1997 D.C. United season

D.C. United

1997 season
General Manager	Dave Kasper
Head Coach	Bruce Arena
Stadium	RFK Stadium
MLS	Conference: 1st Overall: 1st
MLS Cup	Champions
U.S. Open Cup	Runners-Up
CONCACAF Champions' Cup	Third place
Top goalscorer	League: All: Jaime Moreno (16)
Home colors Away colors Third colors
← 1996 1998 →

The 1997 D.C. United season was the clubs' third year of existence, as well as their second season in Major League Soccer. The United successfully defending their MLS Cup title, becoming the first and only club to consecutively win the MLS Cup, until Houston Dynamo in 2007. Additionally, United won their first ever MLS Supporters' Shield in 1997, earning their first league "double" by winning the regular season and the playoffs.

Background

The 1996 Major League Soccer season was both Major League Soccer and D.C. United's debut season, which resulted in United winning the inaugural MLS Cup championship match.

Competitions

Major League Soccer

Standings

Eastern Conference standings

Eastern Conference
Pos	Club	Pts	GP	W	L	SOW	GF	GA	GD
1	D.C. United	55	32	17	11	4	70	53	+17
2	Tampa Bay Mutiny	45	32	14	15	3	55	60	−5
3	Columbus Crew	39	32	12	17	3	42	41	+1
4	New England Revolution	37	32	11	17	4	40	53	−13
5	New York/New Jersey MetroStars	35	32	11	19	2	43	53	−10

	1997 MLS Cup Playoffs

Overall standings

Major League Soccer
Pos	Club	Pts	GP	W	L	SOW	GF	GA	GD
1	D.C. United^1 (E1)	55	32	17	11	4	70	53	+17
2	Kansas City Wizards (W1)	49	32	14	11	7	57	51	+6
3	Tampa Bay Mutiny (E2)	45	32	14	15	3	55	60	−5
4	Los Angeles Galaxy (W2)	44	32	14	16	2	55	44	+11
5	Dallas Burn	42	32	13	16	3	55	49	+6
6	Columbus Crew	39	32	12	17	3	42	41	+1
7	Colorado Rapids^1	38	32	12	18	2	50	59	−9
8	New England Revolution	37	32	11	17	4	40	53	−13
9	New York/New Jersey MetroStars	35	32	11	19	2	43	53	−10
10	San Jose Clash	30	32	9	20	3	55	59	−4

	MLS Supporters' Shield
	1997 MLS Cup Playoffs

• ^Note 1 - CONCACAF Champions League berths will be awarded to the participants of MLS Cup 1997 (D.C. and Colorado)

Game reports

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MLS Cup Playoffs

Bracket

• The ties were a best of three series.

	Conference Semifinals							Conference Finals							MLS Cup '97
	1	D.C. United	4	1 (4)	x
	4	New England Revolution	1	1 (3)	x
								1	D.C. United	3	1	x
	Eastern Conference
								3	Columbus Crew	2	0	x
	2	Tampa Bay Mutiny	1	0	x
	3	Columbus Crew	2	2	x
															E	D.C. United	2
															W	Colorado Rapids	1
	1	Kansas City Wizards	0	2	x
	4	Colorado Rapids	3	3	x
								4	Colorado Rapids	1	2	x
	Western Conference
								3	Dallas Burn	0	1	x
	2	LA Galaxy	0 (0)	0	x
	3	Dallas Burn	0 (2)	3	x

Conference semifinals

D.C. United v New England Revolution

October 5 Game 1	D.C. United	4–1	New England Revolution	Washington, D.C.
	Wegerle  13', 56' Moreno  65', 76'		Burns  89'	Stadium: RFK Stadium Attendance: 12,540 Referee: Tim Weyland

New England Revolution v D.C. United

October 8 Game 2	New England Revolution	1–2 (aet) (3–4 p)	D.C. United	Foxborough, Massachusetts
				Stadium: Foxboro Stadium Attendance: 16,233 Referee: Tim Weyland

D.C. United win the series 2–0.

Conference finals

D.C. United v Columbus Crew

October 12 Game 1	D.C. United	3–2	Columbus Crew	Washington, D.C.
	Sanneh  9', 45' Díaz Arce  29'		Farrell  57' Dooley  73'	Stadium: RFK Stadium Attendance: 11,820 Referee: Kevin Terry

D.C. United v Columbus Crew

October 15 Game 2	D.C. United	1–0	Columbus Crew	Columbus, Ohio
			Díaz Arce  47'	Stadium: Ohio Stadium Attendance: 9,506 Referee: Arturo Angeles

D.C. United win the series 2–0.

MLS Cup

D.C. United v Colorado Rapids

October 26 Final	D.C. United	2–1	Colorado Rapids	Washington, D.C.
	Moreno  37' Sanneh  68'		Paz  75'	Stadium: RFK Stadium Attendance: 57,431 Referee: Brian Hall

U.S. Open Cup

D.C. United v Tampa Bay Mutiny

August 19, 1997 Quarterfinals	D.C. United	2–0	Tampa Bay Mutiny	Washington, D.C., United States
	Etcheverry  84'			Stadium: RFK Stadium

San Francisco Bay Seals v D.C. United

September 3, 1997 Semifinals	San Francisco Bay Seals	1–2	D.C. United	Stockton, California
	White  84'		Moreno  2' (pen.) Díaz Arce  62'	Stadium: Stagg Memorial Stadium Attendance: 3,470

Dallas Burn v D.C. United

October 29, 1997 Final	Dallas Burn	0–0 (aet) (5–3 p)	D.C. United	Indianapolis, Indiana
19:00 EDT				Stadium: Carroll Stadium Attendance: 9,766 Referee: Rich Grady
		Penalties
	Damián Kreis Sutter Peinado Rodríguez		Etcheverry Díaz Arce Moreno Iroha

CONCACAF Champions' Cup

Bracket

	Quarterfinals					Semifinals					Final
		D.C. United	1
		United Petrotrin	0
							D.C. United	0
							LA Galaxy	1
		LA Galaxy	2
		Luis Ángel Firpo	0
												LA Galaxy	3
												Cruz Azul	5
		Guadalajara	1
		Cartaginés	0
							Guadalajara	2
							Cruz Azul	3
		Cruz Azul	5
		Comunicaciones	0

Match results

D.C. United v United Petrotrin

August 12, 1997 Quarterfinals	D.C. United	1–0	United Petrotrin	Washington, D.C., United States
	Etcheverry  84'	Report		Stadium: RFK Stadium

D.C. United v LA Galaxy

August 22, 1997 Semifinals	D.C. United	0–1	LA Galaxy	Washington, D.C., United States
		Report	Jones  10'	Stadium: RFK Stadium

D.C. United v Guadalajara

April 30, 2005 Consolation match	D.C. United	2–2	Guadalajara	Washington, D.C., United States
	Díaz Arce  40' Iroha  89'	Report	Acosta  55' Sánchez  86' (pen.)	Stadium: RFK Stadium
Note: Match stood as a draw

See also

• 1997 in American soccer
• 1997 Major League Soccer season
• List of D.C. United seasons