreno, schletto, and crew were diving everytime they got touched. Bad bad diving
I hope LA Galaxy win another title, i think we deserve it, but like every1 else says, almot every team in the playoffs has the chance to take it all, except maybe NE haha,
a bit off topic, but how do u get lil avatars next to ur name?
Was at the crew game tonight…..The Refs were horrible absolutly horrible. I know it’s been stated a billion times on here but the MLS needs to have some sort of review in the offseason.
no NY team to cheer on… i think i’ll be cheering for Houston… perhaps Chivas too.
New England’s tarped football stadium looks better on tv then Colorado’s quarter filed SSS. Plus gotta love NE v Chicago, again. Always a fun serious, even without Twellman (but Harkes said there’s a possibility he might play?).
Coudln’t agree with afrim and Hopper, more. Watching NE on TV with those gridlines will be nauseating. Would someone just pay off a city councilman in Boston already?
That being said, the playoffs should be very intriguing. Each match-up has interesting story lines. I like nothing more than to see the underdog succeed but would like to see the top team go through on good form, too. I think that would be good for a team in the league to establish a DC United-like dominance.
However, here’s to the Galaxy going from almost-worst to first.
when do RSL and Crew play?
The Galaxy will pin star #3 on their jerseys! I’ve been saying it all year long… through all those “kissing their sister” ties, the Beckham debacle with LARS, and in spite of their collective ages.
They have a solid backline with among the league’s best goaltending. With Dema back they have solid midfield work, Beck’s and Donovan are the difference makers.
Klein’s through ball was gorgeous last night on LD’s goal. They are learning how to play excellent footie behind the genius of Bruce Arena…
I don’t see any team that stops this dinasaur of a team…
Hey Ives, how about putting yourself to the test with analyzing and predicting the match ups. With no clear cut best teams (as we have seen throughout the season any team can win any game) it should be quite a challenge for you, and fun. Maybe get all of us readers involved.
Lookin forward to the western matches more. Will be interesting to see who survives.
You know what I just realized, with the current rules the MLS has, will there ever be a GREAT team we will remember for years and compare all other teams to that champion? Like the “Invincibles”, last year’s Barcelona, Chicago’s expansion year, the first years of DC and LA. I love the competition and even playing field the MLS provides, but I’m beginning to realize it’s a bit too much.
I don’t know if it’s the caliber of the soccer, or the rules set by the MLS front office. It should make the playoffs exciting, but I also think that is why the MLS is missing a flair.
Still a huge MLS fan, just clearing my mind at 9:30 pm.
Looking forward to the LA derby, Houston/Seattle (come on Houston!).
Can we make the Revs play both their games in Chicago? There’s nothing worse than an MLS playoff game with football lines and NFL logos all over the field.
Looking forward to the Houston-Seattle series. Qwest will be rockin’ for the Sounders home game.
god damn, not New England again…
The Crew will not repeat.
the west match ups are great. crew v RSL will be all crew, but it’ll be interesting. i could care less about chicago v ne.
what is the playoff format this year for the first two rounds?
In terms of RSL going on a tear to the finals, why not? MLS doesn’t have any one dominant team going in and really any team in the playoffs is capable of beating any other. RSL has been inconsistent over the course of the year but when they’re clicking they play good attacking soccer and can be quite explosive. Columbus should really be careful not to look past them. Actually, all the match-ups look pretty competitive. Even though the purists hate it I’m looking forward to a good and entertaining playoffs.
every team in the playoffs except N.E. would make for a great atmosphere on tv
I hope la vs chivas is a good game and not just 67 red cards like the last couple of times they met. If they both go out and play attacking soccer it could be really fun to watch.
Ives, It’s Jeff Larentowicz, not Tim.
(SBI-Someday I’ll figure out why I always write Tim when I write Larentowicz’s name. It never fails.)