2002 Major League Soccer season

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2002 Major League Soccer season
Season2002
MLS CupLos Angeles Galaxy (1st title)
Supporters' ShieldLos Angeles Galaxy (2nd shield)
Matches played140
Goals scored421 (3.01 per match)
Top goalscorerCarlos Ruiz
Los Angeles Galaxy
Goals: 24
Highest attendanceColorado Rapids
Season: 289,663
Game Avg.: 20,690
Lowest attendanceSan Jose Earthquakes
Season: 156,104
Game Avg.: 11,150
Average attendanceMLS
Season: 2,215,019
Game Avg.: 15,822
← 2001
2003 →

The 2002 Major League Soccer season was the seventh season of competition for Major League Soccer.

On January 8, 2002, MLS folded two of its teams. The Miami Fusion F.C. ceased operations after only four years in existence due to low attendance and an unfavorable stadium deal. The Tampa Bay Mutiny also ceased operations due to the lack of local ownership. MLS eliminated the Central Division and returned to its original two-conference alignment.

According to FC Dallas president Dan Hunt, the entire league nearly folded during the 2001 offseason.[1] The owners agreed to shut down the league on a conference call in November 2001, but within two days Lamar Hunt convinced the other owners to give the league another year.

Standings[]

Conference[]

Eastern Conference GP W L D GF GA GD Pts
y – New England Revolution 28 12 14 2 49 49 0 38
x – Columbus Crew 28 11 12 5 44 43 +1 38
x – Chicago Fire 28 11 13 4 43 38 +5 37
MetroStars 28 11 15 2 41 47 –6 35
D.C. United 28 9 14 5 31 40 –9 32
Western Conference GP* W L D GF GA GD Pts
s – Los Angeles Galaxy 28 16 9 3 44 33 +11 51
x – San Jose Earthquakes 28 14 11 3 45 35 +10 45
x – Dallas Burn 28 12 9 7 44 43 +1 43
x – Colorado Rapids 28 13 11 4 43 48 –5 43
x – Kansas City Wizards 28 9 10 9 37 45 –8 36
  • Top eight teams with the highest points clinch play-off berth, regardless of conference.
    x = Playoff berth
    y = Conference Winner (Season)
    s = Supporters Shield/Conference winner (Season)
  • New England Revolution wins first tiebreaker vs. Columbus Crew (head-to-head: 2-1-1)
    Dallas Burn wins first tiebreaker vs. Colorado Rapids (head-to-head: 2-1-1)

Overall[]

Pos Club GP W L T GF GA GD Pts Qualification Head-to-head
1 Los Angeles Galaxy (SS) (W1) 28 16 9 3 44 33 +11 51 2003 CONCACAF Champions Cup, 2002 MLS Cup Playoffs, 2003 U.S. Open Cup
2 San Jose Earthquakes 28 14 11 3 45 35 +10 45 2003 CONCACAF Champions Cup1, 2002 MLS Cup Playoffs, 2003 U.S. Open Cup
3 Dallas Burn 28 12 9 7 44 43 +1 43 2002 MLS Cup Playoffs, 2003 U.S. Open Cup DAL: 7 pts
COL: 4 pts
4 Colorado Rapids 28 13 11 4 43 48 –5 43
5 New England Revolution (E1) 28 12 14 2 49 49 0 38 NE: 7 pts
CLB: 4 pts
6 Columbus Crew 28 11 12 5 44 43 +1 38
7 Chicago Fire 28 11 13 4 43 38 +5 37
8 Kansas City Wizards 28 9 10 9 37 45 -8 36
9 MetroStars2 28 11 15 2 41 47 –6 35
10 D.C. United2 28 9 14 5 31 40 –9 32

Source: MLSSoccer.com
Rules for classification: 1st points; 2nd head-to-head record; 3rd goal difference; 4th number of goals scored.
(SS) = MLS Supporters' Shield; (E1) = Eastern Conference champion; (W1) = Western Conference champion
Only applicable when the season is not finished:
(Q) = Qualified for the MLS Cup Playoffs, but not yet to the particular round indicated; (E) = Eliminated from playoff-contention.

  • ^Note 1 – Since Los Angeles Galaxy won MLS Cup 2002 and the Supporters' Shield, San Jose Earthquakes qualified for the CONCACAF Champions Cup by finishing as Supporters' Shield runners-up.
  • ^Note 2 – Since MetroStars and D.C. United finished outside of the top eight in the league standings, they enter the U.S. Open Cup in the third round proper rather than fourth.

MLS Cup Playoffs[]

Bracket[]

Conference Semi-finals Conference Finals MLS Cup 2002
             
1 Los Angeles Galaxy (ASDET)* (6 Points) 3* 1 5
8 Kansas City Wizards (3 Points) 2 4 2
1 Los Angeles Galaxy (6 Points) 4 1 x
5 Colorado Rapids (0 Points) 0 0 x
4 Dallas Burn (4 Points) 4 0 1
5 Colorado Rapids (SDET)** (4 Points) 2 1 1**
1 Los Angeles Galaxy (ASDET)* 1
2 New England Revolution 0
2 New England Revolution (6 Points) 2 1 2
7 Chicago Fire (3 Points) 0 2 0
2 New England Revolution (5 Points) 0 1 2
6 Columbus Crew (2 Points) 0 0 2
3 San Jose Earthquakes (0 Points) 1 1 x
6 Columbus Crew (6 Points) 2 2 x
  • Points system
    Win = 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.

