2009 Major League Soccer season

The 2009 Major League Soccer season was the 14th season of Major League Soccer. The season began on March 19 and ended with Real Salt Lake winning the MLS Cup 2009, on November 22 at Qwest Field in Seattle, defeating the Los Angeles Galaxy on penalties.

Major League Soccer

Season	2009
MLS Cup	Real Salt Lake (1st title)
Supporters' Shield	Columbus Crew (3rd shield)
Champions League	Columbus Crew Real Salt Lake Los Angeles Galaxy Seattle Sounders FC
SuperLiga	Houston Dynamo Chicago Fire Chivas USA N.E. Revolution
Matches played	225
Goals scored	571 (2.54 per match)
Top goalscorer	Jeff Cunningham FC Dallas Goals: 17
Biggest home win	RSL 6–0 NE (April 25)[1] DAL 6–0 KC (August 1)
Biggest away win	CHI 0–3 DAL (May 31) SJ 0–3 CLB (August 8)
Highest scoring	LA 3–6 DAL (September 12)[2]
Longest winning run	5 wins: Houston Dynamo (May 23 – Jun 13) Columbus Crew (Jul 18 – Aug 15)
Longest unbeaten run	11 matches: Chicago Fire (Mar 21 – May 28) Houston Dynamo (Apr 11 – Jun 20)
Longest winless run	13 matches: New York Red Bulls (May 16 – Aug 15)
Longest losing run	6 losses: New York Red Bulls (Jun 24 – Aug 15)
Highest attendance	CLB @ SJ Highest Gate: 61,572* Dbl. Header* (FCB vs. CHV) Seattle Sounders FC Season: 464,144 Game Avg.: 30,943
Lowest attendance	SJ @ DAL Lowest Gate: 5,724 Kansas City Wizards Season: 150,802 Game Avg.: 10,053
Average attendance	MLS: 16,037
← 2008 2010 →

Changes from the 2008 season

The following changes were made since the 2008 season:

• Seattle Sounders FC began play as an expansion team in the Western Conference.
• Two teams signed shirt sponsorship deals:
  • Xbox 360 Live became the shirt sponsor of Seattle Sounders FC.
  • Amway Global became the shirt sponsor of the San Jose Earthquakes.
• The top two teams from each conference will qualify automatically for the playoffs (down from three). In addition, the next four highest point totals, regardless of conference, will also qualify (up from two).
• Sigi Schmid did not sign a new contract with the Columbus Crew and was hired as head coach of Seattle Sounders FC.
• The Columbus Crew promoted assistant coach Robert Warzycha to head coach.
• After three seasons, the MLS Reserve Division was discontinued. As a result, each team's Developmental Roster spots were reduced from 10 to four, and each team's Senior Roster spots were increased from 18 to 20. This had the effect of reducing each team's total roster from 28 to 24 players.

Teams and locations

Chicago Fire

Chivas USA

Colorado Rapids

Columbus Crew

D.C. United

FC Dallas

Kansas City Wizards

Houston Dynamo

LA Galaxy

Revolution

NY Red Bulls

Real Salt Lake

San Jose Earthquakes

Seattle Sounders FC

Toronto FC

Locations of teams in the 2009 Major League Soccer season

Competition format

The format for the 2009 season was as follows:

