2002 Major League Soccer season

2002 Major League Soccer season
Season 2002
MLS Cup Los Angeles Galaxy (1st title)
Supporters' Shield Los Angeles Galaxy (2nd shield)
2003 CONCACAF Champions' Cup Los Angeles Galaxy
New England Revolution
San Jose Earthquakes
Matches played 140
Goals scored 421 (3.01 per match)
Top goalscorer Carlos Ruiz
Los Angeles Galaxy
Goals: 24
Highest attendance Colorado Rapids
Season: 289,663
Game Avg.: 20,690
Lowest attendance San Jose Earthquakes
Season: 156,104
Game Avg.: 11,150
Total attendance 2,215,019
Average attendance 15,822
← 2001
2003 →

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.

According to FC Dallas president Dan Hunt, the entire league nearly folded during the 2001 offseason. 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, both of which were in Florida. 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.

Two new stadiums opened this season. The Colorado Rapids moved into Invesco Field at Mile High and the New England Revolution moved into CMGI Field, which was renamed Gillette Stadium on August 5. Additionally, due to renovations at Soldier Field, the Chicago Fire played at Cardinal Stadium in the western suburb of Naperville.

In an effort to lower costs, the number of games was reduced from 32 to 28, marking the fewest games played in league history. The playoffs were also reformatted as the teams with the 8 highest point totals qualified regardless of conference affiliation.

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

Season Format

The season began on March 23 and concluded with MLS Cup on October 20. The 10 teams were split evenly into two conferences. Each team played 28 games that were evenly divided between home and away. Each team played every other team in their conference, and one designated opponent from the opposite conference, four times, and the remaining teams in the opposite conference twice.

The top eight teams regardless of conference qualified for the MLS Cup Playoffs. The first round and conference finals were played as a three game series, and the first team to 5 points advanced. The winners of the conference finals advanced to MLS Cup.

The team with the most points in the regular season was awarded the MLS Supporters' Shield. Additionally, the winner of MLS Cup and the runner-up qualified for the CONCACAF Champions' Cup.

Stadiums and locations

Main article: List of Major League Soccer stadiums
Team Stadium Capacity
Chicago Fire Cardinal Stadium 15,000
Colorado Rapids Invesco Field at Mile High 76,125
Columbus Crew Columbus Crew Stadium 22,555
D.C. United RFK Stadium 46,000
Dallas Burn Cotton Bowl 92,100
Kansas City Wizards Arrowhead Stadium 81,425
Los Angeles Galaxy Rose Bowl 92,542
MetroStars Giants Stadium 80,200
New England Revolution CMGI Field 68,756
San Jose Earthquakes Spartan Stadium 30,456

Personnel and sponsorships

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

Coaching changes

Team Outgoing coach Manner of departure Date of vacancy Incoming coach Date of appointment
New England Revolution Fernando Clavijo Fired May 23, 2002 Steve Nicol May 23, 2002

Standings

Eastern Conference

Pos Team Pld W L T GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 New England Revolution 28 12 14 2 49 49 0 38 MLS Cup Playoffs
2 Columbus Crew 28 11 12 5 44 43 +1 38
3 Chicago Fire 28 11 13 4 43 38 +5 37
4 MetroStars 28 11 15 2 41 47 −6 35
5 D.C. United 28 9 14 5 31 40 −9 32
Source: MLS

Western Conference

Pos Team Pld W L T GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Los Angeles Galaxy 28 16 9 3 44 33 +11 51 MLS Cup Playoffs
2 San Jose Earthquakes 28 14 11 3 45 35 +10 45
3 Dallas Burn 28 12 9 7 44 43 +1 43
4 Colorado Rapids 28 13 11 4 43 48 −5 43
5 Kansas City Wizards 28 9 10 9 37 45 −8 36
Source: MLS

Overall Standings

Pos Team Pld W L T GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Los Angeles Galaxy (C, S) 28 16 9 3 44 33 +11 51 CONCACAF Champions' Cup
2 San Jose Earthquakes 28 14 11 3 45 35 +10 45
3 Dallas Burn 28 12 9 7 44 43 +1 43
4 Colorado Rapids 28 13 11 4 43 48 −5 43
5 New England Revolution 28 12 14 2 49 49 0 38 CONCACAF Champions' Cup
6 Columbus Crew 28 11 12 5 44 43 +1 38
7 Chicago Fire 28 11 13 4 43 38 +5 37
8 Kansas City Wizards 28 9 10 9 37 45 −8 36
9 MetroStars 28 11 15 2 41 47 −6 35
10 D.C. United 28 9 14 5 31 40 −9 32
Source: MLS
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head record; 3) goal difference; 4) number of goals scored
(C) Champions; (S) Supporters' Shield

