2004 Major League Soccer season

2004 Major League Soccer season
Season 2004
MLS Cup D.C. United (4th title)
Supporters' Shield Columbus Crew (1st shield)
Matches played 150
Goals scored 392 (2.61 per match)
Top goalscorer Brian Ching
San Jose Earthquakes Goals: 12
Eddie Johnson
Dallas Burn
Goals: 12
Biggest home win NE 6-1 COL
Biggest away win LA 0-3 NY
DAL 0-3 NE
CHI 0-3 COL
Highest scoring SJ 5-5 NY
Longest winning run Columbus Crew
Games: 4
(05/15 – 06/06)
Columbus Crew
Games: 4
(09/04 – 09/25)
Longest unbeaten run Columbus Crew
Games: 18
(07/03/2004)
Longest losing run Dallas Burn
Games: 4
(05/08 – 05/29)
Highest attendance Los Angeles Galaxy
Season: 357,137
Game Avg.: 23,809
Lowest attendance Dallas Burn
Season: 136,319
Game Avg.: 9,088
Average attendance MLS
Season: 2,333,797
Game Avg.: 15,559
← 2003
2005 →

The 2004 Major League Soccer season culminated with D.C. United winning its fourth MLS Cup championship.

The biggest news in the beginning of the season was the signing of 14-year-old prodigy Freddy Adu, who made his debut as a substitute in United's season opener and scored his first goal several games later against the rival MetroStars. Adu contributed as a substitute on D.C.'s championship team, scoring five goals as the youngest player in North American sports history.

The season saw the emergence of forwards Brian Ching (San Jose) and Eddie Johnson (Dallas) as formidable forwards, not only for their MLS teams, but for the United States national team as well. The two shared Golden Boot honors.

The Columbus Crew emerged as a dominant team in the second half of the regular season, running off an MLS-record 18-game unbeaten streak en route to the Supporters' Shield title, won after finishing level on points with Kansas City.

Playoffs

In the playoffs the Crew were taken down by the New England Revolution, who ended the Crew's streak in the opening leg, and goalkeeper Matt Reis, who saved two penalty kicks in the second leg. United cruised past the rival MetroStars (and league MVP Amado Guevara) 4-0 on aggregate in the other Eastern Conference semifinal.

In the Western Conference, Kansas City rallied from a 2-0 first-leg deficit for a dramatic 3-0 win in stoppage time over the defending MLS Cup champion San Jose Earthquakes in their conference semifinal. The Los Angeles Galaxy used a 2-0 home victory in the second leg to overcome the Colorado Rapids and goalie Joe Cannon, who had led the Rapids to a 1-0 victory in the opener.

In the conference finals, Kansas City used two goals from unsung forward Davy Arnaud, who enjoyed a breakout season, to beat the Galaxy and return to the final for the first time since 2000. D.C. United and New England hooked up in the Eastern Conference final in one of the best games in MLS playoff history. Playing at home, D.C. United took three different leads, only to see New England recover each time to tie the match 3-3 in a game full of highlight-reel goals. The match was finally decided by the first conventional shootout in MLS history, with Nick Rimando saving the first 'sudden death' penalty from Rookie of the Year Clint Dempsey to send D.C. to the championship.

In the second consecutive final held at the Home Depot Center, D.C. rebounded from an early Jose Burciaga goal by scoring three goals in eight minutes, including two from Alecko Eskandarian to take a 3-1 lead. In the second half, Dema Kovalenko became the first player to be sent off in an MLS Cup final after knocking a shot off the goal line with his hand. Although Josh Wolff converted the penalty kick, D.C. United held on with only 10 men to win its fourth championship in the nine-year history of MLS.

Play-off Bracket

  Conference Semifinals Conference Finals MLS Cup 2004
                             
E1 Columbus 0 1  
E4 New England (wins 2-1 agg.) 1 1  
  E4 New England 3  
Eastern Conference
  E2 D.C. (wins 4-3 on PK's) 3*  
E2 D.C. (wins 4-0 agg.) 2 2
E3 MetroStars 0 0  
  E2 D.C. 3
  W1 Kansas City 2
W1 Kansas City (wins 3-2 agg.) 0 3  
W4 San Jose 2 0  
  W1 Kansas City 2
Western Conference
  W2 Los Angeles 0  
W2 Los Angeles (wins 2-1 agg.) 0 2
W3 Colorado 1 0  

