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 cannot 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.
 | |
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Country | United States Canada |
| Teams | 10 |
| Defending champions | Los Angeles Galaxy |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | Los Angeles Galaxy (4th title) |
| Runner-up | Houston Dynamo |
| Semifinalists | |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 15 |
| Goals scored | 34 (2.27 per match) |
| Attendance | 335,348 (22,357 per match) |
| Top goal scorer(s) |  Robbie Keane(6 goals) |
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
editFor 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 best regular season record in the Conference Semifinals.[1][2]
Conference Semifinals and Conference Championship series are conducted in a home-and-away aggregate-goal format, with the higher-seeded team hosting the second leg. 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
edit| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | T | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sporting Kansas City | 34 | 18 | 7 | 9 | 42 | 27 | +15 | 63 | MLS Cup Conference Semifinals |
| 2 | D.C. United | 34 | 17 | 10 | 7 | 53 | 43 | +10 | 58 | |
| 3 | New York Red Bulls | 34 | 16 | 9 | 9 | 57 | 46 | +11 | 57 | |
| 4 | Chicago Fire | 34 | 17 | 11 | 6 | 46 | 41 | +5 | 57 | MLS Cup Knockout Round |
| 5 | Houston Dynamo | 34 | 14 | 9 | 11 | 48 | 41 | +7 | 53 | |
| 6 | Columbus Crew | 34 | 15 | 12 | 7 | 44 | 44 | 0 | 52 | |
| 7 | Montreal Impact | 34 | 12 | 16 | 6 | 45 | 51 | −6 | 42 | |
| 8 | Philadelphia Union | 34 | 10 | 18 | 6 | 37 | 45 | −8 | 36 | |
| 9 | New England Revolution | 34 | 9 | 17 | 8 | 39 | 44 | −5 | 35 | |
| 10 | Toronto FC | 34 | 5 | 21 | 8 | 36 | 62 | −26 | 23 |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | T | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Jose Earthquakes | 34 | 19 | 6 | 9 | 72 | 43 | +29 | 66 | MLS Cup Conference Semifinals |
| 2 | Real Salt Lake | 34 | 17 | 11 | 6 | 46 | 35 | +11 | 57 | |
| 3 | Seattle Sounders FC | 34 | 15 | 8 | 11 | 51 | 33 | +18 | 56 | |
| 4 | LA Galaxy | 34 | 16 | 12 | 6 | 59 | 47 | +12 | 54 | MLS Cup Knockout Round |
| 5 | Vancouver Whitecaps FC | 34 | 11 | 13 | 10 | 35 | 41 | −6 | 43 | |
| 6 | FC Dallas | 34 | 9 | 13 | 12 | 42 | 47 | −5 | 39 | |
| 7 | Colorado Rapids | 34 | 11 | 19 | 4 | 44 | 50 | −6 | 37 | |
| 8 | Portland Timbers | 34 | 8 | 16 | 10 | 34 | 56 | −22 | 34 | |
| 9 | Chivas USA | 34 | 7 | 18 | 9 | 24 | 58 | −34 | 30 |
Tiebreak rules
editWhen two or more teams are tied in standings on points the following tiebreak rules[2][6] apply:
- Goals for
- Goal differential
- Fewest disciplinary points in the official points table Archived August 10, 2012, at the Wayback Machine (foul – 1 pt, first yellow – 3 pts, second yellow – 5 pts, straight red – 6 pts, disciplinary commission suspension – 6 pts, etc.)
