2006 Major League Soccer season

2006 Major League Soccer season

Season	2006
MLS Cup	Houston Dynamo
Supporters' Shield	D.C. United
Matches played	192
Goals scored	503 (2.62 per match)
Top goalscorer	Jeff Cunningham Real Salt Lake Goals: 16
Biggest home win	NY 6–0 RSL
Biggest away win	NY 1–4 DCU LA 0–3 RSL DCU 2–5 LA
Highest scoring	NY 5–4 CHV
Longest winning run	D.C. United Wins: 6 (06/21 – 07/15)
Longest unbeaten run	D.C. United Wins: 14 (05/13 – 07/22)
Longest losing run	K.C. Wizards Loss: 7 (06/24 – 07/22) Los Angeles Galaxy Loss: 7 (05/06 -06/08)
Highest attendance	Los Angeles Galaxy Season: 333,016 Game Avg.: 20,814
Lowest attendance	K.C. Wizards Season: 177,322 Game Avg.: 11,083
Average attendance	MLS Season: 2,976,787 Game Avg.: 15,504
← 2005 season 2007 season →

The 2006 Major League Soccer season was the 11th season in league history. It began on April 1, 2006 and ended with MLS Cup 2006 on November 12, 2006 at Pizza Hut Park in Frisco, Texas for the second consecutive year in a row.

Changes from 2005 Season

• The MetroStars were bought by Austrian company Red Bull and rebranded as Red Bull New York, with the playing squad known as the New York Red Bulls.
• The San Jose Earthquakes players and head coach Dominic Kinnear moved to Houston, Texas, due to owner AEG being unable to secure a soccer specific stadium in San Jose, California. The team was to be renamed Houston 1836, but later changed its name to the Houston Dynamo.
• In June, the Chicago Fire moved into their new soccer-specific stadium, Toyota Park, in Bridgeview, Illinois.

Final standings

Eastern Conference

Eastern Conference
Pos	Club	Pts	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD
1	D.C. United	55	32	15	7	10	52	38	+14
2	New England Revolution	48	32	12	8	12	39	35	+4
3	Chicago Fire	47	32	13	11	8	43	41	+2
4	New York Red Bulls	39	32	9	11	12	41	41	0
5	Kansas City Wizards	38	32	10	14	8	43	45	–2
6	Columbus Crew	33	32	8	15	9	30	42	–12

	MLS Supporters' Shield, 2006 MLS Cup Playoffs
	2006 MLS Cup Playoffs

Western Conference

Western Conference
Pos	Club	Pts	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD
1	FC Dallas	52	32	16	12	4	48	44	+4
2	Houston Dynamo	46	32	11	8	13	44	40	+4
3	Chivas USA	43	32	10	9	13	45	42	+3
4	Colorado Rapids	41	32	11	13	8	36	49	–13
5	Los Angeles Galaxy	39	32	11	15	6	37	37	0
6	Real Salt Lake	39	32	10	13	9	45	49	–4

	MLS Supporters' Shield runner up, 2006 MLS Cup Playoffs
	2006 MLS Cup Playoffs

Overall

Pos	Team	Pts	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Qualification or relegation
1	D.C. United (SS) (E1)	55	32	15	7	10	52	38	+14	2007 CONCACAF Champions' Cup
2	FC Dallas (W1)	52	32	16	12	4	48	44	+4	2007 North American SuperLiga
3	New England Revolution	44	32	12	12	8	39	35	+4
4	Chicago Fire	47	32	13	11	8	43	41	+2	2006 MLS Cup Playoffs
5	Houston Dynamo	46	32	11	8	13	44	40	+4	2007 CONCACAF Champions' Cup
6	Chivas USA	43	32	10	9	13	45	42	+3	2006 MLS Cup Playoffs
7	Colorado Rapids	41	32	11	13	8	36	49	−13
8	New York Red Bulls	39	32	9	11	12	41	41	0
9	LA Galaxy	39	32	11	15	6	37	37	0	2007 North American SuperLiga
10	Real Salt Lake	39	32	10	13	9	45	49	−4
11	Kansas City Wizards	38	32	10	14	8	43	45	−2
12	Columbus Crew	33	32	8	15	9	30	42	−12

