New York's curse is over
- by Paul Kennedy @pkedit, Ridge Mahoney @ridgemax, Oct 27, 2013
The New England Revolution and Houston Dynamo clinched playoff berths with wins on Sunday, while the Montreal Impact (1-6-1 in its last eight games) sneaked into the playoffs as the fifth-place team in the Eastern Conference thanks to the Chicago loss.
The LA Galaxy rallied to tie the Seattle Sounders, 1-1, and take third place ahead of the Sounders in the Western Conference. Colorado's 3-0 loss at Vancouver kept the Rapids in fifth place.
SECOND-HALF EXPLOSION. The Red Bulls needed to beat the Fire to win the Eastern Conference after Sporting Kansas City won, 2-1, at Philadelphia on Saturday. Role players Ibrahim Sekagya, Lloyd Sam, Eric Alexander and Jonathan Steele broke a 1-1 tie with four goals in 35 minutes to win the Eastern Conference for the second time. Thierry Henry added a goal and a assist while fellow Frenchman Peguy Luyindula had three assists.
New York-Chicago Highlights:
DYNAMO AND REVS EARN MUST-WINS. Early in the day, Houston edged D.C. United, 2-1, and New England beat Columbus, 1-0, in another must-win game on the road.
Oscar Boniek Garcia and Giles Barnes scored to give the Dynamo the win that returned it to the playoffs for the seventh time in eight years since its move to Houston.
D.C. United's loss to Houston left it with just three wins in 34 games -- an MLS record for the fewest wins in a season. It finished the season having conceded four own goals -- more than any player scored for the team.
Juan Agudelo started and finished the play that led to the only goal as the Revs won at Columbus to qualify for the playoffs for the first time in four years.
SOUNDERS DROP INTO WILD-CARD GAME. Needing to defeat the Galaxy Sunday night and leap over it into third place, the Sounders conceded a Robbie Keane equalizer and will instead host Colorado in the Western Conference wild-card game as the fourth-place finisher.
The Western Conference playoff picture wasn’t finalized until the final whistle blew on the 1-1 tie played before a packed CenturyLink Field crowd of 66,216. Clint Dempsey’s first goal as a Sounder provided Seattle a 1-0 lead in the 30th minute but the Galaxy battled its way back into the game and with the point garnered by Keane’s 16th goal of the season retained third place.
Defender Omar Gonzalez and the Galaxy somehow lost a shockingly obvious goal when his shot was cleared by Osvaldo Alonso at least a yard behind the goal line but the officiating crew led by referee Mark Geiger didn’t see it.
Robbie Rogers made just his eighth start for the Galaxy since arriving in a trade from Chicago and played 78 minutes before being replaced by Jose Villarreal. Sounders head coach Sigi Schmid brought on midfielder Mauro Rosales as a sub and excluded forward Obafemi Martins, bothered by a groin injury, from the 18-man game roster.
The tie extends Seattle’s season-ending winless streak to seven games but broke a four-game losing streak. The Galaxy finished the league season unbeaten in October, winning two and tying two in its last four MLS games.
CAMILO CLAIMS GOLDEN BOOT. Vancouver attacker Camilo hit a hat trick as the Rapids crashed to a 3-0 defeat in their season finale Sunday. A win would have pushed Colorado into third place, but Camilo converted a penalty kick in the 43rd minute awarded for a foul on Marvell Wynne, and he scored twice more in the second half to win the Golden Boot with 22 goals and pin Colorado into fifth place.
MLS PLAYOFFS, Schedule:
Eastern Conference
Play-In Game:
Thursday, October 31
Houston vs. Montreal, 8:30 p.m. ET
Semifinals, First Leg
Saturday, November 2
New England vs. Sporting KC
TBA: Houston/Montreal winner vs. New York
Western Conference
Play-In Game:
Wednesday, October 30
Seattle vs. Colorado, 10:30 p.m. ET
Semifinals, First Leg
Saturday, November 2
Seattle/Colorado winner vs. Portland, 10 p.m. ET (NBCSN)
Sunday, November 3
Los Angeles vs. Real Salt Lake, 9 p.m. ET (ESPN and ESPN Deportes)
Video: Weekend Timeline
MLS WEEK 35, Results:
Sunday, October 27
Vancouver 3 Colorado 0.
VAN: Camilo 43
VAN: Camilo (Matt Watson) 74
VAN: Camilo (Russell Teibert) 84
Att.: 21,000.
