2009 Major League Soccer season

Major League Soccer

Season	2009
Highest attendance	32,536 (Seattle)
Lowest attendance	6,524 (Dallas)
Average attendance	15,528
← 2008 2010 →

The 2009 Major League Soccer season is the 14th season of Major League Soccer. The season began on March 19 and will end with MLS Cup 2009, on November 22 at Qwest Field in Seattle, Washington.

Changes from the 2008 season

The following changes were made since the 2008 season:

• Seattle Sounders FC began play as an expansion team in the Western Conference.
• Two teams signed shirt sponsorship deals:
  • Xbox 360 Live became the shirt sponsor of Seattle Sounders FC.
  • Amway Global became the shirt sponsor of the San Jose Earthquakes.
• The top two teams from each conference will qualify automatically for the playoffs (down from three). In addition, the next four highest point totals, regardless of conference, will also qualify (up from two).
• Sigi Schmid did not sign a new contract with the Columbus Crew and was hired as head coach of Seattle Sounders FC.
• The Columbus Crew promoted assistant coach Robert Warzycha to head coach.
• After three seasons, the MLS Reserve Division was discontinued. As a result, each team's Developmental Roster spots were reduced from 10 to four, and each team's Senior Roster spots were increased from 18 to 20. This had the effect of reducing each team's total roster from 28 to 24 players.

Competition format

The format for the 2009 season is expected to be as follows:

• The season began on March 19 and will end on November 22 with MLS Cup 2009.
• The 15 teams were split into two conferences. The Western Conference has eight teams with the addition of Seattle Sounders FC, and the Eastern Conference has seven teams. Each team will play a total of 30 games that are evenly divided between home and away games. Each team will play every other team twice, home and away, for a total of 28 games. The remaining two games will be played against two regional rivals, one at home and one away.
• The two teams from each conference with the most points will qualify for the playoffs. In addition, the next four highest point totals, regardless of conference, will also qualify. In the first round of the playoffs, aggregate goals over two matches will determine the winners. The conference finals will be played as a single match, and the winners will advance to MLS Cup 2009. Draws in all rounds will be broken with two 15-minute periods of extra time, followed by penalty kicks if necessary. The away goals rule is not used in any round.
• The team with the most points in the regular season wins the MLS Supporters' Shield and will qualify directly into the group stage of the CONCACAF Champions League 2010–11. The MLS Cup winner also qualifies for the Champions League 2010–11 group stage. The MLS Cup runner-up and the winner of the 2009 U.S. Open Cup will qualify for the qualifying stage of the Champions League 2010–11. If a team qualifies for multiple berths into the Champions League, then additional berths will be awarded to the highest overall finishing MLS team(s), based on the regular season standings, not already qualified. Also, Toronto FC, as a Canadian-based team, cannot qualify through MLS for the Champions League, and must instead qualify through the Canadian Championship.
• The four teams with the most points in the regular season, regardless of conference, who have not qualified for the CONCACAF Champions League will qualify for SuperLiga 2010.
• The six teams, regardless of conference, with the most points also qualified for berths into the 2009 U.S. Open Cup. The rest of the U.S.-based MLS teams have to qualify for the remaining two berths via a series of play-in games.

Tiebreakers

1. Head-to-Head (Points-per-match average)
2. Overall Goal Differential
3. Overall Total Goals Scored
4. Tiebreakers 1-3 applied only to matches on the road
5. Tiebreakers 1-3 applied only to matches at home
6. Fewest team disciplinary points in the League Fair Play table
7. Coin toss

NOTE: If more than two clubs are tied, once a club advances through any step, the process reverts to Tiebreaker 1 among the remaining tied clubs.

