The 2014 MLS Cup playoffs (branded as the 2014 MLS Cup Playoffs presented by AT&T for sponsorship reasons) was the nineteenth post-season tournament culminating the Major League Soccer regular season. The tournament began in late October and culminated on December 7, 2014 with MLS Cup 2014, the nineteenth league championship for MLS.
The 2014 playoffs was the first time that the away goals rule was applied to the home-and-away, aggregate-goal series. The first series impacted by the rule was a Western Conference semifinal that saw Seattle Sounders FC advance past FC Dallas when the first match (held in Dallas) ended 1–1 and the second (held in Seattle) ended 0–0.
The LA Galaxy defeated the New England Revolution 2–1 after extra time in MLS Cup to win a record-breaking fifth title, thus earning a spot in the 2015–16 CONCACAF Champions League.
Sporting Kansas City were the defending champions, but they were eliminated in the knockout round by the New York Red Bulls.
Format The top five teams from both the Western Conference and the Eastern Conference qualified and were seeded in the playoffs to determine conference champions. The two conference champions faced off in MLS Cup 2014.
The fourth and fifth seeds in each conference played a single match hosted by the fourth seed, with the winner advancing to the conference semifinals.
In the conference semifinals, the team with the best record in each conference played the winner of their conference knockout round match, while the second and third-seeded teams in each conference played one another. The winners of the conference semifinals advanced to their respective conference finals.
In these two rounds, all matches were played in a home-and-away aggregate-goal format, with the higher-seeded team hosting the second leg. The first leg lasted the usual 90 minutes and could end in a tie. In the second leg, if the two teams were tied after 90 minutes (180 minutes total) then the team that scored more goals away from home advanced to the next round.
If there was still a tie after the away goals rule was applied, an additional 30-minute extra time period (divided into two 15-minute halves) was played, followed by a penalty shoot-out if necessary. The away goals rule did not apply to goals scored in extra time.
The two conference champions faced each other in MLS Cup, a single match hosted by the team with the better regular season record.
Qualified teams Qualification for the 2014 MLS Cup playoffs was based on the results of the 2014 regular season. The five teams from each conference with the highest point totals were seeded into their conference playoff bracket.
The 2014 regular season ran from March 8, 2014 to October 26, 2014. Teams played 34 games total, 17 at home and 17 away and were awarded three points for a win, one point for a tie (draw), and zero points for a loss. When two or more teams have the same point totals, the following tiebreak rules were applied: Total number of wins Goal differential Goals scored Fewest disciplinary points in the official points table Away goal differential Away goals scored Home goal differential Home goals scored Coin toss (two clubs) or drawing of lots (three or more)
Eastern Conference
Western Conference
Bracket
Knockout round Eastern Conference
Western Conference
Conference semifinals Eastern Conference
New England Revolution won 7–3 on aggregate.
New York Red Bulls won 3–2 on aggregate.
Western Conference
LA Galaxy won 5–0 on aggregate.
1–1 on aggregate. Seattle Sounders FC won on away goals.
Conference finals Eastern Conference
New England Revolution won 4–3 on aggregate.
Western Conference
2–2 on aggregate. LA Galaxy won on away goals.
MLS Cup 2014
Top goalscorers RankPlayerClubGoals1 Charlie DaviesNew England Revolution4 Bradley Wright-PhillipsNew York Red Bulls3 Landon DonovanLA Galaxy3 Peguy LuyindulaNew York Red Bulls5 Teal BunburyNew England Revolution2 Robbie KeaneLA Galaxy MichelFC Dallas Lee NguyenNew England Revolution Marcelo SarvasLA Galaxy Chris TierneyNew England Revolution
See also 2014 in American soccer 2014 U.S. Open Cup
References