Real Salt Lake finished the 2009 regular season at 11-12-7 but won of its last three to barely squeeze into the playoffs, and eventually beat L.A. Galaxy on penaltykicks in the final. Houston parlayed solid finishes into the 2011 and 2012 title games though it lost both of them to the Galaxy. Last year, Portland won four of its last five regular-season games andin the playoffs kept on rolling all the way to the crown.