2003 Major League Soccer season

The 2003 Major League Soccer season was the eighth season of play for Major League Soccer (MLS), the top flight of professional club soccer in the United States. The league had ten clubs who each played a 30-season regular season, followed by playoffs for the top four teams in each conference.[1] The Chicago Fire won the Supporters' Shield and lost to the San Jose Earthquakes in the MLS Cup final.[2]

2003 Major League Soccer season
Season2003
MLS CupSan Jose Earthquakes (2nd title)
Supporters' ShieldChicago Fire (1st shield)
Matches played150
Goals scored433 (2.89 per match)
Top goalscorerCarlos Ruiz
Los Angeles Galaxy
Goals: 15
Taylor Twellman
N.E. Revolution
Goals: 15
Biggest home winCHI 4–0 COL
CLB 6–2 CHI
Biggest away winSJ 1–4 CHI
DAL 0–3 SJ
Highest scoringNY 4–4 SJ
CLB 6–2 CHI
Longest winning runColorado Rapids
Games: 5
(07/04 – 08/09)
MetroStars
Games: 5
(04/26 – 05/24)
Longest unbeaten runChicago Fire
Games: 7
(07/19 – 08/24)
Colorado Rapids
Games: 7
(08/16 – 10/01)
Longest losing runColorado Rapids
Games: 4
(05/03 – 05/25)
Dallas Burn
Games: 4
(07/19 -08/13)
Highest attendanceLos Angeles Galaxy
Season: 329,752
Game Avg.: 21,983
Lowest attendanceDallas Burn
Season: 118,585
Game Avg.: 7,906
Total attendance2,234,747
Average attendance14,898
← 2002
2004 →
2003 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 2003 Major League Soccer season
Western Conference   Eastern Conference

Changes from 2002

Instead of a best-of-three series, the MLS Cup Playoffs changed their format so that the quarterfinal fixtures (or conference semifinals) would be a home and away aggregate over two matches, the team with the higher seed would have the home game in the second leg. The two semifinals (or conference finals) became one match fixtures instead of two legs. The Cup final remained one match.[3]

Standings
Eastern Conference[4]
Team GP W L D GF GA GD Pts
s – Chicago Fire 3015785343+1053
x – New England Revolution 3012995547+845
x – MetroStars 30111094040042
x – D.C. United 30101193836+239
Columbus Crew 30101284444038
Western Conference[4]
Team GP W L D GF GA GD Pts
x – San Jose Earthquakes 3014794535+1051
x – Kansas City Wizards 30111094844+442
x – Colorado Rapids 30111274045–540
x – Los Angeles Galaxy 3091293535036
Dallas Burn 3061953564–2923
  • The top four teams in each conference make the playoffs.

s = Supporters Shield
x = Playoff Berth

Playoffs

Bracket
Conference Semifinals Conference Finals MLS Cup
          
E1 Chicago (wins 4–0 agg.) 2 2
E4 D.C. United 0 0
E1 Chicago 1
Eastern Conference
E3 New England 0
E2 New England (wins 3–1 agg.) 2 1
E3 MetroStars 0 1
E1 Chicago 2
W1 San Jose 4
W1 San Jose (wins 5–4 agg.) 0 5*
W4 Los Angeles 2 2
W1 San Jose 3
Western Conference
W3 Kansas City 2
W3 Kansas City (wins 3–1 agg.) 1 2
W2 Colorado 1 0

Eastern Conference Semifinals
Chicago Fire2–0D.C. United
Williams 4'
Razov 94'
Attendance: 15,202
D.C. United0–2Chicago Fire
Ralph 17'
Razov 55'
Attendance: 15,312

Chicago Fire won 4–0 on aggregate.

New England Revolution2–0MetroStars
Fabbro 17'
Noonan 65'
Attendance: 10,211
MetroStars1–1New England Revolution
Guevara 45' (pen.) Noonan 21'
Attendance: 14,823

New England Revolution won 3–1 on aggregate.

Western Conference Semifinals
San Jose Earthquakes0–2Los Angeles Galaxy
Victorine 59'
Ruiz 62'
Attendance: 20,201
Los Angeles Galaxy2–5 (a.e.t.)San Jose Earthquakes
Ruiz 7'
Vagenas 13'		 Agoos 21'
Donovan 35'
Walker 50'
Roner 90'
Faria gold-colored soccer ball 96'
Attendance: 14,145

San Jose Earthquakes won 5–4 on aggregate after golden goal extra time.