MLS Cup Playoffs

	Conference Semifinals						Conference Finals					MLS Cup 2006
	1	D.C. United	1	1
	4	New York Red Bulls	0	1
							1	D.C. United	0
	Eastern Conference
							2	New England Revolution	1
	3	Chicago Fire	1	1 (2)
	2	New England Revolution (p)	0	2 (4)
												E	New England Revolution	1 (3)
												W	Houston Dynamo (p)	1 (4)
	1	FC Dallas	2	2 (4)
	4	Colorado Rapids (p)	1	3 (5)
							4	Colorado Rapids	1
	Western Conference
							2	Houston Dynamo	3
	3	Chivas USA	2	0
	2	Houston Dynamo	1	2

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Conference Semifinals

D.C. United v New York Red Bulls

October 21, 2006

D.C. United	1–0	New York Red Bulls
Gómez  73' Namoff  75' Gómez  77'	Report	Mendes  76' Guevara  90+2'

Giants Stadium East Rutherford, New Jersey Attendance: 8,630 Referee: Michael Kennedy

New York Red Bulls v D.C. United

October 29, 2006

New York Red Bulls	1–1	D.C. United
Stammler  11' Altidore  70'	Report	Adu  73' Gómez  86'

RFK Stadium Washington, D.C. Attendance: 21,455 Referee: Tim Weyland

D.C. United advance 2–1 on aggregate.

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New England Revolution v Chicago Fire

October 22, 2006

New England Revolution	0–1	Chicago Fire
Heaps  34' John  37' Joseph  57'	Report	Herron  16' Mapp  35' Robinson  61'

Toyota Park Bridgeview, Illinois Attendance: 10,217 Referee: Tim Weyland

Chicago Fire v New England Revolution

October 28, 2006

Chicago Fire	1–2 (AET)	New England Revolution
Jaqua  18' Segares  31' Robinson  65' Jaqua  116'	(Report)	Larentowicz  10' Hernandez  14' Twellman  41' Noonan  58'
	Penalties
Thiago Gutierrez Herron Guerrero	2–4	Cancela Reis Noonan Twellman

Gillette Stadium Foxborough, Massachusetts Attendance: 9,372 Referee: Jair Marrufo

New England Revolution advance 4–2 on penalties (2–2 aggregate after extra time).

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FC Dallas v Colorado Rapids

October 21, 2006

FC Dallas	2–1	Colorado Rapids
Ruíz  15' Thompson  55' Ruíz  90'	Report	Cooke  23' Gargan  57' Beckerman  86' Martins  88'

INVESCO Field Denver, Colorado Attendance: 4,176 Referee: Hilario Grajeda

Colorado Rapids v FC Dallas

October 28, 2006

Colorado Rapids	3–2 (AET)	FC Dallas
Mastroeni  26' Winger  53' Hernández  57' Hernández  83' Noel  101' Mathis  114'	Report	Gbandi  29' Ruíz  48' Goodson  92' Saragosa  112'
	Penalties
Mathis Hernández Kirovski Beckerman Karanka Mastroeni	5–4	Ruíz O'Brien Mulrooney Vanney Valakari Sala

Pizza Hut Park Frisco, Texas Attendance: 15,486 Referee: Abiodun Okulaja

Colorado Rapids advance 5–4 on penalties (4–4 aggregate after extra time).

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Houston Dynamo v C.D. Chivas USA

October 22, 2006

Houston Dynamo	1–2	C.D. Chivas USA
Onstad  45+1' Ching  75'	Report	Mendoza  38' Razov  45' Palencia  68'

Home Depot Center Carson, California Attendance: 15,110 Referee: Jorge Gonzalez

C.D. Chivas USA v Houston Dynamo

October 29, 2006

C.D. Chivas USA	0–2	Houston Dynamo
Vaughn  55' Palencia  57', 58' Regan  63' Garcia  64'	Report	Clark  59' Davis  64' (pen.) Serioux  67' Ching  90+3'

Robertson Stadium Houston, Texas Attendance: 17,440 Referee: Michael Kennedy

Houston Dynamo advance 3–2 on aggregate.

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Conference finals

New England Revolution v D.C. United

November 5, 2006

New England Revolution	1–0	D.C. United
Dorman  2' Twellman  4'	Report

RFK Stadium Washington, D.C. Attendance: 19,552 Referee: Kevin Scott

New England Revolution advances 1–0 in single elimination.

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Colorado Rapids v Houston Dynamo

November 5, 2006

Colorado Rapids	1–3	Houston Dynamo
Kirovski  4' Mathis  17'	Report	Dalglish  10' Clark  17' Dalglish  21' Mullan  71'

Robertson Stadium Houston, Texas Attendance: 23,107 Referee: Brian Hall

Houston Dynamo advances 3–1 in single elimination.

