2012 MLS Cup Playoffs

2012 MLS Cup Playoffs
Country United States
Canada
Teams 10
Defending champions Los Angeles Galaxy
Champions Los Angeles Galaxy (4th title)
Runners-up Houston Dynamo
Matches played 15
Goals scored 34 (2.27 per match)
Top goal scorer(s) Republic of Ireland Robbie Keane
(6 goals)
← 2011 2013 →

The 2012 MLS Cup Playoffs was the seventeenth post-season tournament culminating the Major League Soccer regular season. The tournament began on October 31,[1] and culminated on December 1, 2012[1] with MLS Cup 2012, the seventeenth league championship for MLS, won by the Los Angeles Galaxy 3-1 over Houston Dynamo. It was the second year that the playoffs included ten teams,[2] and the first playoff series since 2006 in which teams could not cross conference brackets.[3] The top five teams in both the Eastern and Western conferences of the league earned berths, with the top three clubs in each conference earning direct byes to the conference semifinals. The fourth and fifth-place finishers of both conferences played in a single-elimination play-in match.

The play-in winner played their respective conference regular season champion in the conference semifinals, which was a two-leg aggregate series, without the away goals rule enforced. For the first time in MLS Cup Playoffs history, each Conference Championship was also a two-leg aggregate series, as opposed to the traditional single elimination match.[3] The MLS Cup championship still remain a single match, but the team with the stronger regular season record, the Los Angeles Galaxy, hosting the final at their home venue.[2]

Los Angeles Galaxy were the defending champions, having defeated Houston Dynamo 1–0 in last year's championship.[4]

Both finalists directly entered the 2013–14 CONCACAF Champions League, with the champion earning a Pot A seed. They were joined by San Jose Earthquakes, the Supporters' Shield winner, and Sporting Kansas City, the 2012 U.S. Open Cup champion. However, none of these berths were available to the league's three Canadian teams, which instead participate in the Canadian Championship for that country's single berth in the CONCACAF Champions League.[5]

Format

For 2012, the league's previous system of "wild card" qualification—which had the potential for "crossover" series in which one team could play in the other conference's bracket—was scrapped. Instead, the top five teams in each conference will qualify for the playoffs and the two conference brackets are entirely separate. The First Round of each conference is a one-off match between the 4th and 5th place teams, similar to the previous wild card system, with the 4th-place team hosting. The First Round winner advances to play the conference's top seed in the Conference Semifinals.[1][2]

Conference Semifinals and Conference Championship series are conducted in a home-and-away aggregate-goal format. The lower-seeded team in the Conference Semifinal hosts the first game, and the higher seed hosts the second. If the teams are tied after two games, a 30-minute extra time period (divided into two 15-minute periods) will be played followed by penalty kicks, if necessary. The away goals rule or golden goal is not used.[1]

In the case of ties in the First Round and MLS Cup, extra time and penalty kicks are used in the same manner as above.[2]

Qualification

Eastern Conference

Pos
Team
 Pts
 GP
 W
 L
 T
 GF
 GA
 GD
Qualification or relegation
1 Sporting Kansas City (E1) 63 34 18 7 9 42 27+15 2012 MLS Cup Conference Semifinals
2 D.C. United 58 34 17 10 7 53 43+10
3 New York Red Bulls 57 34 16 9 9 57 46+11
4 Chicago Fire 57 34 17 11 6 46 41+5 2012 MLS Cup Knockout Round
5 Houston Dynamo 53 34 14 9 11 48 41+7
6 Columbus Crew 52 34 15 12 7 44 440
7 Montreal Impact 42 34 12 16 6 45 51−6
8 Philadelphia Union 36 34 10 18 6 37 45−8
9 New England Revolution 35 34 9 17 8 39 44−5
10 Toronto FC 23 34 5 21 8 36 62−26

Updated to matches played on 18:04 EDT October 28, 2012. Source: MLSSoccer.com
Notation Key:

(E1) = Eastern Conference champion

Western Conference

Pos
Team
 Pts
 GP
 W
 L
 T
 GF
 GA
 GD
Qualification or relegation
1 San Jose Earthquakes (SS) (W1) 66 34 19 6 9 72 43+29 2012 MLS Cup Conference Semifinals
2 Real Salt Lake 57 34 17 11 6 46 35+11
3 Seattle Sounders FC 56 34 15 8 11 51 33+18
4 LA Galaxy 54 34 16 12 6 59 47+12 2012 MLS Cup Knockout Round
5 Vancouver Whitecaps FC 43 34 11 13 10 35 41−6
6 FC Dallas 39 34 9 13 12 42 47−5
7 Colorado Rapids 37 34 11 19 4 44 50−6
8 Portland Timbers 34 34 8 16 10 34 56−22
9 Chivas USA 30 34 7 18 9 24 58−34

