Major League Soccer Recap: Week 31

With two weeks left in the regular season, playoff races are getting tight as the available playoff spots are dwindling. This week saw five teams clinch playoff spots, and two others eliminated from contention.

One of the two teams that clinched a playoff berth this week was the New England Revolution. Playing the last place Montreal Impact and needing only one point, the Revolution were virtually a lock to clinch. Although they were only able to manage a point against the lowly Impact, a beautiful chip shot from Lee Nguyen in the 69^th minute clinched a playoff spot for the Revolution. Sporting Kansas City also clinched its playoff spot by defeating the Chicago Fire 2-0 and finds itself in third place in the East.

Two teams that desperately needed to gain points this week were Toronto FC and the Houston Dynamo. With two games this week, it was a prime time for each to gain some ground on the fifth place Columbus Crew. In the first match of the week, Toronto fell 1-0 to the Houston Dynamo, who played with 10 men for the majority of the second half after AJ Cochran received a red card.

Facing the New York Red Bulls in its second match, Toronto would fail again to take any points from the match. The Red Bulls won 3-1 behind a goal and assist from MLS goal leader Bradley Wright-Phillips. Wright-Phillips scored his 25^th goal of the season putting him two back of the MLS record 27 Chris Wondolowski scored in 2012 and Roy Lassiter in 1996.

The win put the Red Bull and a Dynamo loss from clinching a playoff spot. In its second match of the week, the Dynamo faced the Eastern Conference leading DC United. Playoff hopes ended for Houston after falling 3-1 to the United. Consequently, the Red Bulls clinched the fourth playoff spot in the East with the United win.

The fifth-placed Crew ended some dreams of their own as they defeated the Philadelphia Union 3-2. The Union were up 2-0 late in the second half but saw their playoff dreams end after three goals in five minutes by the Crew. Columbus needs only one point from their final two matches to clinch the final playoff spot in the East.

In the Western Conference, the Portland Timbers had a rematch of last week’s match with the San Jose Earthquakes. The Timbers remained victorious defeating the Earthquakes 3-0. Following this result, all soccer fans in the Northwest had their eyes on the Seattle Sounders game versus the Vancouver Whitecaps. Portland desperately needed a Sounders win and even received permission from owner Merritt Paulson to root for Seattle (only for the length of the game though). Despite the added support for the Sounders, the Whitecaps won the match 1-0 and captured its second-consecutive Cascadia Cup title.

Also in the West, Real Salt Lake was looking to rebound after an upset loss to Chivas USA last week. RSL put the loss behind them and defeated the Earthquakes 2-0, clinching the third playoff spot in the West.

Another team that was looking to clinch a playoff spot this weekend was FC Dallas. Dallas was playing the Los Angeles Galaxy, who were looking to capitalize on a Sounders loss and take first place in the Supporters’ Shield standings. Without Robbie Keane who was busy scoring a hat trick for Republic of Ireland, the Galaxy fell to FC Dallas 2-1. With that result, FC Dallas clinched a playoff spot, and the Sounders remain atop of the Supporters’ Shield standings.

In a game with no playoff implications, Chivas continued their winning ways defeating the Colorado Rapids 2-1.

These last two weeks will be very exciting to see which teams will claim the final two playoff spots. One spot remains open in both the Eastern and Western Conferences. The Whitecaps and Timbers remain alive in the West, while the Crew have a firm grasp on the final spot in the East, but Toronto at six points back is still alive.