MLS Cup Playoffs

Bracket

Quarterfinals Semifinals MLS Cup
                         
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 Wizards 2–3 (AET) Los Angeles Galaxy
Preki 25'
Brown 70' 		Ruiz 62' (pen.) gold-colored soccer ball 99'
Jones 85'
Attendance: 14,585
Los Angeles Galaxy 1–4 Kansas City Wizards
Albright 71' Simutenkov 19'
Quill 37'
Preki 70'
Fabbro 73'
Attendance: 9,484
Kansas City Wizards 2–5 Los 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 Fire 0–2 New England Revolution
Twellman 13'
Hernández 60'
Attendance: 6,306
New England Revolution 1–2 Chicago Fire
Kamler 28' Razov 43' (pen.), 76'
Attendance: 9,434
Chicago Fire 0–2 New England Revolution
Kamler 12'
Twellman 65'
Attendance: 6,954
  • New England Revolution advance 6–3 on points.
Columbus Crew 2–1 San Jose Earthquakes
Buddle 38'
García 81' 		Donovan 54'
Attendance: 8,069
San Jose Earthquakes 1–2 Columbus Crew
Graziani 58' García 50'
McBride 81'
Attendance: 13,004
  • Columbus Crew advance 6–0 on points.
Colorado Rapids 2–4 Dallas Burn
Valderrama 2'
Spencer (Pen) 75' 		Morrow 26'
Kreis 49'
Deering 68'
Martínez 70'
Attendance: 6,360
Dallas Burn 0–1 Colorado Rapids
Carrieri 78'
Attendance: 9,637
Colorado Rapids 1–1 Dallas 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 Rapids 0–4 Los Angeles Galaxy
Califf 21'
Ruiz 24' 84'
Hendrickson 71'
Attendance: 24,742
Los Angeles Galaxy 1–0 Colorado Rapids
Ruiz 64'
Attendance: 12,367
  • Los Angeles Galaxy advance 6–0 on points.
Columbus Crew 0–0 New England Revolution
Attendance: 11,387
New England Revolution 1–0 Columbus Crew
Heaps 3'
Attendance: 10,245
Columbus Crew 2–2 New 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 Galaxy 1–0 (2OT) New England Revolution
Ruiz gold-colored soccer ball 113' Report
Attendance: 61,316
Referee: Kevin Terry

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
6 Jason Kreis Dallas Burn 13
7 Mamadou Diallo New England Revolution,
MetroStars 		12
Rodrigo Faria MetroStars
9 Chris Carrieri Colorado Rapids 11
Mark Chung Colorado Rapids
Chris Henderson Colorado Rapids

Assists

Rank Player Club Assists
1 Andy Williams MetroStars 13
2 Steve Ralston New England Revolution 12
3 Preki Kansas City Wizards 8
4 Mark Chung Colorado Rapids 7
Cobi Jones Los Angeles Galaxy
Antonio Martínez Dallas Burn
Carlos Valderrama Colorado Rapids
8 Ramiro Corrales San Jose Earthquakes 6
Dwayne De Rosario San Jose Earthquakes
Simon Elliott Los Angeles Galaxy
Bobby Rhine Dallas Burn
Joselito Vaca Dallas Burn

Clean Sheets

Rank Player Club Clean
Sheets
1 Joe Cannon San Jose Earthquakes 8
2 Nick Rimando D.C. United 7
Zach Thornton Chicago Fire
4 Adin Brown New England Revolution 5
Jon Busch Columbus Crew
Kevin Hartman Los Angeles Galaxy
7 Scott Garlick Colorado Rapids 4
Tim Howard MetroStars
9 Matt Jordan Dallas Burn 3
Tony Meola Kansas City Wizards

Awards

Individual awards

Award Player Club
Most Valuable Player Carlos Ruiz Los Angeles Galaxy
Defender of the Year Carlos Bocanegra Chicago Fire
Goalkeeper of the Year Joe Cannon San Jose Earthquakes
Coach of the Year Steve Nicol New England Revolution
Rookie of the Year Kyle Martino Columbus Crew
Comeback Player of the Year Chris Klein Kansas City Wizards
Scoring Champion Taylor Twellman New England Revolution
Goal of the Year Carlos Ruiz Los Angeles Galaxy
Fair Play Award Mark Chung Colorado Rapids
Humanitarian of the Year Steve Jolley MetroStars

Best XI

Goalkeeper Defenders Midfielders Forwards
Tim Howard, MetroStars Wade Barrett, San Jose
Carlos Bocanegra, Chicago
Alexi Lalas, LA Galaxy 		Mark Chung, Colorado
Ronnie Ekelund, San Jose
Óscar Pareja, Dallas
Steve Ralston, New England 		Jeff Cunningham, Columbus
Carlos Ruiz, LA Galaxy
Taylor Twellman, New England

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