2009 MLS Cup Playoffs

Country

United States

Teams

Champions

Real Salt Lake

Runner-up

Los Angeles Galaxy

← 2008

2010 →

The 2009 MLS Cup Playoffs is the postseason to Major League Soccer's 2009 season. MLS Cup 2009 concluded the season on November 22, 2009 at Qwest Field in Seattle, Washington. Real Salt Lake won the Cup in penalties over the L.A. Galaxy.

1 Format
2 Standings
- 2.1 Conference standings
- 2.2 Overall standings
3 Bracket
4 Conference Semifinals
- 4.1 Eastern Conference
- 4.2 Western Conference
5 Conference Finals
- 5.1 Eastern Conference
- 5.2 Western Conference
6 MLS Cup
7 See also
8 References

Format

Main article: MLS Cup Playoffs

At the 2009 season's end, the top two teams of each conference made the playoffs; in addition the clubs with the next four highest point totals, regardless of conference, were added to the playoffs. In the first round of this knockout tournament, aggregate goals over two matches determined the winners; the Conference Championships were one match each, with the winner of each conference advancing to MLS Cup. In all rounds, the tie-breaking method was two 15-minute periods of extra time, followed by penalty kicks if necessary. The away goals rule was not used.^[1]

Standings

Conference standings

Pos	Club	Pts	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD

1	Columbus Crew	49	30	13	7	10	41	31	+10
2	Chicago Fire	45	30	11	7	12	39	34	+5
3	New England Revolution	42	30	11	10	9	33	37	−4
4	D.C. United	40	30	9	8	13	43	44	−1
5	Toronto FC	39	30	10	11	9	37	46	−9
6	Kansas City Wizards	33	30	8	14	9	33	42	−9
7	New York Red Bulls	21	30	5	19	6	27	47	−20


	2009 MLS Cup Playoffs
	2009 MLS Cup Playoffs (Wild Card)

Pos	Club	Pts	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD

1	Los Angeles Galaxy	48	30	12	6	12	36	31	+5
2	Houston Dynamo	48	30	13	8	9	39	29	+10
3	Seattle Sounders FC	47	30	12	7	11	38	29	+9
4	Chivas USA	45	30	13	11	6	34	31	+3
5	Real Salt Lake	40	30	11	12	7	43	35	+8
6	Colorado Rapids	40	30	10	10	10	42	38	+4
7	FC Dallas	39	30	11	13	6	50	47	+4
8	San Jose Earthquakes	30	30	7	14	9	36	50	−14


	2009 MLS Cup Playoffs
	2009 MLS Cup Playoffs (Wild Card)

Overall standings

Pos	Club	Pts	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD

1	Columbus Crew (E1)	49	30	13	7	10	41	31	+10
2	Los Angeles Galaxy² (W1)	48	30	12	6	12	36	31	+5
3	Houston Dynamo³ (W2)	48	30	13	8	9	39	29	+10
4	Seattle Sounders FC²	47	30	12	7	11	38	29	+9
5	Chicago Fire³ (E2)	45	30	11	7	12	39	34	+5
6	Chivas USA³	45	30	13	11	6	34	31	+3
7	New England Revolution³	42	30	11	10	9	33	37	−4
8	Real Salt Lake²	40	30	11	12	7	43	35	+8
9	Colorado Rapids	40	30	10	10	10	42	38	+4
10	D.C. United	40	30	9	8	13	43	44	−1
11	FC Dallas	39	30	11	13	6	50	47	+4
12	Toronto FC¹	39	30	10	11	9	37	46	−9
13	Kansas City Wizards	33	30	8	13	9	33	42	−9
14	San Jose Earthquakes	30	30	7	14	9	36	50	−14
15	New York Red Bulls	21	30	5	19	6	27	47	−20


	MLS Supporters' Shield, 2009 MLS Cup Playoffs, 2010 U.S. Open Cup, 2010–11 CONCACAF Champions League²
	2009 MLS Cup Playoffs, 2010 U.S. Open Cup
	2009 MLS Cup Playoffs

^Note 1 - Toronto FC cannot qualify for the U.S. Open Cup, as it is a Canadian-based team. If they qualify for an automatic berth into the U.S. Open Cup, the next highest placed team not already qualified will be given a berth. Similarly, they cannot qualify for the CONCACAF Champions League through MLS. Rather, they can qualify through the Canadian Soccer Championship. If they qualify for the Champions League through MLS, then the highest placed team not already qualified will qualify.