Sunday, October 27
Seattle 1 LA Galaxy 1.
SEA: Clint Dempsey (Lamar Neagle) 30
LA: Robbie Keane (Hector Jimenez) 78
Att.: 66,216.
Sunday, October 27
D.C. United 1 Houston 2.
HOU: Oscar Boniek Garcia 11
DC: Kyle Porter (Chris Pontius, Luis Silva) 27
HOU: Giles Barnes (Brad Davis) 39
Att.: 13,731.
Sunday, October 27
Columbus 0 New England 1.
NE: Juan Agudelo (Lee Nguyen) 28.
Red Card: New England -- Dominic Oduro 90.
Agudelo Goal:
Sunday, October 27
New York 5 Chicago 2.
CHI: Mike Magee 6
NY: Thierry Henry (Peguy Luyindula) 24
NY: Ibrahim Sekagya (Tim Cahill) 49
NY: Lloyd Sam (Peguy Luyindula) 56
NY: Eric Alexander (Peguy Luyindula) 77
NY: Jonathan Steele (Thierry Henry) 84
CHI: Quincy Amarikwa (Joel Lindpere) 90
Att.: 25,219.
Saturday, October 26
Philadelphia 1 Sporting KC 2.
KC: Graham Zusi (Lawrence Olum, Matt Besler) 47
PHI: Jack McInerney (Jeff Parke) 88
KC: Lawrence Olum (Teal Bunbury) 90+2
Att.: 18,462.
Saturday, October 26
Toronto FC 1 Montreal 0.
TFC: Robert Earnshaw (Jonathan Osorio) 16
Att.: 13,211.
Saturday, October 26
San Jose 2 FC Dallas 1.
SJ: Walter Martinez (Justin Morrow) 27
SJ: Chris Wondolowski (Steven Lenhart) 57
DAL: Stephen Keel (Blas Perez) 90
Att.: 10,525.
Saturday, October 26
Chivas USA 0 Portland 5.
POR: Diego Valeri 16
POR: Diego Valeri 29
POR: Rodney Wallace (Diego Valeri, Mamadou Danso) 34
POR: Ryan Johnson 72
POR: Will Johnson 76
Att.: 11,024.
Wednesday, October 23
Real Salt Lake 2 Chivas USA 1.
RSL: Alvaro Saborio 49.
RSL: Joao Plata 52.
CHV: Julio Morales (Carlo Chueca) 77.
Att.: 20,447.
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MLS STANDINGS:
Eastern Conference:
PTS (GP) TEAM W-L-T +/-
59 (34) *New York 17-9-8 58/41
58 (34) *Sporting KC 17-10-7 47/30
51 (34) *New England 14-11-9 49/38
51 (34) *Houston 14-11-9 41/41
49 (34) *Montreal 14-13-7 50/49
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49 (34) Chicago 14-13-7 47/52
46 (34) Philadelphia 12-12-10 42/44
41 (34) Columbus 12-17-5 42/46
29 (34) Toronto FC 6-17-11 30/47
16 (34) D.C. United 3-24-7 22/59
*Clinched playoff berth.
Western Conference:
PTS (GP) TEAM W-L-T +/-
57 (34) *Portland 14-5-15 54/33
56 (34) *Real Salt Lake 16-10-8 57/41
53 (34) *LA Galaxy 15-11-8 53/38
52 (34) *Seattle 15-12-7 42/42
51 (34) *Colorado 14-11-9 45/38
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51 (34) San Jose 14-11-9 35/42
48 (34) Vancouver 13-12-9 53/45
44 (34) FC Dallas 11-12-11 48/52
26 (34) Chivas USA 6-20-8 30/67
*Clinched playoff berth.
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MLS LEADING SCORERS:
G PLAYER (TEAM)
22+3 Camilo (Vancouver)
21+1 Mike Magee (LA Galaxy/Chicago)
20 Marco Di Vaio (Montreal)
16+1 Robbie Keane (LA Galaxy)
13 Diego Fagundez (New England)
13 Dominic Oduro (Columbus)
12+1 Alvaro Saborio (Real Salt Lake)
12+1 Jack McInerney (Philadelphia)
11+1 Chris Wondolowski (San Jose)
11 Federico Higuain (Columbus)
11 Blas Perez (FC Dallas)
11 Tim Cahill (New York)
