1997 Major League Soccer season

1997 Major League Soccer season
Season	1997
MLS Cup	D.C. United (2nd title)
Supporters' Shield	D.C. United (1st shield)
Matches played	160
Goals scored	522 (3.26 per match)
Top goalscorer	Jaime Moreno; D.C. United; Goals: 16
Longest winning run	Kansas City Wizards; Games: 7; (07/19 – 08/31)
Longest losing run	N.E. Revolution; Games: 9; (07/20 – 09/12)
Highest attendance	N.E. Revolution; Season: 342,762; Game Avg.: 21,423
Lowest attendance	K.C. Wizards; Season: 144,935; Game Avg.: 9,058
Average attendance	MLS; Season: 2,339,019; Game Avg.: 14,619
	← 1996 season 1998 season →

The 1997 Major League Soccer season was the second season of Major League Soccer.

Conference standings

Pos	Club	Pts	GP	W	L	SOW	GF	GA	GD
Eastern Conference v t e
1	D.C. United	55	32	17	11	4	70	53	+17
2	Tampa Bay Mutiny	45	32	14	15	3	55	60	−5
3	Columbus Crew	39	32	12	17	3	42	41	+1
4	New England Revolution	37	32	11	17	4	40	53	−13
5	New York/New Jersey MetroStars	35	32	11	19	2	43	53	−10


	1997 MLS Cup Playoffs

Pos	Club	Pts	GP	W	L	SOW	GF	GA	GD
Western Conference v t e
1	Kansas City Wizards	49	32	14	11	7	57	51	+6
2	Los Angeles Galaxy	44	32	14	16	2	55	44	+11
3	Dallas Burn	42	32	13	16	3	55	49	+6
4	Colorado Rapids	38	32	12	18	2	50	59	−9
5	San Jose Clash	30	32	9	20	3	55	59	−4


	1997 MLS Cup Playoffs

Overall standings

Pos	Club	Pts	GP	W	L	SOW	GF	GA	GD
Major League Soccer v t e
1	D.C. United¹ (E1)	55	32	17	11	4	70	53	+17
2	Kansas City Wizards (W1)	49	32	14	11	7	57	51	+6
3	Tampa Bay Mutiny (E2)	45	32	14	15	3	55	60	−5
4	Los Angeles Galaxy (W2)	44	32	14	16	2	55	44	+11
5	Dallas Burn	42	32	13	16	3	55	49	+6
6	Columbus Crew	39	32	12	17	3	42	41	+1
7	Colorado Rapids¹	38	32	12	18	2	50	59	−9
8	New England Revolution	37	32	11	17	4	40	53	−13
9	New York/New Jersey MetroStars	35	32	11	19	2	43	53	−10
10	San Jose Clash	30	32	9	20	3	55	59	−4


	MLS Supporters' Shield
	1997 MLS Cup Playoffs

^Note 1 – CONCACAF Champions League berths will be awarded to the participants of MLS Cup 1997 (D.C. and Colorado)

MLS playoff bracket

The ties were a best-of-three series.

Conference Semifinals					Conference Finals					MLS Cup '97

1	D.C. United	4	1 (4)	x

4	New England Revolution	1	1 (3)	x
					1	D.C. United	3	1	x

					3	Columbus Crew	2	0	x
2	Tampa Bay Mutiny	1	0	x

3	Columbus Crew	2	2	x
										E	D.C. United	2

										W	Colorado Rapids	1
1	Kansas City Wizards	0	2	x

4	Colorado Rapids	3	3	x
					4	Colorado Rapids	1	2	x

					3	Dallas Burn	0	1	x
2	LA Galaxy	0 (0)	0	x

3	Dallas Burn	0 (2)	3	x

Conference Semi-finals

Eastern Conference

October 5, 1997
Game 1

D.C. United	4–1	New England Revolution
Wegerle 13', 56' Moreno 65', 76'		Burns 89'

Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium
Washington, D.C.

Attendance: 12,540

Referee: Tim Weyland

October 8, 1997
Game 2

New England Revolution	1–2 3–4 (S.O.)	D.C. United

Foxboro Stadium
Foxborough, Massachusetts

Attendance: 16,233

D.C. United advance to the Conference Finals.

October 5, 1997
Game 1

Tampa Bay Mutiny	1–2	Columbus Crew
Gilmar 35'		Farrell 11' Wood 83'

Houlihan's Stadium
Tampa, Florida

Attendance: 8,272

Referee: Noel Kenny

October 8, 1997
Game 2

Columbus Crew	2–0	Tampa Bay Mutiny
McBride 43' Warzycha 73'

Ohio Stadium
Columbus, Ohio

Attendance: 13,102

Referee: Joshua Patlak

Columbus Crew advance to the Conference Finals.