MLS Tiebreakers

Results table

Abbreviation and Color Key: Chicago Fire - CHI • Chivas USA - CHV • Colorado Rapids - COL • Columbus Crew - CLB • D.C. United - DC FC Dallas - DAL • Houston Dynamo - HOU • Kansas City Wizards - KC • Los Angeles Galaxy - LA • New England Revolution - NE New York Red Bulls - NY • Real Salt Lake - RSL • San Jose Earthquakes - SJ • Seattle Sounders FC - SEA • Toronto FC - TOR Win  • Loss  • Tie  • Home
Club	Match
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30
Chicago Fire	DAL	DC	NY	SJ	KC	CLB	SEA	NE	TOR	NY	CHV	DAL	HOU	DC	COL	CLB	SJ	SEA	RSL	HOU	KC	LA	COL	DC	RSL	CLB	TOR	LA	NE	CHV
	3-1	1-1	0-1	3-3	2-2	2-2	1-1	1-1	2-0	1-0	3-2	3-0	1-0	1-2	2-1	0-0	0-2	0-0
Chivas USA	COL	DAL	CLB	LA	SEA	TOR	DAL	SJ	RSL	DC	KC	CHI	SEA	HOU	CLB	LA	NE	COL	NY	TOR	RSL	LA	NE	SEA	NY	DC	KC	SJ	CHI	HOU
	1-2	2-0	1-2	0-0	0-2	0-1	0-2	1-0	0-1	2-2	1-1	3-2	0-1	0-1	1-2	1-0	0-2
Colorado Rapids	CHV	KC	LA	CLB	HOU	LA	RSL	NE	SEA	NY	RSL	DC	DAL	SEA	CHI	DAL	DC	NY	CLB	CHV	CHI	HOU	TOR	TOR	SJ	SJ	KC	NE	DAL	RSL
	1-2	1-2	3-2	1-1	0-1	1-1	0-2	1-1	2-2	3-2	1-1	0-3	1-1	0-3	2-1	0-1	1-3	0-4
Columbus Crew	HOU	TOR	RSL	CHV	COL	CHI	TOR	KC	LA	SJ	SEA	KC	CHV	DAL	NY	DC	CHI	RSL	TOR	COL	SJ	DAL	NY	HOU	CHI	LA	SEA	NE	DC	NE
	1-1	1-1	1-4	1-2	1-1	2-2	1-1	2-3	1-1	1-2	1-1	2-0	1-2	1-2	0-1	1-1	0-0	1-3	2-3
D.C. United	LA	CHI	HOU	RSL	NE	NY	DAL	KC	TOR	CHV	RSL	NE	NY	CHI	SEA	COL	CLB	COL	SJ	HOU	KC	TOR	LA	CHI	DAL	SEA	SJ	CHV	CLB	KC
	2-2	1-1	0-1	1-2	1-1	3-2	1-2	1-1	3-3	2-2	0-0	1-2	2-0	1-2	3-3	0-3	1-1	1-3	2-2
FC Dallas	CHI	CHV	NE	TOR	TOR	CHV	DC	HOU	SEA	LA	CHI	SJ	HOU	CLB	COL	NY	COL	RSL	KC	HOU	CLB	NY	DC	LA	KC	RSL	NE	SJ	COL	SEA
	3-1	2-0	1-2	1-1	2-3	0-2	1-2	0-1	1-1	1-1	3-0	2-2	3-1	1-2	1-1	1-2	0-1	2-4
Houston Dynamo	CLB	SJ	DC	NY	COL	NE	DAL	NY	SJ	TOR	CHI	CHV	DAL	RSL	LA	KC	SEA	TOR	NE	DC	DAL	CHI	RSL	SEA	COL	CLB	RSL	KC	LA	CHV
	1-1	2-3	0-1	0-0	0-1	2-0	0-1	1-1	1-3	0-3	1-0	0-1	3-1	1-1	0-1	1-0	1-2	1-1	1-0
Kansas City Wizards	TOR	COL	SJ	SEA	CHI	NY	TOR	DC	CLB	RSL	CHV	LA	CLB	NE	HOU	NE	LA	DAL	DC	CHI	SJ	RSL	NE	NY	DAL	COL	HOU	CHV	SEA	DC
	3-2	1-2	0-2	1-0	2-2	0-1	0-1	1-1	2-3	2-0	1-1	1-1	2-0	1-3	1-0	0-0	1-1
Los Angeles Galaxy	DC	COL	CHV	SJ	COL	NY	RSL	SEA	CLB	DAL	KC	TOR	RSL	SJ	HOU	NE	CHV	NY	KC	NE	SEA	CHI	DC	CHV	DAL	TOR	CLB	CHI	HOU	SJ
	2-2	3-2	0-0	1-1	1-1	0-1	2-2	1-1	1-1	1-1	1-1	2-1	2-0	1-2	0-1	0-1	1-0	3-1	1-1
New England Revolution	SJ	NY	DAL	DC	RSL	HOU	CHI	COL	TOR	DC	NY	KC	LA	KC	CHV	HOU	TOR	LA	SEA	RSL	SJ	KC	CHV	NY	SEA	DAL	COL	CLB	CHI	CLB
	1-0	1-1	1-2	1-1	0-6	2-0	1-1	1-1	1-3	1-2	0-4	1-3	0-1	0-0	0-2	1-0
New York Red Bulls	SEA	NE	CHI	HOU	RSL	KC	DC	LA	SJ	HOU	CHI	COL	DC	NE	TOR	SEA	TOR	CLB	DAL	LA	COL	CHV	DAL	CLB	KC	NE	CHV	SJ	RSL	TOR
	0-3	1-1	0-1	0-0	0-2	0-1	3-2	0-1	1-4	1-1	1-0	3-2	0-2	0-4	1-3	1-1	0-2	0-1	1-2	3-1	0-4
Real Salt Lake	SEA	CLB	DC	NY	NE	COL	LA	CHV	KC	DC	SJ	COL	LA	HOU	TOR	SJ	CLB	DAL	CHI	SEA	HOU	NE	CHV	KC	CHI	HOU	DAL	NY	TOR	COL
	0-2	1-4	1-2	0-2	0-6	0-2	2-2	0-1	2-0	0-0	1-2	1-1	2-0	1-1	0-3	1-1	1-3	2-4
San Jose Earthquakes	NE	HOU	KC	CHI	LA	SEA	CHV	NY	HOU	CLB	RSL	DAL	SEA	LA	RSL	TOR	CHI	DC	SEA	CLB	KC	NE	COL	COL	DC	NY	DAL	TOR	CHV	LA
	1-0	2-3	0-2	3-3	1-1	0-2	1-0	1-4	1-3	1-2	1-2	2-2	1-2	1-2	1-1	3-1	0-2	2-2
Seattle Sounders FC	NY	RSL	TOR	KC	CHV	SJ	CHI	LA	DAL	COL	CLB	CHV	SJ	DC	NY	COL	HOU	CHI	SJ	RSL	LA	NE	HOU	TOR	DC	CHV	NE	CLB	KC	DAL
	0-3	0-2	2-0	1-0	0-2	0-2	1-1	1-1	1-1	2-2	1-1	0-1	1-2	3-3	1-1	0-3	1-2	0-0
Toronto FC	KC	CLB	SEA	DAL	DAL	CHV	KC	CLB	DC	CHI	NE	HOU	LA	NY	NY	RSL	SJ	HOU	CLB	NE	DC	CHV	SEA	COL	COL	LA	CHI	SJ	RSL	NY
	3-2	1-1	2-0	1-1	2-3	0-1	0-1	1-1	3-3	2-0	1-3	0-3	2-1	1-2	0-2	0-3	3-1	1-1	2-3