Conference Semi-finals[]

Kansas City Wizards2–3 (AET)Los Angeles Galaxy
Preki 25'
Brown 70'		 Ruiz 62' (pen.) gold-colored soccer ball 99'
Jones 85'
Attendance: 14,585
Los Angeles Galaxy1–4Kansas City Wizards
Albright 71' Simutenkov 19'
Quill 37'
Preki 70'
Fabbro 73'
Attendance: 9,484
Kansas City Wizards2–5Los Angeles Galaxy
Klein 47'
Preki 72'		 Ruiz 34' 66'
Jones 45'+, 62'
Tennyson 90+3'
Attendance: 14,713
  • Los Angeles Galaxy advance 6-3 on points.
Chicago Fire0–2New England Revolution
Twellman 13'
Hernández 60'
Attendance: 6,306
New England Revolution1–2Chicago Fire
Kamler 28' Razov 43' (pen.), 76'
Cardinal Stadium
Naperville, Illinois
Attendance: 9,434
Chicago Fire0–2New England Revolution
Kamler 12'
Twellman 65'
Attendance: 6,954
  • New England Revolution advance 6–3 on points.
Columbus Crew2–1San Jose Earthquakes
Buddle 38'
García 81'		 Donovan 54'
Spartan Stadium
San Jose, California
Attendance: 8,069
San Jose Earthquakes1–2Columbus Crew
Graziani 58' García 50'
McBride 81'
Columbus Crew Stadium
Columbus, Ohio
Attendance: 13,004
  • Columbus Crew advance 6–0 on points.
Colorado Rapids2–4Dallas Burn
Valderrama 2'
Spencer (Pen) 75'		 Morrow 26'
Kreis 49'
Deering 68'
Martínez 70'
Cotton Bowl
Dallas, Texas
Attendance: 6,360
Dallas Burn0–1Colorado Rapids
Carrieri 78'
INVESCO Field
Denver, Colorado
Attendance: 9,637
Colorado Rapids1–1Dallas Burn
Spencer 22' Rhine 6'
Cotton Bowl
Dallas, Texas
Attendance: 8,008
 1–0 series OT (ASDET) 
Chung gold-colored soccer ball 1'
  • Colorado Rapids advance in series (sudden death) overtime, after 4–4 tie on points.

Conference Finals[]

Colorado Rapids0–4Los Angeles Galaxy
Califf 21'
Ruiz 24' 84'
Hendrickson 71'
Attendance: 24,742
Los Angeles Galaxy1–0Colorado Rapids
Ruiz 64'
INVESCO Field
Denver, Colorado
Attendance: 12,367
  • Los Angeles Galaxy advance 6–0 on points.
Columbus Crew0–0New England Revolution
Attendance: 11,387
New England Revolution1–0Columbus Crew
Heaps 3'
Columbus Crew Stadium
Columbus, Ohio
Attendance: 10,245
Columbus Crew2–2New England Revolution
McBride 80'
Washington 85'		 Ralston 17'
Harris 47'
Attendance: 9,216
  • New England Revolution advance 5–2 on points.

MLS Cup[]

Main article: MLS Cup 2002
Los Angeles Galaxy1–0 (2OT)New England Revolution
Ruiz gold-colored soccer ball 113' Report
Attendance: 61,316
Referee: Kevin Terry

Attendance[]

Club Games Season Game Avg.
Colorado Rapids 14 289,663 20,690
Los Angeles Galaxy 14 266,664 19,047
MetroStars 14 254,174 18,155
Columbus Crew 14 243,999 17,429
New England Revolution 14 236,973 16,927
D.C. United 14 231,264 16,519
Dallas Burn 14 183,702 13,122
Chicago Fire 14 180,908 12,922
Kansas City Wizards 14 171,568 12,255
San Jose Earthquakes 14 156,104 11,150
OVERALL 140 2,215,019 15,822

Player statistics[]

Goals[]

Rank Player Club Goals
1 Guatemala Carlos Ruiz Los Angeles Galaxy 24
2 United States Taylor Twellman New England Revolution 23
3 United States Jeff Cunningham Columbus Crew 16
4 United States Ante Razov Chicago Fire 14
Ecuador Ariel Graziani San Jose Earthquakes 14
6 United States Jason Kreis Dallas Burn 13
7 Senegal Mamadou Diallo* MetroStars 12
Brazil Rodrigo Faria MetroStars 12
9 United States Chris Carrieri Colorado Rapids 11
United States Mark Chung Colorado Rapids 11
United States Chris Henderson Colorado Rapids 11

Played for more than one team – Most Recent Team Listed*

Awards[]

Award Player Club
Most Valuable Player Guatemala Carlos Ruiz Los Angeles Galaxy
Scoring Champion United States Taylor Twellman (52 points) New England Revolution
Defender of the Year United States Carlos Bocanegra Chicago Fire
Goalkeeper of the Year United States Joe Cannon San Jose Earthquakes
Rookie of the Year United States Kyle Martino Columbus Crew
Coach of the Year Scotland Steve Nicol New England Revolution
Comeback Player of the Year United States Chris Klein Kansas City Wizards
Goal of the Year Guatemala Carlos Ruiz Los Angeles Galaxy
Fair Play Award United States Mark Chung Colorado Rapids
Humanitarian of the Year United States Steve Jolley MetroStars

References[]

  1. ^ Yousuf, Saad (April 16, 2016). "MLS nearly folded in 2001 - FC Dallas president Dan Hunt". ESPN.com.

External links[]

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