2004 Major League Soccer season

2004 Major League Soccer season
Season 2004
MLS Cup D.C. United
Supporters' Shield Columbus Crew
Matches played 150
Goals scored 392 (2.61 per match)
Top goalscorer Brian Ching
San Jose Earthquakes Goals: 12
Eddie Johnson
Dallas Burn
Goals: 12
Biggest home win NE 6-1 COL
Biggest away win LA 0-3 NY
DAL 0-3 NE
CHI 0-3 COL
Highest scoring SJ 5-5 NY
Longest winning run Columbus Crew
Games: 4
(05/15 - 06/06)
Columbus Crew
Games: 4
(09/04 - 09/25)
Longest unbeaten run Columbus Crew
Games: 18
(07/03/2004)
Longest losing run Dallas Burn
Games: 4
(05/08 - 05/29)
Highest attendance Los Angeles Galaxy
Season: 357,137
Game Avg.: 23,809
Lowest attendance Dallas Burn
Season: 136,319
Game Avg.: 9,088
Average attendance MLS
Season: 2,333,797
Game Avg.: 15,559

This is a summary of the 2004 Major League Soccer season, which culminated with D.C. United winning its fourth MLS Cup championship.

The biggest news in the beginning of the season was the signing of 14-year-old prodigy Freddy Adu, who made his debut as a substitute in United's season opener and scored his first goal several games later against the rival MetroStars. Adu contributed as a substitute on D.C.'s championship team, scoring five goals as the youngest player in North American sports history.

The season saw the emergence of forwards Brian Ching (San Jose) and Eddie Johnson (Dallas) as formidable forwards, not only for their MLS teams, but for the United States national team as well. The two shared Golden Boot honors.

The Columbus Crew emerged as a dominant team in the second half of the regular season, running off an MLS-record 18-game unbeaten streak en route to the Supporters' Shield title, won after finishing level on points with Kansas City.

In the playoffs, however, the Crew were taken down by the New England Revolution, who ended the Crew's streak in the opening leg, and goalkeeper Matt Reis, who saved two penalty kicks in the second leg. United cruised past the rival MetroStars (and league MVP Amado Guevara) 4-0 on aggregate in the other Eastern Conference semifinal.

In the Western Conference, Kansas City rallied from a 2-0 first-leg deficit for a dramatic 3-0 win in stoppage time over the defending MLS Cup champion San Jose Earthquakes in their conference semifinal. The Los Angeles Galaxy used a 2-0 home victory in the second leg to overcome the Colorado Rapids and goalie Joe Cannon, who had led the Rapids to a 1-0 victory in the opener.

In the conference finals, Kansas City used two goals from unsung forward Davy Arnaud, who enjoyed a breakout season, to beat the Galaxy and return to the final for the first time since 2000. D.C. United and New England hooked up in the Eastern Conference final in one of the best games in MLS playoff history. Playing at home, D.C. United took three different leads, only to see New England recover each time to tie the match 3-3 in a game full of highlight-reel goals. The match was finally decided by the first conventional shootout in MLS history, with Nick Rimando saving the first 'sudden death' penalty from Rookie of the Year Clint Dempsey to send D.C. to the championship.

In the second consecutive final held at the Home Depot Center, D.C. rebounded from an early Jose Burciaga goal by scoring three goals in eight minutes, including two from Alecko Eskandarian to take a 3-1 lead. In the second half, Dema Kovalenko became the first player to be sent off in an MLS Cup final after knocking a shot off the goal line with his hand. Although Josh Wolff converted the penalty kick, D.C. United held on with only 10 men to win its fourth championship in the nine-year history of MLS.