Standings

For an explanation of the playoff qualifications, see Competition format.

Conference standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Columbus Crew	30	13	7	10	41	31	+10	49	MLS Cup Playoffs
2	Chicago Fire	30	11	7	12	39	34	+5	45
3	New England Revolution	30	11	10	9	33	37	−4	42
4	D.C. United	30	9	8	13	43	44	−1	40
5	Toronto FC	30	10	11	9	37	46	−9	39
6	Kansas City Wizards	30	8	13	9	33	42	−9	33
7	New York Red Bulls	30	5	19	6	27	47	−20	21

Source: MLS

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	LA Galaxy	30	12	6	12	36	31	+5	48	MLS Cup Playoffs
2	Houston Dynamo	30	13	8	9	39	29	+10	48
3	Seattle Sounders FC	30	12	7	11	38	29	+9	47
4	Chivas USA	30	13	11	6	34	31	+3	45
5	Real Salt Lake	30	11	12	7	43	35	+8	40
6	Colorado Rapids	30	10	10	10	42	38	+4	40
7	FC Dallas	30	11	13	6	50	47	+3	39
8	San Jose Earthquakes	30	7	14	9	36	50	−14	30

Source: MLS

Overall standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Columbus Crew (S)	30	13	7	10	41	31	+10	49	CONCACAF Champions League
2	LA Galaxy	30	12	6	12	36	31	+5	48
3	Houston Dynamo	30	13	8	9	39	29	+10	48	North American SuperLiga
4	Seattle Sounders FC	30	12	7	11	38	29	+9	47	CONCACAF Champions League
5	Chicago Fire	30	11	7	12	39	34	+5	45	North American SuperLiga
6	Chivas USA	30	13	11	6	34	31	+3	45
7	New England Revolution	30	11	10	9	33	37	−4	42
8	Real Salt Lake (C)	30	11	12	7	43	35	+8	40	CONCACAF Champions League
9	Colorado Rapids	30	10	10	10	42	38	+4	40
10	D.C. United	30	9	8	13	43	44	−1	40
11	FC Dallas	30	11	13	6	50	47	+3	39
12	Toronto FC	30	10	11	9	37	46	−9	39	CONCACAF Champions League
13	Kansas City Wizards	30	8	13	9	33	42	−9	33
14	San Jose Earthquakes	30	7	14	9	36	50	−14	30
15	New York Red Bulls	30	5	19	6	27	47	−20	21