Kansas City Wizards1–1Colorado Rapids
Harris 3' Borchers 53'
Attendance: 6,434
Colorado Rapids0–2Kansas City Wizards
Simutenkov 45'
Klein 63'
Attendance: 10,712

Kansas City Wizards won 3–1 on aggregate.

Conference Finals

Eastern Conference

New England Revolution0–1 (a.e.t.)Chicago Fire
Armas gold-colored soccer ball 101'
Attendance: 14,610

Western Conference

Kansas City Wizards2–3 (a.e.t.)San Jose Earthquakes
Simutenkov 57'
Klein 72'		 Lagos 61'
Mullan 83'
Donovan gold-colored soccer ball 117'
Attendance: 16,108

MLS Cup
Main article: MLS Cup 2003
Chicago Fire2–4San Jose Earthquakes
Beasley 49'
Roner 54' (o.g.)		 Ekelund 5'
Donovan 38', 71'
Mulrooney 50'
Attendance: 27,000

CONCACAF Champions' Cup

Awards and statistics

Team awards

Individual awards
AwardPlayerClub
Most Valuable PlayerUnited States PrekiKansas City Wizards
Scoring ChampionUnited States Preki (41) pointsKansas City Wizards
Defender of the YearUnited States Carlos BocanegraChicago Fire
Goalkeeper of the YearCanada Pat OnstadSan Jose Earthquakes
Rookie of the YearJamaica Damani RalphChicago Fire
Coach of the YearUnited States Dave SarachanChicago Fire
Comeback Player of the YearUnited States Chris ArmasChicago Fire
Goal of the YearJamaica Damani RalphChicago Fire
Fair Play AwardUnited States Brian McBrideColumbus Crew
Humanitarian of the YearUnited States Ben OlsenD.C. United

Top goal scorers
Rank Player Club Goals
1 Guatemala Carlos Ruiz Los Angeles Galaxy 15
United States Taylor Twellman New England Revolution 15
3 United States Ante Razov Chicago Fire 14
Scotland John Spencer Colorado Rapids 14
5 United States Landon Donovan San Jose Earthquakes 12
United States Brian McBride Columbus Crew 12
United States Preki Kansas City Wizards 12
8 United States Mark Chung Colorado Rapids 11
Jamaica Damani Ralph Chicago Fire 11
10 United States Edson Buddle Columbus Crew 10
United States Pat Noonan New England Revolution 10

Goal scoring totals
ClubOverall
Record		Goals
For		Goals
For Avg.		Goals
Against		Goals
Against Avg.
New England Revolution12-9-9551.83 (1st)471.57 (9th)
Chicago Fire15-7-8531.77 (2nd)431.43 (5th)
Kansas City Wizards11-10-9481.60 (3rd)441.47 (6th)
San Jose Earthquakes14-7-9451.50 (4th)351.17 (1st)
Columbus Crew10-12-8441.47 (5th)441.47 (6th)
Colorado Rapids11-12-7401.33 (6th)451.50 (8th)
MetroStars11-10-9401.33 (7th)401.33 (4th)
D.C. United10-11-9381.27 (8th)361.20 (3rd)
Dallas Burn6-19-5351.117 (9th)642.13 (10th)
Los Angeles Galaxy9-12-9351.17 (10th)351.17 (1st)
Overall totals4332.89

Attendance
Club Games Season Game Avg.
Los Angeles Galaxy 15 329,752 21,983
Colorado Rapids 15 251,578 16,772
Columbus Crew 15 243,756 16,250
MetroStars 15 237,326 15,822
Kansas City Wizards 15 233,594 15,573
D.C. United 15 233,476 15,565
New England Revolution 15 219,611 14,641
Chicago Fire 15 210,080 14,005
San Jose Earthquakes 15 156,989 10,466
Dallas Burn 15 118,585 7,906
Totals 150 2,234,747 14,898

References
  1. "MLS to have longer season in 2003". United Press International. November 20, 2002. Retrieved February 20, 2023.
  2. "2003 Season Recap". MLSsoccer.com. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved February 20, 2023.
  3. Rodriguez, Alicia (October 21, 2015). "Audi MLS Cup Playoffs: Tracing the evolution of the postseason format since 1996". MLSsoccer.com. Retrieved February 20, 2023.
  4. "Conference Standings, 2003". MLSsoccer.com. Retrieved February 20, 2023.
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