Play-off Bracket

  Conference Semifinals Conference Finals MLS Cup 2004
                             
 Columbus Crew 0 1  
 New England Revolution (wins 2-1 agg.) 1 1  
   New England Revolution 3  
Eastern Conference
   D.C. United (wins 4-3 on PK's) 3*  
 D.C. United (wins 4-0 agg.) 2 2
 MetroStars 0 0  
   D.C. United 3
   Kansas City Wizards 2
 Kansas City Wizards (wins 3-2 agg.) 0 3  
 San Jose Earthquakes 2 0  
   Kansas City Wizards 2
Western Conference
   Los Angeles Galaxy 0  
 Los Angeles Galaxy (wins 2-1 agg.) 0 2
 Colorado Rapids 1 0  

Final standings

Eastern Conference GP W L D GF GA GD Pts
s - Columbus Crew 30125134032849
x - D.C. United 30111094342142
x - MetroStars 30111274749-240
x - New England Revolution 3081394243-133
Chicago Fire 3081393644-833
Western Conference GP W L D GF GA GD Pts
x - Kansas City Wizards 3014973830849
x - Los Angeles Galaxy 30119104240243
x - Colorado Rapids 30109112932-341
x - San Jose Earthquakes 30910114135638
Dallas Burn 30101463445-1136

Overall

Pos Club GP W L D GF GA GD Pts
1 Columbus Crew 30 12 5 13 40 32 8 49
2 Kansas City Wizards 30 14 9 7 38 30 8 49
3 Los Angeles Galaxy 30 11 9 10 42 40 2 43
4 D.C. United 30 11 10 9 43 42 1 42
5 Colorado Rapids 30 10 9 11 29 32 -3 41
6 MetroStars 30 11 12 7 47 49 -2 40
7 San Jose Earthquakes 30 9 10 11 41 35 6 38
8 Dallas Burn 30 10 14 6 34 45 -11 36
9 New England Revolution 30 8 13 9 42 43 -1 33
10 Chicago Fire 30 8 13 9 36 44 -8 33

s = Supporters Shield
x = playoff berth

MLS Cup Playoffs

Conference Semifinals

October 23, 2004
Columbus Crew 0–1 New England Revolution
Buddle  26'
Fraser  35' 		Report Joseph  4'
John  25'
John  58'
Heaps  82'
Gillette Stadium
Foxborough, Massachusetts
Attendance: 5,679
Referee: N/A

October 31, 2004
New England Revolution 1–1 Columbus Crew
Twellman  81' Report Martino  26'
Hejduk  68'
Buddle  90+2'
Crew Stadium
Columbus, Ohio
Attendance: 15,224
Referee: Alex Prus

New England Revolution advance 2-1 on aggregate.

October 23, 2004
D.C. United 2–0 MetroStars
Kovalenko  50'
Nelsen  62'
Stewart  67'
Gros  75'
Eskandarian  88' 		Report Walker  68'
Giants Stadium
East Rutherford, New Jersey
Attendance: 11,161
Referee: Kevin Stott

October 30, 2004
MetroStars 0–2 D.C. United
Flores  6'
Guevara  18'
Clark  45+1'
Pope  88' 		Report Olsen  27'
Namoff  35'
Kovalenko  41'
Nelsen  61'
Moreno  85'
Adu  86'
Namoff  89'
RFK Stadium
Washington, D.C.
Attendance: 15,763
Referee: Ricardo Valenzuela

D.C. United advance 4-0 on aggregate.

October 30, 2004
San Jose Earthquakes 0–3 Kansas City Wizards
Donovan  43' Report Stephenson  26'
Jewsbury  45+1'
Ching  48' (o.g.)
Arnaud  56'
Gutierrez  78'
Jewsbury  90+2'
Arrowhead Stadium
Kansas City, Missouri
Attendance: 10,022
Referee: Terry Vaugn

Kansas City Wizards advance 3-2 on aggregate.

October 22, 2004
Los Angeles Galaxy 0–1 Colorado Rapids
Broome  66' Report Peguero  30'
Kotschau  40'
Mastroeni  76'
INVESCO Field
Denver, Colorado
Attendance: 8,028
Referee: Terry Vaughn

October 30, 2004
Colorado Rapids 0–2 Los Angeles Galaxy
Beckerman  42'
Kotschau  52' 		Report Ruiz  30'
Ruiz  42'
Marshall  45+3'
Kirovski  74'
Hartman  76'
Home Depot Center
Carson, California
Attendance: 20,026
Referee: Michael Kennedy

Los Angeles Galaxy advance 2-1 on aggregate.