Western Conference

October 5, 1997
Game 1

LA Galaxy	0–1 0–2 (S.O.)	Dallas Burn

Rose Bowl
Pasadena, California

Attendance: 18,921

Referee: Kevin Stott

October 8, 1997
Game 2

Dallas Burn	3–0	Los Angeles Galaxy
Washington 29', 69' Peinado 86'

Cotton Bowl
Dallas, Texas

Attendance: 11,248

Referee: Esse Baharmast

Dallas Burn advance to the Conference Finals.

October 4, 1997
Game 1

Kansas City Wizards	0–3	Colorado Rapids
		Henderson 25' Bravo 67' Paule 75'

Arrowhead Stadium
Kansas City, Missouri

Attendance: 10,174

Referee: Brian Hall

October 8, 1997
Game 2

Colorado Rapids	3–2	Kansas City Wizards
Bravo 16', 68' Harris 83'		Takawira 9' Preki 88'

Mile High Stadium
Denver, Colorado

Attendance: 13,117

Referee: Paul Tamberino

Colorado Rapids advance to the Conference Finals.

Conference finals

Western Conference

October 12, 1997
Game 1

Dallas Burn	0–1	Colorado Rapids
		Henderson 42'

Cotton Bowl
Dallas, Texas

Attendance: 7,376

Referee: Kevin Stott

October 15, 1997
Game 2

Colorado Rapids	2–1	Dallas Burn
Patiño 2' Henderson 87'		Damian 5'

Mile High Stadium
Denver, Colorado

Attendance: 18,452

Referee: Noel Kenny

Colorado Rapids advance to MLS Cup '97.

Eastern Conference

October 12, 1997
Game 1

D.C. United	3–2	Columbus Crew
Sanneh 9', 45' Díaz Arce 29'		Farrell 57' Dooley 73'

Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium
Washington, D.C.

Attendance: 11,820

Referee: Kevin Terry

October 15, 1997
Game 2

Columbus Crew	0–1	D.C. United
		Díaz Arce 47'

Ohio Stadium
Columbus, Ohio

Attendance: 9,506

Referee: Arturo Angeles

D.C. United advance to MLS Cup '97.

MLS Cup '97

October 26, 1997

D.C. United	2–1	Colorado Rapids
Moreno 37' Sanneh 68'		Paz 75'

Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium
Washington, D.C.

Attendance: 57,431

Referee: Brian Hall

D.C. United and Colorado Rapids earn a berth to the 1998 CONCACAF Champions' Cup.

Team awards

Player of the week

Week	Player of the Week	Club
Week 1	Dave Salzwedel	San Jose Clash
Week 2	Giuseppe Galderisi	Tampa Bay Mutiny
Week 3	Carlos Valderrama	Tampa Bay Mutiny
Week 4	Raúl Díaz Arce	D.C. United
Week 5	Dante Washington	Dallas Burn
Week 6	Roberto Donadoni	MetroStars
Week 7	Doctor Khumalo	Columbus Crew
Week 8	Damian Alvarez	Dallas Burn
Week 9	Chiquinho Conde	New England Revolution
Week 10	Preki Radosavljević	Kansas City Wizards
Week 11	Eric Wynalda	San Jose Clash
Week 12	Preki Radosavljević	Kansas City Wizards
Week 13	Gilmar	Tampa Bay Mutiny
Week 14	Paul Bravo	Colorado Rapids
Week 15	Tab Ramos	MetroStars
Week 16	Dante Washington	Dallas Burn
Week 17	Antony de Ávila	MetroStars
Week 18	Gilmar	Tampa Bay Mutiny
Week 19	Wolde Harris	Colorado Rapids
Week 20	Thomas Dooley	Columbus Crew
Week 21	Giovanni Savarese	MetroStars
Week 22	Marco Etcheverry	D.C. United
Week 23	Eduardo Hurtado	Los Angeles Galaxy
Week 24	Cobi Jones	Los Angeles Galaxy
Week 25	Martín Vásquez	Tampa Bay Mutiny
Week 26	Marcelo Balboa	Colorado Rapids

Player of the month

Month	Player of the Month	Club
April	Jaime Moreno	D.C. United
May	Alain Sutter	Dallas Burn
June	John Harkes	D.C. United
July	Wélton	Los Angeles Galaxy
August	Brad Friedel	Columbus Crew
September	Walter Zenga	New England Revolution

