2015 MLS Cup Playoffs

The 2015 MLS Cup Playoffs (officially the Audi 2015 MLS Cup Playoffs for sponsorship reasons)[1] was the 20th post-season tournament culminating the Major League Soccer regular season. The tournament began on October 28 with D.C. United defeating New England Revolution and culminated on December 6, 2015 with MLS Cup 2015, the twentieth league championship match for MLS.

2015 MLS Cup Playoffs
CountryUnited States
Canada
Teams12
Defending championsLA Galaxy
ChampionsPortland Timbers (1st title)
Runners-upColumbus Crew SC
Semi-finalists
Matches played17
Goals scored46 (2.71 per match)
Top goal scorer(s) Kei Kamara
(4 goals)
2014
2016

Twelve teams[2] (top 6 per conference) competed, up from 10 the last 3 seasons. The first round of each conference had the third-seeded team hosting the sixth seed, while the fourth-seed hosts the fifth, in a single match to determine who advances to the Conference Semifinals. In the Conference Semifinals, the top seed plays the lowest remaining seed while the second seed plays the next-lowest. The winners advanced to the Conference Finals.

Both the Conference Semifinals and Conference Finals are played as two-legged aggregate series. If teams are level at the end of the second leg, the away goals rule will be used in attempt to determine a winner. If the away goals rule does not resolve the deadlock, 30 minutes of extra time will be played, but the away goals rule will not be applied after extra time. If scores are still level following extra time, a penalty shootout will be conducted.

The winners advance to the MLS Cup final, a single match hosted by the participant with the better record.[3]

The winner of MLS Cup 2015, Portland Timbers qualified for the 2016–17 CONCACAF Champions League. If a Canadian team were to win the MLS Cup, the next-best team from the United States will take their place.[4]

On March 6, 2015, Audi was announced as the official sponsor of the playoffs starting in 2015.[1]

The Portland Timbers won the MLS Cup by defeating the Columbus Crew SC by a score of 2–1. The Timbers' Diego Valeri scored the fastest goal in MLS Cup history at 27 seconds after Crew goalkeeper Steve Clark, made a fundamental error after he miscontrolled his defender's back-pass; allowing Valeri to strike at the opportunity.[5]

2015 MLS Conference standings

The top 6 teams from each conference advance to the MLS Cup playoffs. Green background denotes also qualified for 2016–17 CONCACAF Champions League.

Bracket

                                           
Knockout Round Conference Semifinals Conference Finals MLS Cup
October 29 – Stade Saputo              
E6  Toronto FC  0
E3  Montreal Impact  2  1  3
E3  Montreal Impact  3      
E2  Columbus Crew (a.e.t.)  1  3  4  
Eastern Conference
October 28 – RFK Stadium E2  Columbus Crew  2  0  2
 
  E1  New York Red Bulls  0  1  1  
E5  New England Revolution  1
E4  D.C. United  0  0  0
E4  D.C. United  2   December 6 – Mapfre Stadium
E1  New York Red Bulls  1  1  2  
 
October 29 – Providence Park E2  Columbus Crew  1
 
  W3  Portland Timbers  2
W6  Sporting Kansas City  2 (6)
W3  Portland Timbers  0  2  2
W3  Portland Timbers (p)  2 (7)      
W2  Vancouver Whitecaps FC  0  0  0  
Western Conference
October 28 – CenturyLink Field W3  Portland Timbers  3  2  5
 
  W1  FC Dallas  1  2  3  
W5  LA Galaxy  2
W4  Seattle Sounders FC  2  1  3 (2)
W4  Seattle Sounders FC  3  
W1  FC Dallas (p)  1  2  3 (4)  

Source: [6]

Schedule

Eastern Conference

D.C. United2–1New England Revolution
Pontius  45'
Rolfe  83'
Report Agudelo  15'
Attendance: 11,554
Referee: Mark Geiger

Montreal Impact3–0Toronto FC
Bernier  18'
Piatti  33'
Drogba  39'
Report

Western Conference

Seattle Sounders FC3–2LA Galaxy
Dempsey  5'
Valdez  12'
Friberg  77'
Report Lletget  6'
Zardes  22'

Eastern Conference

D.C. United0–1New York Red Bulls
Report McCarty  72'
Attendance: 19,525
Referee: Fotis Bazakos

New York Red Bulls1–0D.C. United
Wright-Phillips  90+2' Report
Attendance: 25,219
Referee: Ted Unkel

