2008 MLS Cup Playoffs

2008 MLS Cup Playoffs

Country	United States
Teams	8
Defending champions	Houston Dynamo
Champions	Columbus Crew (1st title)
Runners-up	New York Red Bulls
Matches played	11
Goals scored	25 (2.27 per match)
Top goal scorer(s)	Juan Pablo Ángel Chad Marshall John Wolyniec (2 goals each)
← 2007 2009 →

The 2008 MLS Cup Playoffs were the postseason to Major League Soccer's 2008 season, and culminated with MLS Cup 2008 on November 23, 2008 at The Home Depot Center in Carson, California.

Format

At the 2008 season's end, the top three teams of each conference made the playoffs; in addition the clubs with the next two 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.

Standings

Conference standings

Eastern Conference
Pos	Club	Pts	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD
1	Columbus Crew	57	30	17	7	6	50	36	+14
2	Chicago Fire	46	30	13	10	7	44	33	+11
3	New England Revolution	43	30	12	11	7	40	43	–3
4	Kansas City Wizards	42	30	11	10	9	37	39	–2
5	New York Red Bulls	39	30	10	11	9	42	48	–6
6	D.C. United	37	30	11	15	4	43	51	–8
7	Toronto FC	35	30	9	13	8	34	43	–9

	2008 MLS Cup Playoffs
	2008 MLS Cup Playoffs (Wild Card)

Western Conference
Pos	Club	Pts	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD
1	Houston Dynamo	51	30	13	5	12	45	32	+13
2	Chivas USA	43	30	12	11	7	40	41	–1
3	Real Salt Lake	40	30	10	10	10	40	39	+1
4	Colorado Rapids	38	30	11	14	5	44	45	–1
5	FC Dallas	36	30	8	10	12	45	41	+4
6	LA Galaxy	33	30	8	13	9	55	62	–7
7	San Jose Earthquakes	33	30	8	13	9	32	38	–6

	2008 MLS Cup Playoffs
	2008 MLS Cup Playoffs (Wild Card)

Overall standings

Pos	Team	Pts	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Qualification or relegation
1	Columbus Crew (SS) (E1)	57	30	17	7	6	50	36	+14	2009–10 CONCACAF Champions League Group Stage ^2
2	Houston Dynamo (W1)	51	30	13	5	12	45	32	+13
3	Chicago Fire	46	30	13	10	7	44	33	+11	2009 North American SuperLiga ^4
4	New England Revolution	43	30	12	11	7	40	43	−3
5	Chivas USA	43	30	12	11	7	40	41	−1
6	Kansas City Wizards	42	30	11	10	9	37	39	−2
7	Real Salt Lake	40	30	10	10	10	40	39	+1	2008 MLS Cup Playoffs
8	New York Red Bulls	39	30	10	11	9	42	48	−6	2009–10 CONCACAF Champions League Preliminary Round ^3
9	Colorado Rapids	38	30	11	14	5	44	45	−1
10	D.C. United	37	30	11	15	4	43	51	−8	2009–10 CONCACAF Champions League Preliminary Round ^3
11	FC Dallas	36	30	8	10	12	45	41	+4
12	Toronto FC	35	30	9	13	8	34	43	−9
13	LA Galaxy	33	30	8	13	9	55	62	−7
14	San Jose Earthquakes	33	30	8	13	9	32	38	−6

• ^Note 1 - Toronto FC cannot qualify for the U.S. Open Cup, as it is a Canadian-based team.
  If they had qualified for an automatic berth into the U.S. Open Cup, the next highest placed team not already qualified would have qualified.

• ^Note 2 - Toronto FC cannot qualify for the CONCACAF Champions League through MLS. Rather, they can qualify through the Canadian Soccer Championship.
  If they had qualified for the Champions League through MLS, then the highest placed team not already qualified would have qualified.

• ^Note 3 - The winner of the 2008 MLS Supporters' Shield (Columbus Crew) qualified for the 2009–10 CONCACAF Champions League Group Stage. As they also won MLS 2008, the 2008 MLS Supporters' Shield runner-up (Houston Dynamo) also entered the Group Stage. The runner-up of MLS Cup 2008 (New York Red Bulls) and the winner of the 2008 U.S. Open Cup (D.C. United) qualified for the 2009–10 CONCACAF Champions League Preliminary Round.

• ^Note 4 - SuperLiga 2009 berths are awarded to the top 4 finishing teams from MLS who do not qualify for Champions League (Chicago, New England, Chivas USA and Kansas City).