Individual awards

Award	Player	Club
Most Valuable Player	Preki Radosavljević	Kansas City Wizards
Scoring Champion	Preki Radosavljević (41 Pts.)	Kansas City Wizards
Defender of the Year	Eddie Pope	D.C. United
Goalkeeper of the Year	Brad Friedel	Columbus Crew
Rookie of the Year	Mike Duhaney	Tampa Bay Mutiny
Coach of the Year	Bruce Arena	D.C. United
Goal of the Year	Marco Etcheverry	D.C. United
Fair Play Award	Mark Chung	Kansas City Wizards

Top goal scorers

Position	Player	Club	Goals
1	Jaime Moreno	D.C. United	16
2	Raúl Díaz Arce	D.C. United	15
3	Giovanni Savarese	NY/NJ MetroStars	14
4	Preki	Kansas City Wizards	12
	Ronald Cerritos	San Jose Clash
	Dante Washington	Dallas Burn
7	Damián	Dallas Burn	11
7	Wélton	Los Angeles Galaxy	11
9	Jeff Baicher	San Jose Clash	10
	Mark Chung	Kansas City Wizards
	Roy Lassiter	Tampa Bay Mutiny
	Lawrence Lozzano	San Jose Clash

Goalkeeping leaders

(Minimum 1,000 minutes)

No.	Player	Club	Games played	Minutes	Goals against	GA average	Wins	Loses
1	Brad Friedel	Columbus Crew	29	2,609	35	1.21	14	15
2	Walter Zenga	New England Revolution	22	1,980	28	1.27	15	7
3	Jorge Campos	Los Angeles Galaxy	19	1,661	24	1.30	12	6
4	Marcus Hahnemann	Colorado Rapids	25	2,157	37	1.54	13	10
5	Mike Ammann	Kansas City Wizards	29	2,597	45	1.56	21	8
6	Mark Dodd	Dallas Burn	30	2,700	48	1.60	14	16
7	Tony Meola	NY/NJ MetroStars	30	2,684	48	1.61	12	18
8	David Kramer*	San Jose Clash	21	1,831	33	1.62	7	14
9	Scott Garlick	D.C. United	14	1,171	22	1.69	9	5
10	Dave Salzwedel	San Jose Clash	20	1,679	35	1.88	7	11
11	Mark Dougherty	Tampa Bay Mutiny	25	2,143	45	1.89	15	10

Played for more than one team – Most Recent Team Listed*

Team attendance totals

Club	Games	Season Total	Game Average
New England Revolution	16	342,762	21,423
Los Angeles Galaxy	16	330,015	20,626
NY/NJ MetroStars	16	270,388	16,899
D.C. United	16	267,171	16,698
Columbus Crew	16	240,680	15,043
San Jose Clash	16	217,546	13,597
Colorado Rapids	16	189,355	11,835
Tampa Bay Mutiny	16	181,322	11,333
Dallas Burn	16	154,845	9,678
Kansas City Wizards	16	144,935	9,058
OVERALL	160	2,339,019	14,619

Winningest coaches (by wins)

Coach	Club	Wins	Loss	PCT.	PTS.	SOW
Bruce Arena	D.C. United	21	11	0.656	55	4
Ron Newman	Kansas City Wizards	21	11	0.656	49	7
John Kowalski	Tampa Bay Mutiny	17	15	0.531	45	3
Dave Dir	Dallas Burn	16	16	0.500	42	3
Tom Fitzgerald	Columbus Crew	15	17	0.469	39	3
Thomas Rongen	New England Revolution	15	17	0.469	37	4
Glenn Myernick	Colorado Rapids	14	18	0.438	38	2
Octavio Zambrano	Los Angeles Galaxy	13	7	0.650	37	1
Carlos Alberto Parreira	NY/NJ Metrostars	13	19	0.406	35	2
Brian Quinn	San Jose Clash	7	10	0.412	19	1
Laurie Calloway	San Jose Clash	5	10	0.333	11	2
Lothar Osiander	Los Angeles Galaxy	3	9	0.250	7	1

References

MLS Site

v t e Major League Soccer
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v t e 1997 MLS season by team
College Draft Supplemental Draft All-Star Game Playoffs MLS Cup Transfers
Eastern	Columbus Crew D.C. United New England Revolution New York/New Jersey MetroStars Tampa Bay Mutiny
Western	Colorado Rapids Dallas Burn Kansas City Wizards Los Angeles Galaxy San Jose Clash