Final standings

Eastern Conference

Eastern Conference GP W L D GF GA GD Pts
s – Columbus Crew 30125134032849
x – D.C. United 30111094342142
x – MetroStars 30111274749-240
x – New England Revolution 3081394243-133
Chicago Fire 3081393644-833

Western Conference

Western Conference GP W L D GF GA GD Pts
x – Kansas City Wizards 3014973830849
x – Los Angeles Galaxy 30119104240243
x – Colorado Rapids 30109112932-341
x – San Jose Earthquakes 30910114135638
Dallas Burn 30101463445-1136

Overall

Pos Club GP W L D GF GA GD Pts
1 Columbus Crew 30 12 5 13 40 32 8 49
2 Kansas City Wizards 30 14 9 7 38 30 8 49
3 Los Angeles Galaxy 30 11 9 10 42 40 2 43
4 D.C. United 30 11 10 9 43 42 1 42
5 Colorado Rapids 30 10 9 11 29 32 -3 41
6 MetroStars 30 11 12 7 47 49 -2 40
7 San Jose Earthquakes 30 9 10 11 41 35 6 38
8 Dallas Burn 30 10 14 6 34 45 -11 36
9 New England Revolution 30 8 13 9 42 43 -1 33
10 Chicago Fire 30 8 13 9 36 44 -8 33
  • The top four teams in each conference make the playoffs.

s = Supporters Shield
x = playoff berth

MLS Cup Playoffs

Conference Semifinals

Columbus Crew 0–1 New England Revolution
Buddle Yellow card 26'
Fraser Yellow card 35'		 Report Joseph Yellow card 4'
John  25'
John Yellow card 58'
Heaps Yellow card 82'
Attendance: 5,679
Referee: N/A
New England Revolution 1–1 Columbus Crew
Twellman  81' Report Martino Yellow card 26'
Hejduk Yellow card 68'
Buddle  90+2'
Attendance: 15,224
Referee: Alex Prus

New England Revolution advance 2-1 on aggregate.

D.C. United 2–0 MetroStars
Kovalenko Yellow card 50'
Nelsen Yellow card 62'
Stewart  67'
Gros Yellow card 75'
Eskandarian  88'		 Report Walker Yellow card 68'
Attendance: 11,161
Referee: Kevin Stott
MetroStars 0–2 D.C. United
Flores Yellow card 6'
Guevara Yellow card 18'
Clark Yellow card 45+1'
Pope Yellow card 88'		 Report Olsen Yellow card 27'
Namoff Yellow card 35'
Kovalenko Yellow card 41'
Nelsen Yellow card 61'
Moreno  85'
Adu Yellow card 86'
Namoff  89'
RFK Stadium
Washington, D.C.
Attendance: 15,763
Referee: Ricardo Valenzuela

D.C. United advance 4-0 on aggregate.

Kansas City Wizards 0–2 San Jose Earthquakes
Simutenkov Yellow card 41'
Zotinca Yellow card 59'		 Report Agoos Yellow card 24'
Mullan Yellow card 38'
De Rosario  40'
Waibel  52'
Attendance: 8,659
Referee: Kevin Terry
San Jose Earthquakes 0–3 Kansas City Wizards
Donovan Yellow card 43' Report Stephenson  26'
Jewsbury Yellow card 45+1'
Ching  48' (o.g.)
Arnaud Yellow card 56'
Gutierrez Yellow card 78'
Jewsbury  90+2'
Attendance: 10,022
Referee: Terry Vaugn

Kansas City Wizards advance 3-2 on aggregate.

Los Angeles Galaxy 0–1 Colorado Rapids
Broome Yellow card 66' Report Peguero  30'
Kotschau Yellow card 40'
Mastroeni Yellow card 76'
Attendance: 8,028
Referee: Terry Vaughn
Colorado Rapids 0–2 Los Angeles Galaxy
Beckerman Yellow card 42'
Kotschau Yellow card 52'		 Report Ruiz  30'
Ruiz Yellow card 42'
Marshall  45+3'
Kirovski Yellow card 74'
Hartman Yellow card 76'
Attendance: 20,026
Referee: Michael Kennedy

Los Angeles Galaxy advance 2-1 on aggregate.

