2015 MLS Cup playoffs

Last updated

2015 MLS Cup Playoffs
2015 MLS Cup Playoffs Logo.svg
Tournament details
CountryUnited States
Canada
Teams12
Defending champions LA Galaxy
Final positions
Champions Portland Timbers (1st title)
Runner-up Columbus Crew SC
Semifinalists
Tournament statistics
Matches played17
Goals scored46 (2.71 per match)
Attendance388,289 (22,841 per match)
Top goal scorer(s) Flag of Sierra Leone.svg Kei Kamara
(4 goals)
←  2014
2016  →

The 2015 MLS Cup Playoffs (officially the Audi 2015 MLS Cup Playoffs for sponsorship reasons) [1] was the 20th post-season tournament culminating the Major League Soccer regular season. The tournament began on October 28 with D.C. United defeating New England Revolution and culminated on December 6, 2015, with MLS Cup 2015, the twentieth league championship match for MLS.

Contents

Twelve teams [2] (top 6 per conference) competed, up from 10 the last 3 seasons. The first round of each conference had the third-seeded team hosting the sixth seed, while the fourth-seed hosts the fifth, in a single match to determine who advances to the Conference Semifinals. In the Conference Semifinals, the top seed plays the lowest remaining seed while the second seed plays the next-lowest. The winners advanced to the Conference Finals.

Both the Conference Semifinals and Conference Finals are played as two-legged aggregate series. If teams are level at the end of the second leg, the away goals rule will be used in attempt to determine a winner. If the away goals rule does not resolve the deadlock, 30 minutes of extra time will be played, but the away goals rule will not be applied after extra time. If scores are still level following extra time, a penalty shootout will be conducted.

The winners advance to the MLS Cup final, a single match hosted by the participant with the better regular season record. [3]

The winner of MLS Cup 2015, Portland Timbers qualified for the 2016–17 CONCACAF Champions League. If a Canadian team were to win the MLS Cup, the next-best team from the United States will take their place. [4]

On March 6, 2015, Audi was announced as the official sponsor of the playoffs starting in 2015. [1]

The Portland Timbers won the MLS Cup by defeating the Columbus Crew SC by a score of 2–1. The Timbers' Diego Valeri scored the fastest goal in MLS Cup history at 27 seconds after Crew goalkeeper Steve Clark, made a fundamental error after he miscontrolled his defender's back-pass; allowing Valeri to strike at the opportunity. [5]

2015 MLS Conference standings

The top 6 teams from each conference advance to the MLS Cup playoffs. Green background denotes also qualified for 2016–17 CONCACAF Champions League.

Bracket

Knockout round Conference semifinals Conference finals MLS Cup
October 29 – Stade Saputo E3 Montreal Impact 213
E6 Toronto FC 0E2 Columbus Crew (a.e.t.)134
E2 Columbus Crew 202
E3 Montreal Impact 3
Eastern Conference
E1 New York Red Bulls 011
October 28 – RFK Stadium E4 D.C. United 000
December 6 – Mapfre Stadium
E5 New England Revolution 1E1 New York Red Bulls 112
E2 Columbus Crew 1
E4 D.C. United 2
W3 Portland Timbers 2
October 29 – Providence Park W3 Portland Timbers 022
W6 Sporting Kansas City 2 (6)W2 Vancouver Whitecaps FC 000
W3 Portland Timbers 325
W3 Portland Timbers (p)2 (7)
Western Conference
W1 FC Dallas 123
October 28 – CenturyLink Field W4 Seattle Sounders FC 213 (2)
W5 LA Galaxy 2W1 FC Dallas (p)123 (4)
W4 Seattle Sounders FC 3

Source: [6]

Schedule

Knockout round

Eastern Conference

D.C. United 2–1 New England Revolution
Pontius Soccerball shade.svg45'
Rolfe Soccerball shade.svg83'		 Report Agudelo Soccerball shade.svg15'
Attendance: 11,554
Referee: Mark Geiger
Montreal Impact 3–0 Toronto FC
Bernier Soccerball shade.svg18'
Piatti Soccerball shade.svg33'
Drogba Soccerball shade.svg39'		 Report
Attendance: 18,069

Western Conference

Seattle Sounders FC 3–2 LA Galaxy
Dempsey Soccerball shade.svg5'
Valdez Soccerball shade.svg12'
Friberg Soccerball shade.svg77'		 Report Lletget Soccerball shade.svg6'
Zardes Soccerball shade.svg22'
Attendance: 39,537
Referee: Jair Marrufo

Conference semifinals

Eastern Conference

D.C. United 0–1 New York Red Bulls
Report McCarty Soccerball shade.svg72'
Attendance: 19,525
Referee: Fotis Bazakos
New York Red Bulls 1–0 D.C. United
Wright-Phillips Soccerball shade.svg90+2' Report
Attendance: 25,219
Referee: Ted Unkel

New York Red Bulls win 2–0 on aggregate

Montreal Impact 2–1 Columbus Crew SC
Bernier Soccerball shade.svg37'
Venegas Soccerball shade.svg77'		 Report Higuaín Soccerball shade.svg33'
Attendance: 17,655
Referee: Chris Penso
Columbus Crew SC 3–1 (a.e.t.) Montreal Impact
Kamara Soccerball shade.svg4', 111'
Finlay Soccerball shade.svg77'		 Report Duka Soccerball shade.svg40'
Attendance: 19,026

Columbus Crew wins 4–3 on aggregate

Western Conference

Vancouver Whitecaps FC 0–2 Portland Timbers
Report Adi Soccerball shade.svg31'
Chara Soccerball shade.svg90+4'
Attendance: 27,837
Referee: Ismail Elfath