- Road goals
- Road goal differential
- Home goals
- Home goal differential
- Coin toss (2 teams) or drawing of lots (3 or more teams)
Bracket
edit| Knockout | Conference semifinals | Conference finals | MLS Cup | ||||||||||||||||||||
| E1 | Kansas City | 0 | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||
| E4 | Chicago | 1 | E5 | Houston | 2 | 0 | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
| E5 | Houston | 2 | Eastern Conference | E5 | Houston | 3 | 1 | 4 | |||||||||||||||
| E2 | D.C. United | 1 | 1 | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||
| E2 | D.C. United | 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 | 2 | W4 | Los Angeles | 0 | 3 | 3 | ||||||||||||||||
| W5 | Vancouver | 1 | Western Conference | W4 | Los Angeles | 3 | 1 | 4 | |||||||||||||||
| W3 | Seattle | 0 | 2 | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||
| W2 | Salt Lake | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||||||||||||||||
| W3 | Seattle | 0 | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||
Schedule
editKnockout round
edit| Chicago Fire | 1 – 2 | Houston Dynamo |
|---|---|---|
Alex  83' |
Report | Bruin 12', 46' |
| Los Angeles Galaxy | 2 – 1 | Vancouver Whitecaps FC |
|---|---|---|
| Magee 69' Donovan 73' (pen.) |
Report | Mattocks 3' |
Conference semifinals
editEastern Conference
edit| Houston Dynamo | 2 – 0 | Sporting Kansas City |
|---|---|---|
| Moffat 18' Bruin 75' |
Report |
Houston Dynamo won 2 – 1 on aggregate
| D.C. United | 1 – 1 | New York Red Bulls |
|---|---|---|
| Miller 61' (o.g.) |
Report | Hamid 65' (o.g.) |
| 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 as the higher seed, the order of the legs was reversed due to the effects of Hurricane Sandy.[7] The second leg was originally scheduled for November 7 but was postponed one day due to snow.[8]
Western Conference
edit| San Jose Earthquakes | 1 – 3 | Los Angeles Galaxy |
|---|---|---|
| Gordon 82' |
Report | Keane 21', 34' Magee 39' |
Los Angeles Galaxy won 3 – 2 on aggregate
Seattle Sounders won 1 – 0 on aggregate
Conference finals
edit| Houston Dynamo | 3 – 1 | D.C. United |
|---|---|---|
| Hainault 51' Bruin 68'Sarkodie 81' |
Report | DeLeon 27' |
| D.C. United | 1 – 1 | Houston Dynamo |
|---|---|---|
| Bošković 83' |
Report | García 34' |
Houston Dynamo won 4 – 2 on aggregate
| Los Angeles Galaxy | 3 – 0 | Seattle Sounders FC |
|---|---|---|
| Keane 46', 67' Magee 64' |
Report |
| Seattle Sounders FC | 2 – 1 | Los Angeles Galaxy |
|---|---|---|
| Johnson 12' Scott 57' |
Report | Keane 68' (pen.) |
Los Angeles Galaxy won 4 – 2 on aggregate
MLS Cup
edit| Los Angeles Galaxy | 3 – 1 | Houston Dynamo |
|---|---|---|
| Gonzalez 60' Donovan 65' (pen.)Keane 90+4' (pen.) |
Report | Carr 44' |
Post-season statistical leaders
editNote: Statistics only for post-season games.
Top scorersedit
|
Most assistsedit
|
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b c d e "2012 MLS Cup Playoffs". MLSsoccer.com. Archived from the original on October 31, 2012. Retrieved October 30, 2012.
- ^ a b c d e "Competition Rules and Regulations". MLSsoccer.com. Archived from the original on September 20, 2012. Retrieved October 17, 2012.
- ^ a b "Big changes for MLS Cup Playoffs format in 2012". MLSsoccer.com. November 20, 2011. Retrieved November 25, 2012.
- ^ "History: MLS Cup 2011". MLSsoccer.com. Retrieved October 30, 2012.
- ^ "Champions League Qualifying 2013-14". CONCACAF. Archived from the original on August 25, 2012. Retrieved November 4, 2012.
- ^ "New tiebreakers designed to encourage attacking play". MLS Communications. MLSSoccer.com. Retrieved October 1, 2012.
- ^ "Hurricane Sandy forces Red Bulls, D.C. United to switch home dates for playoff series". NJ.com. November 2012.
- ^ "Snow postpones Red Bulls-DC United". ESPNFC.com.