Major League Soccer 2004 season

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This is a summary of the 2004 Major League Soccer season, which culminated with D.C. United winning its fourth MLS Cup championship.

The biggest news in the beginning of the season was the signing of 14-year-old prodigy Freddy Adu, who made his debut as a substitute in United's season opener and scored his first goal several games later against the rival MetroStars. Adu contributed as a substitute on DC's championship team, scoring five goals as the youngest player in North American sports history.

The season saw the emergence of forwards Brian Ching (San Jose) and Eddie Johnson (Dallas) as formidable forwards, not only for their MLS teams, but for the United States national team as well. The two shared Golden Boot honors.

The Columbus Crew emerged as a dominant team in the second half of the regular season, running off an MLS-record 18-game unbeaten streak en route to the Supporters' Shield title, won after finishing level on points with Kansas City.

In the playoffs, however, the Crew were taken down by the New England Revolution, who ended the Crew's streak in the opening leg, and goalkeeper Matt Reis, who saved two penalty kicks in the second leg. United cruised past the rival MetroStars (and league MVP Amado Guevara) 4-0 on aggregate in the other Eastern Conference semifinal.

In the Western Conference, Kansas City rallied from a 2-0 first-leg deficit for a dramatic 3-0 win in stoppage time over the defending MLS Cup champion San Jose Earthquakes in their conference semifinal. The Los Angeles Galaxy used a 2-0 home victory in the second leg to overcome the Colorado Rapids and goalie Joe Cannon, who had led the Rapids to a 1-0 victory in the opener.

In the conference finals, Kansas City used two goals from unsung forward Davy Arnaud, who enjoyed a breakout season, to beat the Galaxy and return to the final for the first time since 2000. DC United and New England hooked up in the Eastern Conference final in one of the best games in MLS playoff history. Playing at home, D.C. United took three different leads, only to see New England recover each time to tie the match 3-3 in a game full of highlight-reel goals. The match was finally decided by the first conventional shootout in MLS history, with Nick Rimando saving the first 'sudden death' penalty from Rookie of the Year Clint Dempsey to send DC to the championship.

In the second consecutive final held at the Home Depot Center, DC rebounded from an early Jose Burciaga goal by scoring three goals in eight minutes, including two from Alecko Eskandarian to take a 3-1 lead. In the second half, Dema Kovalenko became the first player to be sent off in an MLS Cup final after knocking a shot off the goal line with his hand. Although Josh Wolff converted the penalty kick, DC United held on with only 10 men to win its fourth championship in the nine-year history of MLS.

Contents

[edit] Final standings

Position Eastern Conference Points Played Wins Draws Losses Goals Against Difference Average attendance
1 Columbus Crew 49 30 12 13 5 40 32 +8 16,872
2 D.C. United 42 30 11 9 10 43 42 +1 17,232
3 MetroStars 40 30 11 7 12 47 49 -2 17,195
4 New England Revolution 33 30 8 9 13 42 43 -1 12,226
5 Chicago Fire 33 30 8 9 13 36 44 -8 17,153
Position Western Conference Points Played Wins Draws Losses Goals Against Difference Average attendance
1 Kansas City Wizards 49 30 14 7 9 38 30 +8 14,816
2 Los Angeles Galaxy 43 30 11 10 9 43 42 +1 23,809
3 Colorado Rapids 41 30 10 11 9 29 32 -3 14,195
4 San Jose Earthquakes 38 30 9 11 10 41 35 +6 13,001
5 Dallas Burn 36 30 10 6 14 34 45 -11 9,088

[edit] MLS Cup Playoffs

Conference Semifinals

October 23, 2004
New England Revolution 1–0 Columbus Crew Gillette Stadium: 5,679
John 25'  
October 31, 2004
Columbus Crew 1–1 New England Revolution Crew Stadium: 15,224
Buddle 90'+ Twellman 81'

New England advance 2-1 on aggregate.

October 23, 2004
MetroStars 0–2 D.C. United Giants Stadium: 11,161
  Stewart 67'
Eskandarian 88'
October 30, 2004
D.C. United 2–0 MetroStars RFK Stadium: 15,763
Moreno 85'
Namoff 89'		  

DC United advance 4-0 on aggregate.

October 24, 2004
San Jose Earthquakes 2–0 Kansas City Wizards Spartan Stadium: 8,659
De Rosario 40'
Waibel 52'		  
October 30, 2004
Kansas City Wizards 3–0 San Jose Earthquakes Arrowhead Stadium: 10,022
Stephenson 26'
Ching og 48'
Jewsbury 90'+		  

Kansas City advance 3-2 on aggregate.

October 22, 2004
Colorado Rapids 1–0 Los Angeles Galaxy INVESCO Field: 8,028
Peguero 30'  
October 30, 2004
Los Angeles Galaxy 2–0 Colorado Rapids Home Depot Center: 20,026
Ruiz 30'
Marshall 45'+		  

Los Angeles advance 2-1 on aggregate.

Conference Finals

November 5, 2004
Kansas City Wizards 2–0 Los Angeles Galaxy Arrowhead Stadium: 11,931
Arnaud 24'
Arnaud 68'		  
November 6, 2004
D.C. United 3–3 (aet)
(4-3 PKs)		 New England Revolution RFK Stadium: 21,201
Eskandarian 11'
Moreno 21'
Gomez 67'		 Twellman 17'
Ralston pen 44'
Noonan 85'
    Penalties  
Olsen saved
Quaranta scored
Adu scored
Eskandarian scored
Moreno saved
Carroll scored		 4–3 Ralston missed
Reis scored
Twellman scored
Heaps saved
Joseph scored
Dempsey saved		  

DC United advance 4-3 on penalties (3-3 after extra time).

MLS Cup 2004

November 14, 2004
Kansas City Wizards 2–3 D.C. United Home Depot Center: 25,797
Burciaga 6'
Wolff pen 58'		 Eskandarian 19'
Eskandarian 23'
Zotinca og 26'

Conference champions Kansas City and D.C. United earn MLS berths to CONCACAF Champions' Cup 2005.

[edit] Team Awards

[edit] Individual Awards

1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007
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