The playoff numbers look like this…

5 year comparison
Conference Semifinals – 1st Leg
  Avg +/- Home Teams
 2005   12,147  NA  Chicago  NY  Colorado  Los Angeles
 2006   9,533   -21.52%   Chicago  NY  Colorado  Chivas USA
 2007   14,245   49.42%   Chicago  NY  Dallas  Kansas City
 2008   10,476   -26.46%   New England  NY  Salt Lake  Kansas City
 2009   19,985   90.77%   New England  Seattle  Salt Lake  Chivas USA


Observations

No big surprise that Seattle packed in over 35,000 for their playoff debut. But a bit of a surprise that Salt Lake only drew 11,499 compared to last year’s first leg,14,719. A pathetically small crowd showed up at Gillette Stadium for the Revs/Fire match. The Chivas USA home leg of the HDC Bowl drew a hefty 25,000+.

And just to pre-empt the inevitable comments like ‘well without Seattle’s home game…’, the 3 non-Seattle games averaged 14,711, still a significant increase over the 1st legs in ’08. My comment, get over it. Seattle is a part of the league, and a good part at that. We should only hope that Philadelphia, Vancouver and Portland come close to equally Seattle’s successful entry into MLS.

Fan Revolution Needed in New England

The Revs have played 15 home playoff matches, excluding the 2002 MLS Cup Final. Average attendance: 10,097. Games with under 10,000 in attendance: 8. Now I know the stadium is not readily accessible to many fans, but this is a 4 time MLS Cup finalist.

Playoff Games – 1st Leg
 
Seattle 0 Seattle Times
Houston 0 Soccer y Fútbol – Barnard Fallas
 
Real Salt Lake 1 RSL – Behind the Shield
Columbus 0 Columbus Dispatch – Crew XTra
 
New England 2 Revolution Soccer
Chicago 1 Chicago Fire Confidential
 
Chivas USA 2 Chivas USA – MLSNet
Los Angeles 2 LA – Official Blog


MLS Throw Ins

  • The 8 teams allowing the fewest goals are in the playoffs.
  • 3 of the top 8 scoring teams are not in the playoffs – Dallas(1), DC United(2), Colorado(4).
  • San Jose allowed the most goals this season(50), 12 fewer than last year’s 62 allowed by LA.
  • New England took the fewest shots, but Seattle had the fewest shots on goal.
  • Toronto were offsides more than any other team.
  • Chivas USA committed the most fouls.
  • Seattle suffered the most fouls.
  • 30.7% of the games ended in a draw compared to 27.1% in 2008.
  • New England rookie Darius Barnes played every minute of every game.
  • RSL scored the most goals in the final 15 mintues(18). TFC scored the fewest(2).
  • FCD allowed the most goals in the final 15 mintues(14). Colorado allowed the fewest(5).


    And …

    The US team advances to the round of 16 in the FIFA Men’s U-17 World Cup.