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MLS Cup 2006

Houston Dynamo v New England Revolution

November 12, 2006

Houston Dynamo	1–1 (AET)	New England Revolution
Davis  23' Cochrane  99' Waibel  103' Ching  114'	(Report)	Franchino  16' Twellman  113'
	Penalties
Gray Holden De Rosario Davis Ching	4–3	Joseph Reis Noonan Twellman Heaps

Pizza Hut Park Frisco, Texas Attendance: 22,427 Referee: Jair Marrufo

The Houston Dynamo win MLS Cup 4–3 on penalties.

Team Awards

• MLS Cup: Houston Dynamo
• U.S. Open Cup: Chicago Fire
• MLS Supporters' Shield: D.C. United
• MLS Reserve Division: Colorado Rapids

International Competition

CONCACAF Champions' Cup
Los Angeles Galaxy
Lost Deportivo Saprissa in quarterfinals.

New England Revolution
Lost LD Alajuelense in quarterfinals.

Individual Awards

Award	Player	Club
Most Valuable Player	Christian Gómez	D.C. United
Golden Boot	Jeff Cunningham (16) points	Real Salt Lake
Defender of the Year	Bobby Boswell	D.C. United
Goalkeeper of the Year	Troy Perkins	D.C. United
Rookie of the Year	Jonathan Bornstein	C.D. Chivas USA
Coach of the Year	Bob Bradley	C.D. Chivas USA
Comeback Player of the Year	Richard Mulrooney	FC Dallas
Goal of the Year	Brian Ching	Houston Dynamo
Fair Play Award	Chris Klein	Real Salt Lake
Humanitarian of the Year	Michael Parkhurst	New England Revolution

Top Goal Scorers

Position	Player	Club	Goals
1	Jeff Cunningham	Real Salt Lake	16
2	Christian Gómez	D.C. United	14
	Ante Razov	C.D. Chivas USA	14
3	Carlos Ruíz	FC Dallas	13
4	Landon Donovan	Los Angeles Galaxy	12
5	Jaime Moreno	D.C. United	11
	Dwayne De Rosario	Houston Dynamo	11
	Taylor Twellman	New England Revolution	11
	Kenny Cooper	FC Dallas	11
	Brian Ching	Houston Dynamo	11

Goal-Scoring Totals

Club	Overall Record	Goals For	Goals For Avg.	Goals Against	Goals Against Avg.
D.C. United	15–7–10	52	1.63 (1st)	38	1.19 (3rd)
FC Dallas	16–12–4	48	1.50 (2nd)	44	1.38 (9th)
C.D. Chivas USA	10–9–13	45	1.41 (3rd)	42	1.31 (7th)
Real Salt Lake	10–13–9	45	1.41 (4th)	49	1.53 (11th)
Houston Dynamo	11–8–13	44	1.38 (5th)	40	1.25 (4th)
Chicago Fire	13–11–8	43	1.34 (6th)	41	1.28 (5th)
Kansas City Wizards	10–14–8	43	1.34 (7th)	45	1.41 (10th)
New York Red Bulls	9–11–12	41	1.28 (8th)	41	1.28 (5th)
New England Revolution	12–8–12	39	1.22 (9th)	35	1.09 (1st)
Los Angeles Galaxy	11–15–6	37	1.16 (10th)	37	1.16 (2nd)
Colorado Rapids	11–13–8	36	1013 (11th)	49	1.53 (11th)
Columbus Crew	8–15–9	30	0.94 (12th)	42	1.31 (7th)
Overall Totals		503	2.62

Team Attendance Totals

Club	Stadium	Games	Season	Game Avg.
Chicago Fire	Toyota Park	16	225,775	14,111
CD Chivas USA	Home Depot Center	16	317,432	19,840
Colorado Rapids	INVESCO Field	16	192,894	12,056
Columbus Crew	Columbus Crew Stadium	16	212,699	13,294
New York Red Bulls	Giants Stadium	16	233,112	14,570
Kansas City Wizards	Arrowhead Stadium	16	177,322	11,083
D.C. United	Robert F. Kennedy Stadium	16	291,442	18,215
New England Revolution	Gillette Stadium	16	188,569	11,786
Los Angeles Galaxy	Home Depot Center	16	333,016	20,814
Houston Dynamo	Robertson Stadium	16	302,957	18,935
FC Dallas	Pizza Hut Park	16	239,714	14,982
Real Salt Lake	Rice-Eccles Stadium	16	261,855	16,366
MLS Totals		192	2,976,787	15,504

External links

• MLS 2006 Season Stats