Source: MLS
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head record; 3) goal difference; 4) number of goals scored
(C) Champions; (S) Supporters' Shield

Statistics

Budweiser Golden Boot

Full article: MLS Golden Boot

Rank	Scorer	Club	GP	G	A
1	Guillermo Barros Schelotto	Columbus Crew	17	10	3
2	Fredy Montero	Seattle Sounders FC	15	9	6
3	Conor Casey	Colorado Rapids	13	8	1
4	Landon Donovan	Los Angeles Galaxy	13	7	5
5	Juan Pablo Angel	New York Red Bulls	19	7	1
6	Kenny Cooper	F.C. Dallas	15	7	1
7	Omar Cummings	Colorado Rapids	15	6	6
8	Nate Jaqua	Seattle Sounders	16	6	6
9	Dwayne de Rosario	Toronto F.C.	16	6	3
10	Luciano Emilio	D.C. United	15	6	2

Last Updated July 23, 2009

Goalkeeping leaders

Rank	Goalkeeper	Club	GP	MINS	SHTS	SVS	GA	GAA	W-L-T	SHO
1	Pat Onstad	Houston Dynamo	17	1530	59	45	12	0.71	9-4-4	8
2	Zach Thornton	Chivas USA	16	1440	75	58	13	0.85	8-5-3	7
3	Kasey Keller	Seattle Sounders FC	16	1379	59	44	13	0.85	7-1-7	5
4	Nick Rimando	Real Salt Lake	13	1115	46	30	12	0.97	5-4-4	4
5	Donovan Ricketts	Los Angeles Galaxy	13	1170	57	42	13	1.00	3-2-8	3

Last Updated July 12, 2009

Individual Awards

Player of the Week

Week	Player of the Week	Club	Week's Statline
Week 1	Fredy Montero	Seattle Sounders FC	2 G (12', 75') GWG, A (25')
Week 2	Kasey Keller	Seattle Sounders FC	SHO, 5 SVS
Week 3	Conor Casey	Colorado Rapids	3 G (1', 49', 84') GWG
Week 4	Donovan Ricketts	Los Angeles Galaxy	SHO, 5 SVS
Week 5	Josh Wolff	Kansas City Wizards	2 G (78', 89') GTG
Week 6	Javier Morales	Real Salt Lake	2 A (53', 55') GWA
Week 7	Jaime Moreno	D.C. United	2 G (56', 66') GWG
Week 8	Macoumba Kandji	New York Red Bulls	G (40'), 2 A (13', 22') GWA
Week 9	Josh Wolff	Kansas City Wizards	2 G (20', 67') GWG
Week 10	Amado Guevara	Toronto FC	2 G (14', 70')
Week 11	Conor Casey	Colorado Rapids	2 G (25', 48')
Week 12	Taylor Twellman	New England Revolution	2 G (57', 64')
Week 13	Guillermo Barros Schelotto	Columbus Crew	2 G (61', 87') GWG
Week 14	Omar Cummings	Colorado Rapids	2 G (11', 45') GWG, A (49')
Week 15	Nate Jaqua	Seattle Sounders FC	A (23') GWA, 2 G (48', 68')
Week 16	Jeff Cunningham	FC Dallas	2 G (15', 17') GWG
Week 17	Chad Barrett	Toronto FC	2 G (5', 69')
Week 18	Cuauhtémoc Blanco	Chicago Fire	A (82') GWA, G (92+')
Week 19	Yura Movsisyan	Real Salt Lake	2 G (55', 93+')

Player of the Month

Month	Player of the Month	Club	Month's Statline
March	Fredy Montero	Seattle Sounders FC	3 G, 1 A, Sounders 2-0-0 in March
April	Brian McBride	Chicago Fire	4 G, Fire 1-0-3 in April
May	Conor Casey	Colorado Rapids	4 G, 1 A, Rapids 2-0-2 in May
June	Guillermo Barros Schelotto	Columbus Crew	4 G, 2 A, Crew 3-1-0 in June

