The Major League Soccer (MLS) regular season has come to an end, signaling the start of the playoffs. The playoff is a road to win the 21st annual MLS Cup. The league is divided into two conferences, the east and west. The six teams with the best regular season records from each conference make the postseason.
The playoff consists of four rounds, three of them being two-legged series. First, four knockout stage games are played by the third to sixth seeds. The two surviving teams then play in the conference semi-finals. The final is held at the home stadium of the finalist with the best regular season record.
The eastern conference playoff seeding includes Toronto FC at number one, followed by New York City FC, Chicago Fire, Atlanta United, Columbus Crew SC and the New York Red Bulls. The eastern conference final saw Toronto FC win against the Columbus Crew 1-0 after American forward, Jozy Altidore’s 60 minute winner in the second leg. Toronto are back to back eastern conference champions and are back to back MLS Cup Finalists.
“If you want to be a good team, if you want to be a team that competes for trophies, that wins trophies, you have to be able to win on different type of days,” said Michael Bradley, Captain of Toronto FC to Sports Illustrated.
The western conference playoff picture has the Portland Timbers in first, ahead of the Seattle Sounders FC, Vancouver Whitecaps FC, Houston Dynamo, Sporting Kansas City, and San Jose Earthquakes. In the western conference final, the Seattle Sounders defeated the Houston Dynamo 5-0 after two headers from midfielder, Gustav Svensson and forward, Will Bruin in the first leg and goals from forwards Victor Rodriguez, Clint Dempsey and Bruin again in the second leg.
“We knew it was going to be a very difficult game coming here. So if you look at the result, I’m very happy,” said Svensson to SB Nation.
The final was held on Dec. 9 at BMO Field, in Toronto. It was the rematch of the 2016 final which saw the Sounders win 5-4 on penalties. This year’s final had a different result. Altidore chased after a through ball and scored the opener in the 66 minute and in the dying seconds, Mexican forward, Victor Vazquez doubled their lead and sent his team to their first ever MLS Cup championship as the only canadian team to ever do so. They are also the only team to complete a domestic treble in MLS history by winning the MLS Cup, Supporters’ Shield and Canadian Championship in a single season. A treble is winning three trophies in one season or calendar year.
“Toronto deserved to win. They were a well-rounded team this year with a world-class striker. They’ve been grinding all season and it’s good to see them and their city celebrate,” said Carrick Berry, sophomore.