New York Red Bulls win 2–0 on aggregate

Montreal Impact2–1Columbus Crew SC
Bernier  37'
Venegas  77'
Report Higuaín  33'
Attendance: 17,655
Referee: Chris Penso

Columbus Crew SC3–1 (a.e.t.)Montreal Impact
Kamara  4', 111'
Finlay  77'
Report Duka  40'
Attendance: 19,026
Referee: Armando Villarreal

Columbus Crew wins 4–3 on aggregate

Western Conference


Vancouver Whitecaps FC0–2Portland Timbers
Report Adi  31'
Chara  90+4'

Portland Timbers win 2–0 on aggregate

Seattle Sounders FC2–1FC Dallas
Ivanschitz  67'
Dempsey  86'
Report Castillo  18'

FC Dallas wins 4–2 on penalties after 3–3 draw on aggregate

Eastern Conference

Columbus Crew SC2–0New York Red Bulls
Meram  1'
Kamara  85'
Report
Attendance: 21,617
Referee: Allen Chapman

New York Red Bulls1–0Columbus Crew SC
Abang  90+3' Report

Columbus Crew wins 2–1 on aggregate

Western Conference

Portland Timbers3–1FC Dallas
Ridgewell  23'
Asprilla  53'
Borchers  90+1'
Report Texeira  62'
Attendance: 21,144
Referee: Ted Unkel

FC Dallas2–2Portland Timbers
Hollingshead  68'
Pérez  73'
Report Adi  54'
Melano  90+5'
Attendance: 20,966
Referee: Ismail Elfath

Portland Timbers win 5–3 on aggregate

MLS Cup

Columbus Crew1–2Portland Timbers
Kamara  18' Report Valeri  1'
Wallace  7'
Attendance: 21,747
Referee: Jair Marrufo

Goalscorers

Rank Player Club Goals [7]
1 Kei Kamara Columbus Crew SC 4
2 Fanendo Adi Portland Timbers 2
Patrice Bernier Montreal Impact
Clint Dempsey Seattle Sounders FC
Rodney Wallace Portland Timbers
6 Anatole Abang New York Red Bulls 1
Juan Agudelo New England Revolution
Tesho Akindele FC Dallas
Dairon Asprilla Portland Timbers
Nat Borchers Portland Timbers
Fabian Castillo FC Dallas
Diego Chará Portland Timbers
Didier Drogba Montreal Impact
Dilly Duka Montreal Impact
Kevin Ellis Sporting Kansas City
Ethan Finlay Columbus Crew SC
Erik Friberg Seattle Sounders FC
Federico Higuaín Columbus Crew SC
Ryan Hollingshead FC Dallas
Andreas Ivanschitz Seattle Sounders FC
Sebastian Lletget LA Galaxy
Chad Marshall Seattle Sounders FC
Lucas Melano Portland Timbers
Dax McCarty New York Red Bulls
Justin Meram Columbus Crew SC
Krisztián Németh Sporting Kansas City
Blas Pérez FC Dallas
Ignacio Piatti Montreal Impact
Chris Pontius D.C. United
Liam Ridgewell Portland Timbers
Chris Rolfe D.C. United
David Texeira FC Dallas
Maximiliano Urruti Portland Timbers
Nelson Valdez Seattle Sounders FC
Diego Valeri Portland Timbers
Johan Venegas Montreal Impact
Bradley Wright-Phillips New York Red Bulls
Gyasi Zardes LA Galaxy
Walker Zimmerman FC Dallas

References

  1. "MLS announces partnership with Audi, including presenting sponsorship of MLS Cup Playoffs". mlssoccer.com. Major League Soccer. Retrieved October 5, 2015.
  2. "Armchair Analyst: Ranking the Audi 2015 MLS Cup Playoff teams, 1-through-12". MLSsoccer.com.
  3. "Audi MLS Cup Playoffs 101: Everything you need to know about the postseason". MLSsoccer.com.
  4. Kingston, Gary (August 25, 2015). "Whitecaps face fine balancing act in settling on Voyageurs Cup lineup". Vancouver Sun. Retrieved September 1, 2015.
  5. "Portland Timbers' Diego Valeri Scores Fastest Goal In MLS Cup History (Video)". NESN. December 6, 2015. Retrieved December 6, 2015.
  6. "MLS Playoff Bracket". MLSsoccer.com. Retrieved October 29, 2015.
  7. "Schedule". MLSsoccer.com.
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