Sierra Mist Goal of the Week

Week	Scorer	Club	Goal
Week 1	Fredy Montero	Seattle Sounders FC	12'
Week 2	Fredy Montero	Seattle Sounders FC	77'
Week 3	Sainey Nyassi	New England Revolution	56'
Week 4	Brian McBride	Chicago Fire	57'
Week 5	Brian Ching	Houston Dynamo	20'
Week 6	Clint Mathis	Real Salt Lake	55'
Week 7	Jaime Moreno	D.C. United	66'
Week 8	Chris Pontius	D.C. United	86'
Week 9	Santino Quaranta	D.C. United	85'
Week 10	Claudio López	Kansas City Wizards	56'
Week 11	Nate Jaqua	Seattle Sounders FC	58'
Week 12	Omar Cummings	Colorado Rapids	88'
Week 13	Davy Arnaud	Kansas City Wizards	19'
Week 14	Eric Avila	FC Dallas	80'
Week 15	Nate Jaqua	Seattle Sounders FC	48'
Week 16	Marco Pappa	Chicago Fire	30'
Week 17	Patrick Ianni	Seattle Sounders FC	46'
Week 18	Bryan Namoff	DC United	56'

Save of the Week

Save of the week was first introduced during week 10 of the 2009 season.

Week	Goalkeeper	Club	Save
Week 10	Kasey Keller	Seattle Sounders FC	34'
Week 11	Kevin Hartman	Kansas City Wizards	82'
Week 12	Pat Onstad	Houston Dynamo	34'
Week 13	Danny Cepero	New York Red Bulls	32'
Week 14	Donovan Ricketts	Los Angeles Galaxy	14'
Week 15	Stefan Frei	Toronto FC	34'
Week 16	Josh Saunders	Los Angeles Galaxy	73'

Related competitions

International competitions

CONCACAF Champions League 2008–09

Main article: CONCACAF Champions League 2008–09

The Houston Dynamo continued their CONCACAF Champions League 2008–09 campaign that began during the previous season. They were eliminated in the quarterfinals over two legs by eventual champions Atlante.

SuperLiga 2009

Main article: North American SuperLiga 2009

Chicago Fire, the New England Revolution, Chivas USA, and the Kansas City Wizards will be MLS's entrants in SuperLiga 2009, based on their finish in the 2008 regular season as the top four teams not already qualified for the CONCACAF Champions League.

CONCACAF Champions League 2009–10

Main article: CONCACAF Champions League 2009–10

The Columbus Crew (MLS Cup and Supporters' Shield winner), the Houston Dynamo (MLS Supporters' Shield Runner-up), Red Bull New York (MLS Cup runner-up), and D.C. United (U.S. Open Cup winner), will be the representatives in the CONCACAF Champions League 2009–10 -- an additional slot from Canada was gained by Toronto FC by virtue of their Canadian Championship win. New York, D.C. and Toronto will enter at the preliminary round, which will begin the week of July 28. Columbus and Houston will be seeded directly into the Group stage, which will begin the week of August 18.

National competitions

2009 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup

Main article: 2009 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup

MLS awarded the top six finishers in 2008, regardless of conference, automatic berths into the 2009 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup's third round. The Columbus Crew, the Houston Dynamo, Chicago Fire, the New England Revolution, Chivas USA, and the Kansas City Wizards qualified based on their top-six finish. D.C. United and Seattle Sounders FC qualified via an eight team qualifying tournament.

Each of the qualified MLS teams are matched up against the winner of a second round game, all of whom come from one of the USL's three divisions.

2009 Canadian Championship

Main article: 2009 Canadian Championship

Canada's top three teams, MLS's Toronto FC and USL-1's Montreal Impact and Vancouver Whitecaps FC will compete in the 2009 Canadian Championship. The tournament was played as a double round robin group from May 6 to June 18, and won by Toronto, who will gain Canada's berth into the CONCACAF Champions League 2009-10.

All-Star game

MLS All-Star 2009

Main article: MLS All-Star 2009

MLS All-Star 2009 against Everton FC, of the English Premier League, will take place on July 29th at 9:30PM EST and can be seen on ESPN2 (English) and Telefutura (Spanish) from Rio Tinto Stadium home of Real Salt Lake.

See also

• List of transfers for the 2009 Major League Soccer season
• 2008 MLS Expansion Draft

External links

• Official Site of Major League Soccer