2002 Major League Soccer season

The 2002 Major League Soccer season was the seventh season of competition for Major League Soccer.

2002 Major League Soccer season
Season2002
MLS CupLos Angeles Galaxy (1st title)
Supporters' ShieldLos Angeles Galaxy (2nd shield)
Matches played140
Goals scored421 (3.01 per match)
Top goalscorerCarlos Ruiz
Los Angeles Galaxy
Goals: 24
Highest attendanceColorado Rapids
Season: 289,663
Game Avg.: 20,690
Lowest attendanceSan Jose Earthquakes
Season: 156,104
Game Avg.: 11,150
Average attendanceMLS
Season: 2,215,019
Game Avg.: 15,822
← 2001
2003 →

On January 8, 2002, MLS folded two of its teams. The Miami Fusion F.C. ceased operations after only four years in existence due to low attendance and an unfavorable stadium deal. The Tampa Bay Mutiny also ceased operations due to the lack of local ownership. MLS eliminated the Central Division and returned to its original two-conference alignment.

According to FC Dallas president Dan Hunt, the entire league nearly folded during the 2001 offseason.[1] The owners agreed to shut down the league on a conference call in November 2001, but within two days Lamar Hunt convinced the other owners to give the league another year.

Standings

Conference
Eastern Conference GP W L D GF GA GD Pts
y – New England Revolution 28121424949038
x – Columbus Crew 28111254443+138
x – Chicago Fire 28111344338+537
MetroStars 28111524147–635
D.C. United 2891453140–932
Western Conference GP* W L D GF GA GD Pts
s – Los Angeles Galaxy 2816934433+1151
x – San Jose Earthquakes 28141134535+1045
x – Dallas Burn 2812974443+143
x – Colorado Rapids 28131144348–543
x – Kansas City Wizards 2891093745–836
  • Top eight teams with the highest points clinch play-off berth, regardless of conference.
    x = Playoff berth
    y = Conference Winner (Season)
    s = Supporters Shield/Conference winner (Season)
  • New England Revolution wins first tiebreaker vs. Columbus Crew (head-to-head: 2-1-1)
    Dallas Burn wins first tiebreaker vs. Colorado Rapids (head-to-head: 2-1-1)

Overall
Pos Club GP W L T GF GA GD Pts Qualification Head-to-head
1 Los Angeles Galaxy (SS) (W1) 2816934433+1151 2003 CONCACAF Champions Cup, 2002 MLS Cup Playoffs, 2003 U.S. Open Cup
2 San Jose Earthquakes 28141134535+1045 2003 CONCACAF Champions Cup1, 2002 MLS Cup Playoffs, 2003 U.S. Open Cup
3 Dallas Burn 2812974443+143 2002 MLS Cup Playoffs, 2003 U.S. Open Cup DAL: 7 pts
COL: 4 pts
4 Colorado Rapids 28131144348–543
5 New England Revolution (E1) 28121424949038 NE: 7 pts
CLB: 4 pts
6 Columbus Crew 28111254443+138
7 Chicago Fire 28111344338+537
8 Kansas City Wizards 2891093745-836
9 MetroStars2 28111524147–635
10 D.C. United2 2891453140–932

Source: MLSSoccer.com
Rules for classification: 1st points; 2nd head-to-head record; 3rd goal difference; 4th number of goals scored.
(SS) = MLS Supporters' Shield; (E1) = Eastern Conference champion; (W1) = Western Conference champion
Only applicable when the season is not finished:
(Q) = Qualified for the MLS Cup Playoffs, but not yet to the particular round indicated; (E) = Eliminated from playoff-contention.

  • ^Note 1 – Since Los Angeles Galaxy won MLS Cup 2002 and the Supporters' Shield, San Jose Earthquakes qualified for the CONCACAF Champions Cup by finishing as Supporters' Shield runners-up.
  • ^Note 2 – Since MetroStars and D.C. United finished outside of the top eight in the league standings, they enter the U.S. Open Cup in the third round proper rather than fourth.

MLS Cup Playoffs

Bracket
  Conference Semi-finals Conference Finals MLS Cup 2002
                                   
  1 Los Angeles Galaxy (ASDET)* (6 Points) 3* 1 5  
8 Kansas City Wizards (3 Points) 2 4 2  
  1 Los Angeles Galaxy (6 Points) 4 1 x  
  5 Colorado Rapids (0 Points) 0 0 x  
4 Dallas Burn (4 Points) 4 0 1
  5 Colorado Rapids (SDET)** (4 Points) 2 1 1**  
    1 Los Angeles Galaxy (ASDET)* 1
  2 New England Revolution 0
  2 New England Revolution (6 Points) 2 1 2  
7 Chicago Fire (3 Points) 0 2 0  
  2 New England Revolution (5 Points) 0 1 2
  6 Columbus Crew (2 Points) 0 0 2  
3 San Jose Earthquakes (0 Points) 1 1 x
  6 Columbus Crew (6 Points) 2 2 x  
  • Points system
    Win = 3 Pts.
    Loss = 0 Pts.
    Draw = 1 Pt.
  • ASDET*=Added Sudden Death Extra Time (Game tie breaker)
    SDET**=Sudden Death Extra Time (Series tie breaker)
    Teams will advance at 5 points.

