2002 Major League Soccer season

The 2002 Major League Soccer season was the seventh season of Major League Soccer. It was also the 90th season of FIFA-sanctioned soccer in the United States, and the 24th with a national first-division league.

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
Total attendance2,215,019
Average attendance15,822
2001
2003
2002 Major League Soccer season is located in the United States
D.C.United
D.C.
United
MetroStars
MetroStars
Columbus Crew
Columbus Crew
New England Revolution
New England Revolution
ChicagoFire
Chicago
Fire
Colorado Rapids
Colorado Rapids
DallasBurn
Dallas
Burn
Los Angeles Galaxy
Los Angeles Galaxy
Kansas City Wizards
Kansas City Wizards
San Jose Earthquakes
San Jose Earthquakes
Locations of teams for the 2002 Major League Soccer season
Western Conference   Eastern Conference

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.

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

The regular season began on March 23, and concluded on September 22. The 2002 MLS Cup Playoffs began on September 25, and concluded with MLS Cup 2002 on October 20. After three previous losses in the final, the Los Angeles Galaxy won their first MLS Cup with a victory over the New England Revolution.

Overview

Stadiums and locations

Team Stadium Capacity
Chicago Fire Soldier Field 66,944
Colorado Rapids Invesco Field at Mile High 76,125
Columbus Crew Columbus Crew Stadium 22,555
D.C. United RFK Memorial Stadium 46,000
Dallas Burn Cotton Bowl 92,100
Kansas City Wizards Arrowhead Stadium 81,425
Los Angeles Galaxy Rose Bowl 92,542
New England Revolution CMGI Field 68,756
Metrostars Giants Stadium 80,200
San Jose Earthquakes Spartan Stadium 30,456

Personnel and sponsorships

Team Head coach Captain Shirt sponsor
Chicago Fire United States Bob Bradley
Colorado Rapids United States Tim Hankinson
Columbus Crew United States Greg Andrulis Pepsi
D.C. United England Ray Hudson
Dallas Burn United States Mike Jeffries
Kansas City Wizards United States Bob Gansler
Los Angeles Galaxy Germany Sigi Schmid
Metrostars Ecuador Octavio Zambrano United States Tab Ramos
San Jose Earthquakes Canada Frank Yallop United States Jeff Agoos Yahoo! Sports

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

Quarterfinals Semifinals 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.

Quarterfinals

Kansas City Wizards2–3 (AET)Los Angeles Galaxy
Preki 25'
Brown 70'
Ruiz 62' (pen.) gold-colored soccer ball 99'
Jones 85'
Kansas City Wizards2–5Los Angeles Galaxy
Klein 47'
Preki 72'
Ruiz 34' 66'
Jones 45'+, 62'
Tennyson 90+3'
  • Los Angeles Galaxy advance 6-3 on points.

New England Revolution1–2Chicago Fire
Kamler 28' Razov 43' (pen.), 76'
  • New England Revolution advance 6–3 on points.

  • 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'
Colorado Rapids1–1Dallas Burn
Spencer 22' Rhine 6'
Attendance: 8,008
 1–0 series OT (ASDET) 
Chung gold-colored soccer ball 1'
  • Colorado Rapids advance in series (sudden death) overtime, after 4–4 tie on points.

Semifinals

Colorado Rapids0–4Los Angeles Galaxy
Califf 21'
Ruiz 24' 84'
Hendrickson 71'
Los Angeles Galaxy1–0Colorado Rapids
Ruiz 64'
  • Los Angeles Galaxy advance 6–0 on points.

  • New England Revolution advance 5–2 on points.

MLS Cup

Los Angeles Galaxy1–0 (2OT)New England Revolution
Ruiz gold-colored soccer ball 113' Report

Player statistics

Goals

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

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

Awards

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

Attendance

Club Games Total Average
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
Totals 140 2,215,019 15,822

References

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