• The season began on March 19 and ended on November 22 with MLS Cup 2009.[3]
• The 15 teams were split into two conferences. The Western Conference had eight teams with the addition of Seattle Sounders FC, and the Eastern Conference had seven teams. Each team played a total of 30 games that were evenly divided between home and away games. Each team played every other team twice, home and away, for a total of 28 games. The remaining two games were played against two conference rivals, one at home and one away.
• The two teams in each conference with the most points qualified for the 2009 MLS Cup Playoffs. In addition, the next four highest ranked teams, regardless of conference, also qualified. Teams were bracketed by conference, with the lowest ranked teams crossing over to the other conference if necessary. In the Conference Semifinals, aggregate goals over two matches determined the winners. The Conference Finals were played as single matches, and the winners advanced to MLS Cup 2009. After the completion of any round, ties were broken with two 15-minute periods of extra time, followed by penalty kick shootout if necessary. The away goals rule was not used in any round.
• The team with the most points in the regular season won the MLS Supporters' Shield and qualified directly into the Group Stage of the 2010–11 CONCACAF Champions League. The MLS Cup Winner also qualified for the Champions League Group Stage. The MLS Cup Runners-Up and the 2009 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Winners qualified for the Preliminary Round of the Champions League. If a team qualified for multiple berths into the Champions League, then additional berths were awarded to the highest-placed team(s) in the 2009 MLS regular season's overall standings that had not already qualified.
• The four teams with the most points, regardless of conference, who had not qualified for the Champions League qualified for SuperLiga 2010.
• The six U.S.-based teams with the most points, regardless of conference, qualified for the Third Round of the 2010 U.S. Open Cup. The remaining U.S.-based MLS teams had to qualify for the remaining two berths via a series of play-in games.
• As a Canadian-based team, Toronto FC could not qualify through MLS for the Champions League or the U.S. Open Cup. In either case, any berth earned by Toronto FC was awarded to the highest-placed team in the overall standings which had not already qualified. Their means of entry into the Champions League is the Canadian Championship; they won that competition in both 2009 and 2010 to gain entry to the Champions League for 2009–10 and 2010–11.

Tiebreakers

1. Head-to-Head (Points-per-match average)
2. Overall Goal Differential
3. Overall Total Goals Scored
4. Tiebreakers 1-3 applied only to matches on the road
5. Tiebreakers 1-3 applied only to matches at home
6. Fewest team disciplinary points in the League Fair Play table
7. Coin toss

If more than two clubs are tied, once a club advances through any step, the process reverts to Tiebreaker 1 among the remaining tied clubs recursively until all ties are resolved.[4]