Updated to matches played on October 28, 2012. Source: MLSSoccer.com
Notation Key:

(SS) = Supporters Shield winner
(W1) = Western Conference champion

Tiebreak rules

When two or more teams are tied in standings on points the following tiebreak rules[2][6] apply:

  1. Goals for
  2. Goal differential
  3. Fewest disciplinary points in the official points table (foul – 1 pt, first yellow – 3 pts, second yellow – 5 pts, straight red – 6 pts, disciplinary commission suspension – 6 pts, etc.)
  4. Road goals
  5. Road goal differential
  6. Home goals
  7. Home goal differential
  8. Coin toss (2 teams) or drawing of lots (3 or more teams)

Bracket

East Wild Card
   
E4 Chicago 1
E5 Houston 2
West Wild Card
   
W4 Los Angeles 2
W5 Vancouver    1
  Conference Semifinals Conference Finals MLS Cup 2012
                                     
E1  Kansas City 0 1 1  
E5  Houston 2 0 2  
  E5  Houston 3 1 4  
Eastern Conference
  E2  D.C. 1 1 2  
E2  D.C. 1 1 2
E3  New York 1 0 1  
  E5  Houston 1
  W4  Los Angeles 3
W1  San Jose 1 1 2  
W4  Los Angeles 0 3 3  
  W4  Los Angeles 3 1 4
Western Conference
  W3  Seattle 0 2 2  
W2  Salt Lake 0 0 0
W3  Seattle 0 1 1  

[7]

Schedule

Knockout round

October 31, 2012
20:00 CDT
Chicago Fire 1 – 2 Houston Dynamo
Alex  83' Report Bruin  12', 46'
Toyota Park, Bridgeview, Illinois
Attendance: 10,923
Referee: Baldomero Toledo

November 1, 2012
19:30 PDT
Los Angeles Galaxy 2 – 1 Vancouver Whitecaps FC
Magee  69'
Donovan  73' (pen.)		 Report Mattocks  3'
The Home Depot Center, Carson, California
Attendance: 14,703
Referee: Silviu Petrescu

Conference semifinals

Eastern conference

November 4, 2012
2:30 PM CST
Houston Dynamo 2 – 0 Sporting Kansas City
Moffat  18'
Bruin  75'		 Report
BBVA Compass Stadium, Houston, Texas
Attendance: 20,689
Referee: Edvin Jurisevic

November 7, 2012
8:00 PM CST
Sporting Kansas City 1 – 0 Houston Dynamo
Sinovic  64' Report
Livestrong Sporting Park, Kansas City, Kansas
Attendance: 20,894
Referee: Allen Chapman

Houston Dynamo won 2 – 1 on aggregate

November 3, 2012
8:00 PM EDT
D.C. United 1 – 1 New York Red Bulls
Miller  61' (o.g.) Report Hamid  65' (o.g.)
RFK Stadium, Washington, D.C
Attendance: 17,556
Referee: Jair Marrufo

November 8, 2012
7:30 PM EST
New York Red Bulls 0 – 1 D.C. United
Recap DeLeon  88'

D.C. United won 2 – 1 on aggregate Note: While D.C. United won the right to host the second leg owing to being the higher seed, the order of the legs was reversed owing to the effects of Hurricane Sandy.[8] The second leg was originally scheduled for November 7 but was postponed one day due to snow.[9]

Western conference

Los Angeles Galaxy won 3 – 2 on aggregate

November 2, 2012
7:00 PM PDT
Seattle Sounders FC 0 – 0 Real Salt Lake
Report
CenturyLink Field, Seattle, Washington
Attendance: 34,941
Referee: Hilario Grajeda

November 8, 2012
7:30 PM MST
Real Salt Lake 0 – 1 Seattle Sounders FC
Report Martínez  81'
Rio Tinto Stadium, Sandy, Utah
Attendance: 19,657
Referee: Chris Penso

Seattle Sounders won 1 – 0 on aggregate

Conference championships

November 11, 2012
5:00 PM CST
Houston Dynamo 3 – 1 D.C. United
Hainault  51'
Bruin  68'
Sarkodie  81'		 Report DeLeon  27'

November 18, 2012
4:00 PM EST
D.C. United 1 – 1 Houston Dynamo
Bošković  83' Report García  34'
RFK Stadium, Washington, D.C
Attendance: 20,015
Referee: Baldomero Toledo

Houston Dynamo won 4 – 2 on aggregate

Los Angeles Galaxy won 4 – 2 on aggregate

MLS Cup

Main article: MLS Cup 2012

Post-season statistical leaders

Note: Statistics only for post-season games.

