The 2013 MLS Cup playoffs was the eighteenth post-season tournament culminating the Major League Soccer regular season. The tournament began in late October and culminated on December 7, 2013, with MLS Cup 2013, the eighteenth league championship for MLS. This was the third year that the playoffs included ten teams, and the second playoff series since 2006 in which teams could not cross conference brackets. The top five teams in both the Eastern and Western conferences of the league earned berths, with the top three clubs in each conference earning direct byes to the conference semifinals. The fourth and fifth-place finishers of both conferences competed in a single-elimination play-in match.
The play-in winner played their respective conference regular season champion in the conference semifinals, which was a two-leg aggregate series, without the away goals rule enforced. For the second year in a row, each conference final was also a two-leg aggregate series, as opposed to the traditional single elimination match. The conference winners met in the MLS Cup, a single match hosted by the finalist with the better regular season record.
The Los Angeles Galaxy were the defending champions, having defeated Houston Dynamo 3–1 in the 2012 MLS Cup.
In a break from previous years, only Sporting Kansas City, the MLS Cup winner, directly entered the 2014–15 CONCACAF Champions League, earning a Pot A seed. They were joined by the New York Red Bulls, the Supporters' Shield winner; the Portland Timbers, the conference winner from the conference opposite the Supporters' Shield winner; and D.C. United, the 2013 U.S. Open Cup champion. However, none of these berths were available to the league's three Canadian teams, which instead participated in the Canadian Championship for that country's single berth in the CONCACAF Champions League. The change from the MLS Cup runner-up gaining entry to the CONCACAF Champions League to the opposite conference winner gaining entry was new for 2013. The change was announced after the MLS Cup had been played, with the announcement stating that the teams knew in advance.
Format For the 2013 playoffs, the league kept the format the same as the 2012 edition. In 2012, the league's previous system of "wild card" qualification—which had the potential for "crossover" series in which one team could play in the other conference's bracket—was scrapped. Instead, the new system had the top five teams in each conference qualify for the playoffs, with the two conference brackets being entirely separate. The first round of each conference was a one-off match between the fourth and fifth-placed teams, similar to the previous wild card system, with the fourth-placed team hosting. The first round winner advanced to play the conference's top seed in the conference semifinals, while the other two teams played each other in the other series.
The conference semifinals and conference finals were conducted in a home-and-away aggregate-goal format, with the higher seed hosting the second leg. If the teams were tied after two games, a 30-minute extra time period (divided into two 15-minute periods) was played, followed by a penalty shoot-out if necessary. The away goals rule and golden goal were not used.
In the case of ties in the first round or MLS Cup, extra time and a penalty shoot-out would be used in the same manner as above.
Qualified teams Eastern Conference
Western Conference
Tiebreak rules If two or more teams were tied in standings on points, the following tiebreak rules applied:
Most wins Goals scored Goal differential Fewest disciplinary points in the official points table (foul: 1 pt, first yellow: 3 pts, second yellow: 5 pts, straight red: 6 pts, disciplinary commission suspension: 6 pts, etc.) Away goals scored Away goal differential Home goals scored Home goal differential Coin toss (two teams) or drawing of lots (three or more teams)
Bracket
Knockout round
Eastern Conference
Western Conference
Conference semifinals
Eastern Conference
Sporting Kansas City won 4–3 on aggregate.
Houston Dynamo won 4–3 on aggregate.
Western Conference
Portland Timbers won 5–3 on aggregate.
Real Salt Lake won 2–1 on aggregate.
Conference finals Eastern Conference
Sporting Kansas City won 2–1 on aggregate.
Western Conference
Real Salt Lake won 5–2 on aggregate.
MLS Cup 2013
See also 2013 in American soccer 2013 U.S. Open Cup
Notes
References