^Note 2 - The winner of the 2009 MLS Supporters' Shield (Columbus Crew) and the winner of MLS Cup 2009 (Real Salt Lake) qualified for the 2010–11 CONCACAF Champions League Group Stage. The runner-up of MLS Cup 2009 (Los Angeles Galaxy) and the winner of the 2009 U.S. Open Cup (Seattle Sounders) qualified for the 2010–11 CONCACAF Champions League Preliminary Round.

^Note 3 - SuperLiga 2010 berths are awarded to the top 4 finishing teams from MLS who do not qualify for Champions League (Houston, Chicago, Chivas USA, and New England).

Bracket

Conference Semifinals

Conference Finals

MLS Cup 2009

Columbus Crew

Real Salt Lake

Real Salt Lake (AET) (PEN)

(0)5

Eastern Conference

Chicago Fire

(0)4

New England Revolution

Chicago Fire

Real Salt Lake (AET) (PEN)

(1)5

Los Angeles Galaxy

(1)4

Los Angeles Galaxy

Chivas USA

Los Angeles Galaxy (AET)

Western Conference

Houston Dynamo

Seattle Sounders FC

Houston Dynamo (AET)

¹ Real Salt Lake earned the eighth and final playoff berth, despite finishing fifth in the Western Conference. They represent the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference playoff bracket, as only three teams in the Eastern Conference qualified for the playoffs.

Conference Semifinals

Eastern Conference

October 31, 2009 4:30PM MDT	Columbus Crew	0 – 1	Real Salt Lake	Rio Tinto Stadium, Sandy, Utah Attendance: 11,499 Referee: Mark Geiger
	Carroll 19'	Report	38' Beckerman 88' Findley

November 5, 2009 8:00PM EST	Real Salt Lake	3 – 2	Columbus Crew	Columbus Crew Stadium, Columbus, Ohio Attendance: 10,109 Referee: Silviu Petrescu
	Morales 37' Findley 45+2' (pen.) Olave 68' Williams 77'	Report	17', 35' Barros Schelotto 48' O'Rourke 59' Moreno

Real Salt Lake advances 4–2 on aggregate.

November 1, 2009 2:00PM EST	Chicago Fire	1 – 2	New England Revolution	Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, Massachusetts Attendance: 7,416 Referee: Baldomero Toledo
	Rolfe 17' Husidic 90+3'	Report	41' Alston 45+1' Osei 75' Joseph

November 7, 2009 7:30PM CST	New England Revolution	0 – 2	Chicago Fire	Toyota Park, Bridgeview, Illinois Attendance: 21,528 Referee: Alex Prus
	Mansally 17' Jankauskas 36' Larentowicz 85'	Report	35' Thorrington 83' Blanco

Chicago Fire advances 3–2 on aggregate.

Western Conference

November 1, 2009 8:00PM PST	Los Angeles Galaxy	2 – 2	Chivas USA	Home Depot Center, Carson, California Attendance: 25,218 Referee: Kevin Stott
	Magee 14' Birchall 27' Donovan 41'	Report	4' Santos 50' Galindo 81' Saragosa

November 8, 2009 4:30PM PST	Chivas USA	0 – 1	Los Angeles Galaxy	Home Depot Center, Carson, California Attendance: 27,000 Referee: Ricardo Salazar
	Talley 39' Thornton 72' Nagamura 79' Cuesta 79' Kljestan 90'	Report	60' Franklin 73' (pen.) Donovan

Los Angeles Galaxy advances 3–2 on aggregate.