Results table

Abbreviation and Color Key: Chicago Fire – CHI • Chivas USA – CHV • Colorado Rapids – COL • Columbus Crew – CLB • D.C. United – DC FC Dallas – DAL • Houston Dynamo – HOU • Kansas City Wizards – KC • Los Angeles Galaxy – LA • New England Revolution – NE New York Red Bulls – NY • Real Salt Lake – RSL • San Jose Earthquakes – SJ • Seattle Sounders FC – SEA • Toronto FC – TOR Win  • Loss  • Tie  • Home
Club	Match
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30
Chicago Fire	DAL	DC	NY	SJ	KC	CLB	SEA	NE	TOR	NY	CHV	DAL	HOU	DC	COL	CLB	SJ	SEA	RSL	HOU	KC	LA	COL	DC	RSL	CLB	TOR	LA	NE	CHV
	3-1	1-1	0-1	3-3	2-2	2-2	1-1	1-1	2-0	1-0	3-2	3-0	1-0	1-2	2-1	0-0	0-2	0-0	0-1	2-3	2-0	2-0	2-3	1-0	1-1	2-2	2-2	0-1	0-0	0-1
Chivas USA	COL	DAL	CLB	LA	SEA	TOR	DAL	SJ	RSL	DC	KC	CHI	SEA	HOU	CLB	LA	NE	COL	NY	TOR	RSL	LA	NE	SEA	NY	DC	KC	SJ	CHI	HOU
	1-2	2-0	1-2	0-0	0-2	0-1	0-2	1-0	0-1	2-2	1-1	3-2	0-1	0-1	1-2	1-0	0-2	0-4	2-0	0-2	0-4	0-1	0-2	0-0	1-1	2-0	0-2	2-2	0-1	3-2
Colorado Rapids	CHV	KC	LA	CLB	HOU	LA	RSL	NE	SEA	NY	RSL	DC	DAL	SEA	CHI	DAL	DC	NY	CLB	CHV	CHI	HOU	TOR	TOR	SJ	SJ	KC	NE	DAL	RSL
	1-2	1-2	3-2	1-1	0-1	1-1	0-2	1-1	2-2	3-2	1-1	0-3	1-1	0-3	2-1	0-1	1-3	0-4	1-0	0-4	2-3	0-1	0-1	2-3	1-1	1-1	0-0	1-1	1-2	0-3
Columbus Crew	HOU	TOR	RSL	CHV	COL	CHI	TOR	KC	LA	SJ	SEA	KC	CHV	DAL	NY	DC	CHI	RSL	TOR	COL	SJ	DAL	NY	HOU	CHI	LA	SEA	NE	DC	NE
	1-1	1-1	1-4	1-2	1-1	2-2	1-1	2-3	1-1	1-2	1-1	2-0	1-2	1-2	0-1	1-1	0-0	1-3	2-3	1-0	3-0	0-2	0-1	1-2	2-2	0-2	1-0	1-0	0-1	1-0
D.C. United	LA	CHI	HOU	RSL	NE	NY	DAL	KC	TOR	CHV	RSL	NE	NY	CHI	SEA	COL	CLB	COL	SJ	HOU	TOR	LA	CHI	DAL	KC	SEA	SJ	CHV	CLB	KC
	2-2	1-1	0-1	1-2	1-1	3-2	1-2	1-1	3-3	2-2	0-0	1-2	0-2	1-2	3-3	0-3	1-1	1-3	2-2	3-4	0-2	0-0	1-0	2-2	0-1	2-1	2-1	2-0	0-1	2-2
FC Dallas	CHI	CHV	NE	TOR	TOR	CHV	DC	HOU	SEA	LA	CHI	SJ	HOU	CLB	COL	NY	COL	RSL	KC	HOU	CLB	NY	DC	LA	KC	RSL	NE	SJ	COL	SEA
	3-1	2-0	1-2	1-1	2-3	0-2	1-2	0-1	1-1	1-1	3-0	2-2	3-1	1-2	1-1	1-2	0-1	2-4	0-6	0-1	0-2	2-3	2-2	6-3	2-3	0-3	0-1	2-1	1-2	1-2
Houston Dynamo	CLB	SJ	DC	NY	COL	NE	DAL	NY	SJ	TOR	CHI	CHV	DAL	RSL	LA	KC	SEA	TOR	NE	DC	DAL	CHI	RSL	SEA	COL	CLB	RSL	KC	LA	CHV
	1-1	2-3	0-1	0-0	0-1	2-0	0-1	1-1	1-3	0-3	1-0	0-1	3-1	1-1	0-1	1-0	1-2	1-1	1-0	3-4	1-0	2-3	0-0	1-1	0-1	1-2	2-3	1-1	0-0	3-2
Kansas City Wizards	TOR	COL	SJ	SEA	CHI	NY	TOR	DC	CLB	RSL	CHV	LA	CLB	NE	HOU	NE	LA	DAL	CHI	SJ	RSL	NE	DC	NY	DAL	COL	HOU	CHV	SEA	DC
	3-2	1-2	0-2	1-0	2-2	0-1	0-1	1-1	2-3	2-0	1-1	1-1	2-0	1-3	1-0	0-0	1-1	0-6	2-0	0-1	1-0	4-2	0-1	1-0	2-3	0-0	1-1	0-2	3-2	2-2