Conference finals

November 5, 2004
Los Angeles Galaxy 0–2 Kansas City Wizards
Vagenas  26'
Broome  72'
Herzog  83' 		Report Arnaud  24'  68'
Burciaga Jr.  41'
Zotinca  72'
Arrowhead Stadium
Kansas City, Missouri
Attendance: 11,931
Referee: Abiodun Okulaja

D.C. United advance 4-3 on penalties (3-3 after extra time).

MLS Cup 2004

November 14, 2004
Kansas City Wizards 2–3 D.C. United
Burciaga Jr.  6'
Gutierrez  33'
Wolff  58' (pen.) 		Report Eskandarian  19'  23'
Zotinca  26' (o.g.)
Stewart  55'
Kovalenko Red card 57'
Namoff  72'
Olsen  89'
Home Depot Center
Carson, California
Attendance: 25,797
Referee: Michael Kennedy

D.C. United wins the MLS Cup
Kansas City Wizards and D.C. United earn MLS berths to
CONCACAF Champions' Cup 2005.

Team Awards

Individual Awards

AwardPlayerClub
Most Valuable PlayerHondurasAmado GuevaraMetroStars
Scoring ChampionHondurasAmado Guevara (30) pointsMetroStars
United StatesPat Noonan (30) pointsNew England Revolution
Defender of the YearUnited States Robin FraserColumbus Crew
Goalkeeper of the YearUnited States Joe CannonColorado Rapids
Rookie of the YearUnited States Clint DempseyNew England Revolution
Coach of the YearUnited States Greg AndrulisColumbus Crew
Comeback Player of the YearUnited States Brian ChingSan Jose Earthquakes
Goal of the YearCanada Dwayne De RosarioSan Jose Earthquakes
Fair Play AwardUnited States Eddie PopeMetroStars
Humanitarian of the YearUnited States Chris HendersonColorado Rapids

Top Goal Scorers

Position Player Club Goals
1 United States Brian Ching San Jose Earthquakes 12
United States Eddie Johnson Dallas Burn 12
2 United States Edson Buddle Columbus Crew 11
United States Pat Noonan New England Revolution 11
Jamaica Damani Ralph Chicago Fire 11
United States Carlos Ruiz Los Angeles Galaxy 11
3 United States Alecko Eskandarian D.C. United 10
Honduras Amado Guevara MetroStars 10
United States Josh Wolff Kansas City Wizards 10
United States John Wolyniec MetroStars 10

Goal-Scoring Totals

ClubOverall
Record		Goals
For		Goals
For Avg.		Goals
Against		Goals
Against Avg.
MetroStars11-12-7471.57 (1st)491.63 (10th)
D.C. United11-10-9431.43 (2nd)421.40 (6th)
Los Angeles Galaxy11-9-10421.40 (3rd)401.33 (5th)
New England Revolution8-13-9421.40 (4th)431.43 (7th)
San Jose Earthquakes9-10-11411.37 (5th)351.17 (4th)
Columbus Crew12-5-13401.33 (6th)321.07 (2nd)
Kansas City Wizards14-9-7381.27 (7th)301.00 (1st)
Chicago Fire8-13-9361.20 (8th)441.47 (8th)
Dallas Burn10-14-6 341.13 (9th)451.50 (9th)
Colorado Rapids10-9-11290.97 (10th)321.07 (2nd)
Overall Totals3922.61

Team Attendance Totals

Club Stadium Games Season Game Avg.
Chicago Fire Soldier Field 15 257,295 17,153
Colorado Rapids INVESCO Field 15 212,925 14,195
Columbus Crew Columbus Crew Stadium 15 253,079 16,872
MetroStars Giants Stadium 15 257,923 17,195
Kansas City Wizards Arrowhead Stadium 15 222,235 14,816
D.C. United Robert F. Kennedy Stadium 15 258,484 17,232
New England Revolution Gillette Stadium 15 183,385 12,226
Los Angeles Galaxy Home Depot Center 15 357,137 23,809
San Jose Earthquakes Spartan Stadium 15 195,015 13,001
Dallas Burn Cotton Bowl 15 136,319 9,088
MLS Totals 150 2,333,797 15,559
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