Bracket

	Conference Semifinals						Conference Finals					MLS Cup 2008
	E1	Columbus	1	2
	E4	Kansas City	1	0
							E1	Columbus	2
	Eastern Conference
							E2	Chicago	1
	E3	New England	0	0
	E2	Chicago	0	3
												E1	Columbus	3
												W4	New York	1
	W1	Houston	1	0
	W4	New York	1	3
							W4	New York	1
	Western Conference
							W3	Salt Lake	0
	W3	Salt Lake	1	2
	W2	Chivas USA	0	2

¹ The New York Red Bulls earned the eighth and final playoff berth, despite finishing fifth in the Eastern Conference. They represent the fourth seed in the Western Conference playoff bracket, as only three teams in the Western Conference qualified for the playoffs.

Conference Semifinals

Columbus Crew v Kansas City Wizards

November 1, 2008 7:00 PM CDT

Columbus Crew	1 – 1	Kansas City Wizards
Padula  84' Lenhart  90+2' Carroll  90+3'		Jewsbury  40' Arnaud  53' Gomez  75'

Community America Ballpark, Kansas City, Kansas Attendance: 10,385 Referee: Jorge Gonzalez

Kansas City Wizards v Columbus Crew

November 8, 2008 7:30 PM EST

Kansas City Wizards	0 – 2	Columbus Crew
Arnaud  39' Wahl  49'		Evans  7'  63' Rogers  57'  66' Hejduk  87' Ekpo  90'

Columbus Crew Stadium, Columbus, Ohio Attendance: 11,153 Referee: Ricardo Salazar

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Chicago Fire v New England Revolution

October 30, 2008 7:30 PM EDT

Chicago Fire	0 – 0	New England Revolution
Soumare  16' Pause  59' Blanco  69'		Mansally  42' Castro  73'

Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, Massachusetts Attendance: 5,221 Referee: Alex Prus

New England Revolution v Chicago Fire

November 6, 2008 7:30 PM CST

New England Revolution	0 – 3	Chicago Fire
Albright  7'  83' Igwe  45+2' Joseph  53'		Thorrington  36' Rolfe  45+2' Conde  47' Busch  62' Segares  74'

Toyota Park, Bridgeview, Illinois Attendance: 17,312 Referee: Jair Marrufo

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Houston Dynamo v New York Red Bulls

November 1, 2008 4:00 PM EDT

Houston Dynamo	1 – 1	New York Red Bulls
Mullan  53' Kamara  85'		Richards  29' Angel  37'  48'

Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey Attendance: 11,578 Referee: Kevin Stott

New York Red Bulls v Houston Dynamo

November 9, 2008 2:00 PM CST

New York Red Bulls	3 – 0	Houston Dynamo
van den Bergh  5' Richards  25' Goldthwaite  28' Angel  36' (pen.) Sassano  45+2' Wolyniec  81'		Robinson  62' Onstad  69' Mullan  73'

Robertson Stadium, Houston, Texas Attendance: 30,053 Referee: Baldomero Toledo

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Chivas USA v Real Salt Lake

November 1, 2008 4:00 PM MDT

Chivas USA	0 – 1	Real Salt Lake
Razov  66' Thomas  75'		Williams  29' Beckerman  42' Movsisyan  90'

Rio Tinto Stadium, Sandy, Utah Attendance: 14,719 Referee: Ricardo Salazar

Real Salt Lake v Chivas USA

November 8, 2008 7:30 PM PST

Real Salt Lake	2 – 2	Chivas USA
Mathis  10' Borchers  30' Kovalenko  39'  42' Morales  77'		Nagamura  22' Kljestan  30' (pen.) Bornstein  60' Braun  83' Razov  86' Thomas  90+1'

Home Depot Center, Carson, California Attendance: 19,256 Referee: Michael Kennedy

Conference finals

Chicago Fire v Columbus Crew

November 13, 2008 7:30PM EST

Chicago Fire	1–2	Columbus Crew
Soumare  22' McBride  29' Segares  48' Prideaux  67'		Marshall  49' Gaven  55' O'Rourke  57' Hesmer  90+2'

Columbus Crew Stadium, Columbus, Ohio Attendance: 14,688 Referee: Terry Vaughn

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New York Red Bulls v Real Salt Lake

November 15, 2008 7:30PM MST

New York Red Bulls	1–0	Real Salt Lake
van den Bergh  28' Goldthwaite  45' Rojas  64' Leitch  90+4'

Rio Tinto Stadium, Sandy, Utah Attendance: 20,008 Referee: Jair Marrufo

MLS Cup

New York Red Bulls v Columbus Crew

November 23, 2008 12:30 PM PST

New York Red Bulls	1–3	Columbus Crew
Leitch  4' Wolyniec  51'		Moreno  31' Marshall  53' Padula  68' Hejduk  82'

Home Depot Center, Carson, California Attendance: 27,000 Referee: Baldomero Toledo

Additional References

• MLS Cup 2008
• MLS Cup Playoffs
• 2008 Major League Soccer season