Eighteen months after joining the Sounders as president of soccer and general manager, Garth Lagerwey is plotting a new path forward in the wake of the club's dismissal of head coach Sigi Schmid, who had led the team since its formation as an MLS expansion team in 2009.

After an eight-game road trip to open the season, Toronto FC is in a playoff spot yet looking forward to moving further up the standings with a run of four straight games at BMO Field.

Every struggling team looks for a spark, a turning point, a shift of fortune that transforms frustration into fruition and a tough season into a good one.

The six major categories of awards presented each season by MLS run the gamut of experience, youthful promise, and performance.

This should have been a good week for the National Women's Soccer League.

Popular with fans and press and successful in the USL, former Orlando City head coach Adrian Heath lasted only a season and half.

A midseason Best XI gives an idea of which players have most influenced their team's success and the top two teams in the overall standings, Colorado and FC Dallas, each have two representatives. Many big names are missing as the 2016 season heads into its second half.