Conference finals

Los Angeles Galaxy 0–2 Kansas City Wizards
Vagenas Yellow card 26'
Broome Yellow card 72'
Herzog Yellow card 83'		 Report Arnaud  24'  68'
Burciaga Jr. Yellow card 41'
Zotinca Yellow card 72'
Attendance: 11,931
Referee: Abiodun Okulaja
New England Revolution 3–3 (AET) D.C. United
Joseph Yellow card 1'
Twellman  17'
Ralston  44' (pen.)
John Yellow card 55'
Pierce Yellow card 62'
Noonan  85'		 Report Eskandarian  11'
Moreno  21'
Eskandarian Yellow card 49'
Namoff Yellow card 58'
Gomez  67'
Olsen Yellow card 87'
Penalties
Ralston
Reis
Twellman
Heaps
Joseph
Dempsey 		3–4 Olsen
Quaranta
Adu
Eskandarian
Moreno
Carroll
RFK Stadium
Washington, D.C.
Attendance: 21,201
Referee: Terry Vaughn

D.C. United advance 4-3 on penalties (3-3 after full time).

MLS Cup 2004

Kansas City Wizards 2–3 D.C. United
Burciaga Jr.  6'
Gutierrez Yellow card 33'
Wolff  58' (pen.)		 Report Eskandarian  19'  23'
Zotinca  26' (o.g.)
Stewart Yellow card 55'
Kovalenko Red card 57'
Namoff Yellow card 72'
Olsen Yellow card 89'
Attendance: 25,797
Referee: Michael Kennedy

D.C. United wins the MLS Cup
Kansas City Wizards and D.C. United earn MLS berths to
CONCACAF Champions' Cup 2005.

Team Awards

Individual awards

AwardPlayerClub
Most Valuable PlayerHondurasAmado GuevaraMetroStars
Scoring ChampionHondurasAmado Guevara (30) pointsMetroStars
United StatesPat Noonan (30) pointsNew England Revolution
Defender of the YearUnited States Robin FraserColumbus Crew
Goalkeeper of the YearUnited States Joe CannonColorado Rapids
Rookie of the YearUnited States Clint DempseyNew England Revolution
Coach of the YearUnited States Greg AndrulisColumbus Crew
Comeback Player of the YearUnited States Brian ChingSan Jose Earthquakes
Goal of the YearCanada Dwayne De RosarioSan Jose Earthquakes
Fair Play AwardUnited States Eddie PopeMetroStars
Humanitarian of the YearUnited States Chris HendersonColorado Rapids

Top Goal Scorers

Position Player Club Goals
1 United States Brian Ching San Jose Earthquakes 12
United States Eddie Johnson Dallas Burn 12
2 United States Edson Buddle Columbus Crew 11
United States Pat Noonan New England Revolution 11
Jamaica Damani Ralph Chicago Fire 11
United States Carlos Ruiz Los Angeles Galaxy 11
3 United States Alecko Eskandarian D.C. United 10
Honduras Amado Guevara MetroStars 10
United States Josh Wolff Kansas City Wizards 10
United States John Wolyniec MetroStars 10

Goal-Scoring Totals

ClubOverall
Record		Goals
For		Goals
For Avg.		Goals
Against		Goals
Against Avg.
MetroStars11-12-7471.57 (1st)491.63 (10th)
D.C. United11-10-9431.43 (2nd)421.40 (6th)
Los Angeles Galaxy11-9-10421.40 (3rd)401.33 (5th)
New England Revolution8-13-9421.40 (4th)431.43 (7th)
San Jose Earthquakes9-10-11411.37 (5th)351.17 (4th)
Columbus Crew12-5-13401.33 (6th)321.07 (2nd)
Kansas City Wizards14-9-7381.27 (7th)301.00 (1st)
Chicago Fire8-13-9361.20 (8th)441.47 (8th)
Dallas Burn10-14-6341.13 (9th)451.50 (9th)
Colorado Rapids10-9-11290.97 (10th)321.07 (2nd)
Overall Totals3922.61

Team Attendance Totals

Club Stadium Games Season Game Avg.
Chicago Fire Soldier Field 15 257,295 17,153
Colorado Rapids INVESCO Field 15 212,925 14,195
Columbus Crew Columbus Crew Stadium 15 253,079 16,872
MetroStars Giants Stadium 15 257,923 17,195
Kansas City Wizards Arrowhead Stadium 15 222,235 14,816
D.C. United Robert F. Kennedy Stadium 15 258,484 17,232
New England Revolution Gillette Stadium 15 183,385 12,226
Los Angeles Galaxy Home Depot Center 15 357,137 23,809
San Jose Earthquakes Spartan Stadium 15 195,015 13,001
Dallas Burn Cotton Bowl 15 136,319 9,088
MLS Totals 150 2,333,797 15,559

Coaches

Eastern Conference

Western Conference

References

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