Conference Semi-finals
Kansas City Wizards2–3 (AET)Los Angeles Galaxy
Preki  25'
Brown  70'		 Ruiz  62' (pen.)  99'
Jones  85'
Attendance: 14,585
Los Angeles Galaxy1–4Kansas City Wizards
Albright  71' Simutenkov  19'
Quill  37'
Preki  70'
Fabbro  73'
Attendance: 9,484
Kansas City Wizards2–5Los Angeles Galaxy
Klein  47'
Preki  72'		 Ruiz  34'  66'
Jones  45'+,  62'
Tennyson  90+3'
Attendance: 14,713
  • Los Angeles Galaxy advance 6-3 on points.
Chicago Fire0–2New England Revolution
Twellman  13'
Hernández  60'
Attendance: 6,306
New England Revolution1–2Chicago Fire
Kamler  28' Razov  43' (pen.),  76'
Attendance: 9,434
Chicago Fire0–2New England Revolution
Kamler  12'
Twellman  65'
Attendance: 6,954
  • New England Revolution advance 6–3 on points.
Columbus Crew2–1San Jose Earthquakes
Buddle  38'
García  81'		 Donovan  54'
Attendance: 8,069
San Jose Earthquakes1–2Columbus Crew
Graziani  58' García  50'
McBride  81'
Attendance: 13,004
  • Columbus Crew advance 6–0 on points.
Colorado Rapids2–4Dallas Burn
Valderrama  2'
Spencer (Pen)  75'		 Morrow  26'
Kreis  49'
Deering  68'
Martínez  70'
Attendance: 6,360
Dallas Burn0–1Colorado Rapids
Carrieri  78'
Attendance: 9,637
Colorado Rapids1–1Dallas Burn
Spencer  22' Rhine  6'
Attendance: 8,008
 1–0 series OT (ASDET) 
Chung  1'
  • Colorado Rapids advance in series (sudden death) overtime, after 4–4 tie on points.

Conference Finals
Colorado Rapids0–4Los Angeles Galaxy
Califf  21'
Ruiz  24'  84'
Hendrickson  71'
Attendance: 24,742
Los Angeles Galaxy1–0Colorado Rapids
Ruiz  64'
Attendance: 12,367
  • Los Angeles Galaxy advance 6–0 on points.
Columbus Crew0–0New England Revolution
Attendance: 11,387
New England Revolution1–0Columbus Crew
Heaps  3'
Attendance: 10,245
Columbus Crew2–2New England Revolution
McBride  80'
Washington  85'		 Ralston  17'
Harris  47'
Attendance: 9,216
  • New England Revolution advance 5–2 on points.

MLS Cup
Main article: MLS Cup 2002
Los Angeles Galaxy1–0 (2OT)New England Revolution
Ruiz  113' Report
Attendance: 61,316
Referee: Kevin Terry

Attendance
Club Games Season Game Avg.
Colorado Rapids 14 289,663 20,690
Los Angeles Galaxy 14 266,664 19,047
MetroStars 14 254,174 18,155
Columbus Crew 14 243,999 17,429
New England Revolution 14 236,973 16,927
D.C. United 14 231,264 16,519
Dallas Burn 14 183,702 13,122
Chicago Fire 14 180,908 12,922
Kansas City Wizards 14 171,568 12,255
San Jose Earthquakes 14 156,104 11,150
OVERALL 140 2,215,019 15,822

Player statistics

Goals
Rank Player Club Goals
1 Carlos Ruiz Los Angeles Galaxy 24
2 Taylor Twellman New England Revolution 23
3 Jeff Cunningham Columbus Crew 16
4 Ante Razov Chicago Fire 14
Ariel Graziani San Jose Earthquakes 14
6 Jason Kreis Dallas Burn 13
7 Mamadou Diallo* MetroStars 12
Rodrigo Faria MetroStars 12
9 Chris Carrieri Colorado Rapids 11
Mark Chung Colorado Rapids 11
Chris Henderson Colorado Rapids 11

Played for more than one team – Most Recent Team Listed*

Awards
AwardPlayerClub
Most Valuable Player Carlos RuizLos Angeles Galaxy
Scoring Champion Taylor Twellman (52 points)New England Revolution
Defender of the Year Carlos BocanegraChicago Fire
Goalkeeper of the Year Joe CannonSan Jose Earthquakes
Rookie of the Year Kyle MartinoColumbus Crew
Coach of the Year Steve NicolNew England Revolution
Comeback Player of the Year Chris KleinKansas City Wizards
Goal of the Year Carlos RuizLos Angeles Galaxy
Fair Play Award Mark ChungColorado Rapids
Humanitarian of the Year Steve JolleyMetroStars

References
  1. Yousuf, Saad (April 16, 2016). "MLS nearly folded in 2001 - FC Dallas president Dan Hunt". ESPN.com.
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