October 29, 2009 7:00PM PDT	Houston Dynamo	0 – 0	Seattle Sounders FC	Qwest Field, Seattle, Washington Attendance: 35,807 Referee: Ricardo Salazar
	Onstad 16' Mullan 71' Chabala 75'	Report	16' Montero 64' Alonso 68' Evans

November 8, 2009 3:00PM CST	Seattle Sounders FC	0 – 1 (a.e.t.)	Houston Dynamo	Robertson Stadium, Houston, Texas Attendance: 27,465 Referee: Jorge Gonzalez
	Marshall 24' Riley 120' Ljungberg 120'	Report	44' Chabala 93' Cameron 96' Ching

Houston Dynamo advances 1–0 on aggregate.

Conference Finals

Eastern Conference

November 14, 2009 7:00PM CST	Real Salt Lake	0 – 0 (a.e.t.)	Chicago Fire	Toyota Park, Bridgeview, Illinois Attendance: 21,723 Referee: Ricardo Salazar
	Morales 39' Wingert 75' Beckerman 99' Johnson 110'	Report	Thorrington 92' Prideaux 101' Blanco 116'
		Penalties
	Mathis Morales Findley Beckerman Johnson Espíndola Grabavoy	5 – 4	Blanco McBride Conde Thorrington Brown Pause Prideaux

Real Salt Lake advances 5–4 on penalties.

Western Conference

November 13, 2009 8:00PM PST	Houston Dynamo	0 – 2 (a.e.t.)	Los Angeles Galaxy	Home Depot Center, Carson, California Attendance: 25,373 Referee: Terry Vaughn
	Mullan 26' Boswell 111' Landín 119'	Report	77' Kovalenko 89' Donovan 103' Berhalter 109' (pen.) Donovan

Los Angeles Galaxy advances.

MLS Cup

November 22, 2009 5:30 p.m. PST	Los Angeles Galaxy	1 – 1 (a.e.t.)	Real Salt Lake	Qwest Field, Seattle, Washington Attendance: 46,011 Referee: Kevin Stott
Birchall 39' Magee 41'	Report	Johnson 14' Findley 64'
	Penalties
Beckham Berhalter Kirovski Donovan Magee Klein Buddle	4 – 5	Mathis Findley Beckerman Grabavoy Williams Wingert Russell

References

^ "2009 MLS Playoff Guide" (Press release). MLSNet.com. http://web.mlsnet.com/pdf/mls/2009/playoffs/2009POguide.pdf. Retrieved 2009-10-29.

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2008–09 in North and Central America and Caribbean association football (CONCACAF)

« 2007–08 Club tournaments in CONCACAF member countries between July 2008 and June 2009 2009–10 »

Domestic leagues	Belize · Canada '08 '09 · Costa Rica · El Salvador '08 A '09 C · Guatemala · Honduras '08 A '09 C · Jamaica · Mexico '08 A '09 C · Nicaragua · Panama '08 C '09 A · Trinidad and Tobago '08 '09 · United States '08 '09

Domestic cups	Canada '08 '09 · Trinidad and Tobago · United States '08 '09

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2009–10 in North and Central America and Caribbean association football (CONCACAF)

« 2008–09 Club tournaments in CONCACAF member countries between July 2009 and June 2010 2010–11 »

Domestic leagues	Barbados · Belize · Canada '09 '10 · Costa Rica · El Salvador '09 A '10 C · Guatemala · Honduras · Jamaica · Mexico · Nicaragua · Panama '09 C '10 A · Puerto Rico · Suriname · Trinidad and Tobago '09 '10–11 · United States '09 '10

Domestic cups	Canada · Trinidad and Tobago · United States '09 '10

CONCACAF competitions	Champions League (Preliminary round · Group stage · Championship round · Finals) · North American SuperLiga · CFU Club Championship

2009 MLS Cup Playoffs

Contents

Format

Standings

Conference standings

Overall standings

Bracket

Conference Semifinals

Eastern Conference

Western Conference

Conference Finals

Eastern Conference

Western Conference

MLS Cup

See also

References