The 2001 Major League Soccer season was the sixth season of Major League Soccer. It was also the 89th season of FIFA-sanctioned soccer in the United States, and the 23rd with a national first-division league.
The season was shortened due to the September 11 attacks, with the final weeks' regular season matches being canceled. Due to the different number of games played, playoff ordering was determined by points per game, instead of total points.
The regular season began on April 7, and concluded prematurely on September 9. The 2001 MLS Cup Playoffs began on September 20, and concluded with MLS Cup 2001 on October 21. The Miami Fusion won their first Supporters' Shield and the San Jose Earthquakes defeated the Los Angeles Galaxy in the final to win their first MLS Cup.
Overview Season format The season began on April 7 and concluded with MLS Cup on October 21. The 12 teams were split into three divisions. Each team was to play 28 games that were evenly divided between home and away. Each team would play every other team in their division four times, for a total of 12 games. The remaining schedule consisted of three games against four select opponents in one of the other divisions, and two games against the remaining four teams.
The eight teams with the most points per game qualified for the MLS Cup Playoffs. The quarterfinals and semifinals were played as a best-of-three series, and the winners advanced to MLS Cup. In all rounds, draws were broken by penalty shootout if necessary. The away goals rule was not used in any round.
The team with the most points in the regular season was awarded the MLS Supporters' Shield. The winner of MLS Cup, and the runner-up, qualified for the CONCACAF Champions' Cup.
Stadiums and locations
Team Stadium Capacity Chicago Fire Soldier Field 66,944 Colorado Rapids Mile High Stadium 76,273 Columbus Crew Columbus Crew Stadium 22,555 D.C. United RFK Stadium 46,000 Dallas Burn Cotton Bowl 92,100 Kansas City Wizards Arrowhead Stadium 81,425 Los Angeles Galaxy Rose Bowl 92,542 Miami Fusion Lockhart Stadium 20,450 New England Revolution Foxboro Stadium 60,292 MetroStars Giants Stadium 80,200 San Jose Earthquakes Spartan Stadium 30,456 Tampa Bay Mutiny Raymond James Stadium 69,218
Personnel and sponsorships Team Head coach Captain Shirt sponsor Chicago Fire Bob Bradley — Colorado Rapids Tim Hankinson Columbus Crew Greg Andrulis — D.C. United Thomas Rongen MasterCard Dallas Burn Mike Jeffries Kansas City Wizards Bob Gansler — Los Angeles Galaxy Sigi Schmid — MetroStars Octavio Zambrano Tab Ramos New York Life Miami Fusion Ray Hudson — New England Revolution Fernando Clavijo — San Jose Earthquakes Frank Yallop Jeff Agoos Yahoo! Sports Tampa Bay Mutiny Perry Van der Beck
Coaching changes Team Outgoing coach Manner of departure Date of vacancy Incoming coach Date of appointment Columbus Crew Tom Fitzgerald Fired May 17, 2001 Greg Andrulis May 17, 2001 Tampa Bay Mutiny Alfonso Mondelo Resigned July 5, 2001 Perry Van der Beck July 5, 2001
Standings
Eastern Division
Central Division
Western Division
Overall standings
MLS Cup Playoffs
Bracket
Points systemWin = 3 Pts.Loss = 0 Pts.Draw = 1 Pt. ASDET*=Added sudden death extra time (game tie breaker)SDET**=Sudden death extra time (series tie breaker)Teams will advance at 5 points.
Quarterfinals
Chicago Fire advance 7–1 on points.
Miami Fusion advance 6–3 on points.
Los Angeles Galaxy advance 1-0 in series overtime (SDET) after 4-4 tie on points.
San Jose Earthquakes advance 6–0 on points.
Semifinals
Los Angeles Galaxy advance 7–1 on points.
San Jose Earthquakes advance 6–3 on points.
