2003 Major League Soccer season

2003 Major League Soccer season

Season	2003
MLS Cup	San Jose Earthquakes (2nd title)
Supporters' Shield	Chicago Fire (1st shield)
Matches played	150
Goals scored	433 (2.89 per match)
Top goalscorer	Carlos Ruiz Los Angeles Galaxy Goals: 15 Taylor Twellman N.E. Revolution Goals: 15
Biggest home win	CHI 4–0 COL CLB 6–2 CHI
Biggest away win	SJ 1–4 CHI DAL 0–3 SJ
Highest scoring	NY 4–4 SJ CLB 6–2 CHI
Longest winning run	Colorado Rapids Games: 5 (07/04 – 08/09) MetroStars Games: 5 (04/26 – 05/24)
Longest unbeaten run	Chicago Fire Games: 7 (07/19 – 08/24) Colorado Rapids Games: 7 (08/16 – 10/01)
Longest losing run	Colorado Rapids Games: 4 (05/03 – 05/25) Dallas Burn Games: 4 (07/19 -08/13)
Highest attendance	Los Angeles Galaxy Season: 329,752 Game Avg.: 21,983
Lowest attendance	Dallas Burn Season: 118,585 Game Avg.: 7,906
Average attendance	MLS Season: 2,234,747 Game Avg.: 14,898
← 2002 2004 →

The 2003 Major League Soccer season was the 8th season of play for Major League Soccer.

Changes from 2002[]

Instead of a best-of-three series, the MLS Cup Playoffs changed their format so that the quarterfinal fixtures (or conference semifinals) would be a home and away aggregate over two matches, the team with the higher seed would have the home game in the second leg. The two semifinals (or conference finals) became one match fixtures instead of two legs. The Cup final remained one match.

Final standings[]

Eastern Conference	GP	W	L	D	GF	GA	GD	Pts
s – Chicago Fire	30	15	7	8	53	43	+10	53
x – New England Revolution	30	12	9	9	55	47	+8	45
x – MetroStars	30	11	10	9	40	40	0	42
x – D.C. United	30	10	11	9	38	36	+2	39
Columbus Crew	30	10	12	8	44	44	0	38

Western Conference	GP	W	L	D	GF	GA	GD	Pts
x – San Jose Earthquakes	30	14	7	9	45	35	+10	51
x – Kansas City Wizards	30	11	10	9	48	44	+4	42
x – Colorado Rapids	30	11	12	7	40	45	–5	40
x – Los Angeles Galaxy	30	9	12	9	35	35	0	36
Dallas Burn	30	6	19	5	35	64	–29	23

• The top four teams in each conference make the playoffs.

s = Supporters Shield
x = Playoff Berth

Play-off Bracket[]

Conference Semifinals

Conference Finals

MLS Cup 2003

E1

Chicago (wins 4–0 agg.)

2

2

E4

D.C. United

0

0

E1

Chicago

1

Eastern Conference

E3

New England

0

E2

New England (wins 3–1 agg.)

2

1

E3

MetroStars

0

1

E1

Chicago

2

W1

San Jose

4

W1

San Jose (wins 5–4 agg.)

0

5*

W4

Los Angeles

2

2

W1

San Jose

3

Western Conference

W3

Kansas City

2

W3

Kansas City (wins 3–1 agg.)

1

2

W2

Colorado

1

0

Eastern Conference Semifinals[]

Chicago Fire won 4–0 on aggregate.

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New England Revolution won 3–1 on aggregate.

Western Conference Semifinals[]

San Jose Earthquakes won 5–4 on aggregate after golden goal extra time.

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Kansas City Wizards won 3–1 on aggregate.

Conference Finals[]

Eastern Conference

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Western Conference

MLS Cup 2003[]

CONCACAF Champions' Cup[]

• MLS berths to the 2004 CONCACAF Champions' Cup
  MLS Cup Champions
  San Jose Earthquakes
  MLS Cup runner-up
  Chicago Fire

Team awards[]

• MLS Cup
  San Jose Earthquakes
• U.S. Open Cup
  Chicago Fire
• MLS Supporters' Shield
  Chicago Fire

Individual awards[]

Award	Player	Club
Most Valuable Player	Preki	Kansas City Wizards
Scoring Champion	Preki (41) points	Kansas City Wizards
Defender of the Year	Carlos Bocanegra	Chicago Fire
Goalkeeper of the Year	Pat Onstad	San Jose Earthquakes
Rookie of the Year	Damani Ralph	Chicago Fire
Coach of the Year	Dave Sarachan	Chicago Fire
Comeback Player of the Year	Chris Armas	Chicago Fire
Goal of the Year	Damani Ralph	Chicago Fire
Fair Play Award	Brian McBride	Columbus Crew
Humanitarian of the Year	Ben Olsen	D.C. United

Top goal scorers[]

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Carlos Ruiz	Los Angeles Galaxy	15
	Taylor Twellman	New England Revolution	15
2	Ante Razov	Chicago Fire	14
	John Spencer	Colorado Rapids	14
3	Landon Donovan	San Jose Earthquakes	12
	Brian McBride	Columbus Crew	12
	Preki	Kansas City Wizards	12
4	Mark Chung	Colorado Rapids	11
	Damani Ralph	Chicago Fire	11
5	Edson Buddle	Columbus Crew	10
	Pat Noonan	New England Revolution	10

Goal-scoring totals[]

Club	Overall Record	Goals For	Goals For Avg.	Goals Against	Goals Against Avg.
New England Revolution	12-9-9	55	1.83 (1st)	47	1.57 (9th)
Chicago Fire	15-7-8	53	1.77 (2nd)	43	1.43 (5th)
Kansas City Wizards	11-10-9	48	1.60 (3rd)	44	1.47 (6th)
San Jose Earthquakes	14-7-9	45	1.50 (4th)	35	1.17 (1st)
Columbus Crew	10-12-8	44	1.47 (5th)	44	1.47 (6th)
Colorado Rapids	11-12-7	40	1.33 (6th)	45	1.50 (8th)
MetroStars	11-10-9	40	1.33 (7th)	40	1.33 (4th)
D.C. United	10-11-9	38	1.27 (8th)	36	1.20 (3rd)
Dallas Burn	6-19-5	35	1.117 (9th)	64	2.13 (10th)
Los Angeles Galaxy	9-12-9	35	1.17 (10th)	35	1.17 (1st)
Overall totals		433	2.89

Team attendance totals[]

Club	Stadium	Games	Season	Game Avg.
Los Angeles Galaxy	The Home Depot Center	15	329,752	21,983
Colorado Rapids	Invesco Field	15	251,578	16,772
Columbus Crew	Columbus Crew Stadium	15	243,756	16,250
MetroStars	Giants Stadium	15	237,326	15,822
Kansas City Wizards	Arrowhead Stadium	15	233,594	15,573
D.C. United	Robert F. Kennedy Stadium	15	233,476	15,565
New England Revolution	Gillette Stadium	15	219,611	14,641
Chicago Fire	Cardinal Stadium	15	210,080	14,005
San Jose Earthquakes	Spartan Stadium	15	156,989	10,466
Dallas Burn	Cotton Bowl	15	118,585	7,906
MLS totals		150	2,234,747	14,898

Coaches[]

Eastern Conference[]

• D.C. United: Ray Hudson

Western Conference[]

• Dallas Burn: Mike Jeffries and Colin Clarke
• Kansas City Wizards: Bob Gansler
• San Jose Earthquakes: Frank Yallop

References[]

External links[]

• MLS Site