Portland Timbers win 2–0 on aggregate

Seattle Sounders FC 2–1 FC Dallas
Ivanschitz Soccerball shade.svg67'
Dempsey Soccerball shade.svg86'		 Report Castillo Soccerball shade.svg18'
Attendance: 39,599
Referee: Kevin Stott

FC Dallas wins 4–2 on penalties after 3–3 draw on aggregate

Conference finals

Eastern Conference

Columbus Crew SC 2–0 New York Red Bulls
Meram Soccerball shade.svg1'
Kamara Soccerball shade.svg85'		 Report
Attendance: 21,617
Referee: Allen Chapman
New York Red Bulls 1–0 Columbus Crew SC
Abang Soccerball shade.svg90+3' Report
Attendance: 25,219

Columbus Crew wins 2–1 on aggregate

Western Conference

Portland Timbers 3–1 FC Dallas
Ridgewell Soccerball shade.svg23'
Asprilla Soccerball shade.svg53'
Borchers Soccerball shade.svg90+1'		 Report Texeira Soccerball shade.svg62'
Attendance: 21,144
Referee: Ted Unkel
FC Dallas 2–2 Portland Timbers
Hollingshead Soccerball shade.svg68'
Pérez Soccerball shade.svg73'		 Report Adi Soccerball shade.svg54'
Melano Soccerball shade.svg90+5'
Attendance: 20,966
Referee: Ismail Elfath

Portland Timbers win 5–3 on aggregate

MLS Cup

Columbus Crew SC 1–2 Portland Timbers
Kamara Soccerball shade.svg18' Report Valeri Soccerball shade.svg1'
Wallace Soccerball shade.svg7'
MAPFRE Stadium, Columbus, Ohio
Attendance: 21,747
Referee: Jair Marrufo

Goalscorers

RankPlayerClubGoals [7]
1 Flag of Sierra Leone.svg Kei Kamara Columbus Crew SC 4
2 Flag of Nigeria.svg Fanendo Adi Portland Timbers 2
Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Patrice Bernier Montreal Impact
Flag of the United States.svg Clint Dempsey Seattle Sounders FC
Flag of Costa Rica.svg Rodney Wallace Portland Timbers
6 Flag of Cameroon.svg Anatole Abang New York Red Bulls 1
Flag of the United States.svg Juan Agudelo New England Revolution
Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Tesho Akindele FC Dallas
Flag of Colombia.svg Dairon Asprilla Portland Timbers
Flag of the United States.svg Nat Borchers Portland Timbers
Flag of Colombia.svg Fabian Castillo FC Dallas
Flag of Colombia.svg Diego Chará Portland Timbers
Flag of Cote d'Ivoire.svg Didier Drogba Montreal Impact
Flag of the United States.svg Dilly Duka Montreal Impact
Flag of the United States.svg Kevin Ellis Sporting Kansas City
Flag of the United States.svg Ethan Finlay Columbus Crew SC
Flag of Sweden.svg Erik Friberg Seattle Sounders FC
Flag of Argentina.svg Federico Higuaín Columbus Crew SC
Flag of the United States.svg Ryan Hollingshead FC Dallas
Flag of Austria.svg Andreas Ivanschitz Seattle Sounders FC
Flag of the United States.svg Sebastian Lletget LA Galaxy
Flag of the United States.svg Chad Marshall Seattle Sounders FC
Flag of Argentina.svg Lucas Melano Portland Timbers
Flag of the United States.svg Dax McCarty New York Red Bulls
Flag of Iraq.svg Justin Meram Columbus Crew SC
Flag of Hungary.svg Krisztián Németh Sporting Kansas City
Flag of Panama.svg Blas Pérez FC Dallas
Flag of Argentina.svg Ignacio Piatti Montreal Impact
Flag of the United States.svg Chris Pontius D.C. United
Flag of England.svg Liam Ridgewell Portland Timbers
Flag of the United States.svg Chris Rolfe D.C. United
Flag of Uruguay.svg David Texeira FC Dallas
Flag of Argentina.svg Maximiliano Urruti Portland Timbers
Flag of Paraguay.svg Nelson Valdez Seattle Sounders FC
Flag of Argentina.svg Diego Valeri Portland Timbers
Flag of Costa Rica.svg Johan Venegas Montreal Impact
Flag of England.svg Bradley Wright-Phillips New York Red Bulls
Flag of the United States.svg Gyasi Zardes LA Galaxy
Flag of the United States.svg Walker Zimmerman FC Dallas

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References

  1. 1 2 "MLS announces partnership with Audi, including presenting sponsorship of MLS Cup Playoffs". mlssoccer.com. Major League Soccer. Retrieved October 5, 2015.
  2. ↑ "Armchair Analyst: Ranking the Audi 2015 MLS Cup Playoff teams, 1-through-12". MLSsoccer.com.
  3. ↑ "Audi MLS Cup Playoffs 101: Everything you need to know about the postseason". MLSsoccer.com.
  4. ↑ Kingston, Gary (August 25, 2015). "Whitecaps face fine balancing act in settling on Voyageurs Cup lineup". Vancouver Sun. Retrieved September 1, 2015.
  5. ↑ "Portland Timbers' Diego Valeri Scores Fastest Goal In MLS Cup History (Video)". NESN. December 6, 2015. Retrieved December 6, 2015.
  6. ↑ "MLS Playoff Bracket". MLSsoccer.com. Retrieved October 29, 2015.
  7. ↑ "Schedule". MLSsoccer.com.
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