Top scorers

Rank Scorer Club Goals Minutes Played
1 Republic of Ireland Robbie Keane Los Angeles Galaxy 6 540'
2 United States Will Bruin Houston Dynamo 4 491'
3 United States Mike Magee Los Angeles Galaxy 3 540'
4 United States Nick DeLeon D.C. United 2 360'
United States Landon Donovan Los Angeles Galaxy 2 444'
6 United States Alan Gordon San Jose Earthquakes 1 42'
Brazil Alex Chicago Fire 1 45'
Jamaica Darren Mattocks Vancouver Whitecaps FC 1 59'
Honduras Víctor Bernárdez San Jose Earthquakes 1 102'
United States Seth Sinovic Sporting Kansas City 1 180'
United States Zach Scott Seattle Sounders FC 1 183'
Honduras Mario Martínez Seattle Sounders FC 1 201'
United States Eddie Johnson Seattle Sounders FC 1 205'
Canada Andre Hainault Houston Dynamo 1 215'
United States Calen Carr Houston Dynamo 1 251'
Montenegro Branko Bošković D.C. United 1 321'
Scotland Adam Moffat Houston Dynamo 1 456'
United States Kofi Sarkodie Houston Dynamo 1 527'
Honduras Boniek Garcia Houston Dynamo 1 540'
United States Omar Gonzalez Los Angeles Galaxy 1 540'

Most assists

Rank Player Club Assists
1 United States Sean Franklin Los Angeles Galaxy 4
2 United States Brad Davis Houston Dynamo 3
United States Landon Donovan Los Angeles Galaxy 3
4 United States Calen Carr Houston Dynamo 2
Brazil Juninho Los Angeles Galaxy 2
5 Scotland Adam Moffat Houston Dynamo 1
Honduras Boniek García Houston Dynamo 1
United States Brad Evans Seattle Sounders FC 1
Germany Christian Tiffert Seattle Sounders FC 1
Sweden Christian Wilhelmsson Los Angeles Galaxy 1
England David Beckham Los Angeles Galaxy 1
Colombia Fredy Montero Seattle Sounders FC 1
United States Graham Zusi Sporting Kansas City 1
United States Justin Morrow San Jose Earthquakes 1
Sierra Leone Kei Kamara Sporting Kansas City 1
Colombia Lionard Pajoy D.C. United 1
Brazil Luiz Camargo Houston Dynamo 1
Brazil Maicon Santos D.C. United 1
England Matt Watson Vancouver Whitecaps FC 1
United States Mike Magee Los Angeles Galaxy 1
Ghana Patrick Nyarko Chicago Fire 1
Republic of Ireland Robbie Keane Los Angeles Galaxy 1
United States Robbie Russell D.C. United 1
United States Tommy Meyer Los Angeles Galaxy 1
United States Will Bruin Houston Dynamo 1
United States Zach Scott Seattle Sounders FC 1

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "2012 MLS Cup Playoffs". MLSsoccer.com. Retrieved October 30, 2012.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Competition Rules and Regulations". MLSsoccer.com. Retrieved October 17, 2012.
  3. 1 2 "Big changes for MLS Cup Playoffs format in 2012". MLSsoccer.com. November 20, 2011. Retrieved November 25, 2012.
  4. ↑ "History: MLS Cup 2011". MLSsoccer.com. Retrieved October 30, 2012.
  5. ↑ "Champions League Qualifying 2013-14". CONCACAF. Retrieved November 4, 2012.
  6. ↑ "New tiebreakers designed to encourage attacking play". MLS Communications. MLSSoccer.com. Retrieved October 1, 2012.
  7. ↑ "MLS Cup Playoffs 2012". MLSsoccer.com. Retrieved 2012-11-02.
  8. ↑ "Hurricane Sandy forces Red Bulls, D.C. United to switch home dates for playoff series". NJ.com.
  9. ↑ "Snow postpones Red Bulls-DC United". ESPNFC.com.
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