MLS Cup
Player statistics Goals Rank Player Club Goals 1 Alex Pineda Chacón Miami Fusion 19 2 Diego Serna Miami Fusion 15 3 John Spencer Colorado Rapids 14 Abdul Thompson Conteh D.C. United 5 Ronald Cerritos San Jose Earthquakes 11 Ariel Graziani Dallas Burn 7 Jeff Cunningham Columbus Crew 10 Eric Wynalda New England Revolution, Chicago Fire 9 Mamadou Diallo Tampa Bay Mutiny 9 Jaime Moreno D.C. United
Hat-tricks
Player Club Against Result Date Clint Mathis MetroStars Kansas City Wizards 4–1 Abdul Thompson Conteh D.C. United New England Revolution 5–0 Mamadou Diallo4 Tampa Bay Mutiny Los Angeles Galaxy 4–1 Diego Serna Miami Fusion Dallas Burn 6–2 Dante Washington Columbus Crew Tampa Bay Mutiny 6–1 John Spencer Colorado Rapids D.C. United 3–1 Alex Pineda Chacón Miami Fusion D.C. United 3–1
Assists Rank Player Club Assists 1 Diego Serna Miami Fusion 11 John Wilmar Pérez Columbus Crew 3 Ross Paule Colorado Rapids 10 Preki Miami Fusion 5 Jeff Cunningham Columbus Crew 8 Cobi Jones Los Angeles Galaxy Manny Lagos San Jose Earthquakes Piotr Nowak Chicago Fire 9 Landon Donovan San Jose Earthquakes 7 Marco Etcheverry D.C. United Ariel Graziani Dallas Burn Eric Quill Tampa Bay Mutiny
Clean sheets RankPlayerClubCleansheets1 Matt JordanDallas Burn9 Zach ThorntonChicago Fire3 Joe CannonSan Jose Earthquakes74 Matt ReisLos Angeles Galaxy65 Tom PresthusColumbus Crew5 Nick RimandoMiami Fusion7 Kevin HartmanLos Angeles Galaxy4 Tim HowardMetroStars Tony MeolaKansas City Wizards10 Bo OshoniyiKansas City Wizards3
Awards Individual awards AwardPlayerClubMost Valuable Player Alex Pineda ChacónMiami FusionDefender of the Year Jeff AgoosSan Jose EarthquakesGoalkeeper of the Year Tim HowardMetroStarsCoach of the Year Frank YallopSan Jose EarthquakesRookie of the Year Rodrigo FariaMetroStarsComeback Player of the Year Troy DayakSan Jose EarthquakesScoring Champion Alex Pineda ChacónMiami FusionGoal of the Year Clint MathisMetroStarsFair Play Award Alex Pineda ChacónMiami FusionHumanitarian of the Year Tim HowardMetroStars
Best XI GoalkeeperDefendersMidfieldersForwards Tim Howard, MetroStars Jeff Agoos, San Jose Carlos Llamosa, Miami Pablo Mastroeni, Miami Greg Vanney, LA Galaxy Chris Armas, Chicago Piotr Nowak, Chicago Preki, Miami Alex Pineda Chacón, Miami Diego Serna, Miami John Spencer, Colorado
Player of the Month WeekPlayerClubApril Alex Pineda Chacón Miami FusionMay Clint Mathis MetroStarsJune Diego Serna Miami FusionJuly Hristo Stoitchkov Chicago FireAugust Brian Maisonneuve Columbus Crew
Attendance
TeamGamesTotalAverageD.C. United12258,21321,518MetroStars13270,47720,806Columbus Crew13227,64417,511Los Angeles Galaxy13226,03517,387Colorado Rapids13214,24916,481Chicago Fire14229,43816,388New England Revolution13203,50115,654Dallas Burn13163,46512,574Miami Fusion14156,48111,177Kansas City Wizards13142,40210,954Tampa Bay Mutiny14146,70410,479San Jose Earthquakes13125,2509,635Totals1582,363,85914,961
International Competition
CONCACAF Champions' Cup
Kansas City Wizards2001 edition canceled; Wizards advanced to CONCACAF Champions' Cup 2002. Chicago Fire2001 edition canceled; Fire advance to CONCACAF Champions' Cup 2002.
Copa Merconorte
MetroStarsWent 3-3-0 in group stage and did not advance.Defeated Deportivo Italchacao, 2-0 at home.Awarded two forfeit wins against Club Deportivo Guadalajara, after the club refused to travel.Lost Deportivo Italchacao, 2-1 away.Lost Millonarios, 2-1 away and 1-0 at home. Kansas City WizardsWent 1-4-1 in group stage and did not advance.Defeated Barcelona, 3-2 away, Drew 1-1 at home.Lost Santos Laguna, 4-2 away and 1-0 at home.Lost Sporting Cristal, 2-1 at home and 2-1 away.
CONCACAF Giants Cup
D.C. UnitedDefeated Arnett Gardens, 5-1 on aggregate in quarterfinals.Defeated Comunicaciones, 2-1 in semifinals.Lost Club América, 2-0 in final. Columbus CrewLost Deportivo Saprissa, 3-1 on aggregate in quarterfinals.
References
External links MLS Site