Los Angeles Galaxy	DC	COL	CHV	SJ	COL	NY	RSL	SEA	CLB	DAL	KC	TOR	RSL	SJ	HOU	NE	CHV	NY	KC	NE	SEA	CHI	DC	CHV	DAL	TOR	CLB	CHI	HOU	SJ
	2-2	3-2	0-0	1-1	1-1	0-1	2-2	1-1	1-1	1-1	1-1	2-1	2-0	1-2	0-1	0-1	1-0	3-1	1-1	2-1	2-0	2-0	0-0	0-1	6-3	0-2	0-2	0-1	0-0	0-2
New England Revolution	SJ	NY	DAL	DC	RSL	HOU	CHI	COL	TOR	DC	NY	KC	LA	KC	CHV	HOU	TOR	LA	SEA	RSL	SJ	KC	CHV	NY	SEA	DAL	COL	CLB	CHI	CLB
	1-0	1-1	1-2	1-1	0-6	2-0	1-1	1-1	1-3	1-2	0-4	1-3	0-1	0-0	0-2	1-0	1-1	2-1	1-0	1-3	1-2	4-2	0-2	1-1	1-2	0-1	1-1	1-0	0-0	1-0
New York Red Bulls	SEA	NE	CHI	HOU	RSL	KC	DC	LA	SJ	HOU	CHI	COL	DC	NE	TOR	SEA	TOR	CLB	DAL	LA	COL	CHV	DAL	CLB	KC	NE	CHV	SJ	RSL	TOR
	0-3	1-1	0-1	0-0	0-2	0-1	3-2	0-1	1-4	1-1	1-0	3-2	0-2	0-4	1-3	1-1	0-2	0-1	1-2	3-1	0-4	2-0	2-3	0-1	1-0	1-1	1-1	0-1	0-2	0-5
Real Salt Lake	SEA	CLB	DC	NY	NE	COL	LA	CHV	KC	DC	SJ	COL	LA	HOU	TOR	SJ	CLB	DAL	CHI	SEA	HOU	NE	CHV	KC	CHI	HOU	DAL	NY	TOR	COL
	0-2	1-4	1-2	0-2	0-6	0-2	2-2	0-1	2-0	0-0	1-2	1-1	2-0	1-1	0-3	1-1	1-3	2-4	0-1	0-1	0-0	1-3	0-4	1-0	1-1	2-3	0-3	0-2	0-1	0-3
San Jose Earthquakes	NE	HOU	KC	CHI	LA	SEA	CHV	NY	HOU	CLB	RSL	DAL	SEA	LA	RSL	TOR	CHI	DC	SEA	CLB	KC	NE	COL	COL	DC	NY	DAL	TOR	CHV	LA
	1-0	2-3	0-2	3-3	1-1	0-2	1-0	1-4	1-3	1-2	1-2	2-2	1-2	1-2	1-1	3-1	0-2	2-2	0-4	3-0	0-1	1-2	1-1	1-1	2-1	0-1	2-1	1-1	2-2	0-2
Seattle Sounders FC	NY	RSL	TOR	KC	CHV	SJ	CHI	LA	DAL	COL	CLB	CHV	SJ	DC	NY	COL	HOU	CHI	SJ	RSL	LA	NE	HOU	TOR	DC	CHV	NE	CLB	KC	DAL
	0-3	0-2	2-0	1-0	0-2	0-2	1-1	1-1	1-1	2-2	1-1	0-1	1-2	3-3	1-1	0-3	1-2	0-0	0-4	0-1	2-0	1-0	1-1	0-0	2-1	0-0	1-2	1-0	3-2	1-2
Toronto FC	KC	CLB	SEA	DAL	DAL	CHV	KC	CLB	DC	CHI	NE	HOU	LA	NY	NY	RSL	SJ	HOU	CLB	NE	DC	CHV	SEA	COL	COL	LA	CHI	SJ	RSL	NY
	3-2	1-1	2-0	1-1	2-3	0-1	0-1	1-1	3-3	2-0	1-3	0-3	2-1	1-2	0-2	0-3	3-1	1-1	2-3	1-1	0-2	0-2	0-0	0-1	2-3	0-2	2-2	1-1	0-1	0-5

Standings

For an explanation of the playoff qualifications, see Competition format.

Conference standings

Eastern Conference

Eastern Conference
Pos	Club	Pts	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD
1	Columbus Crew	49	30	13	7	10	41	31	+10
2	Chicago Fire	45	30	11	7	12	39	34	+5
3	New England Revolution	42	30	11	10	9	33	37	−4
4	D.C. United	40	30	9	8	13	43	44	−1
5	Toronto FC	39	30	10	11	9	37	46	−9
6	Kansas City Wizards	33	30	8	13	9	33	42	−9
7	New York Red Bulls	21	30	5	19	6	27	47	−20

	2009 MLS Cup Playoffs
	2009 MLS Cup Playoffs (Wild Card)

Western Conference

Western Conference
Pos	Club	Pts	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD
1	Los Angeles Galaxy	48	30	12	6	12	36	31	+5
2	Houston Dynamo	48	30	13	8	9	39	29	+10
3	Seattle Sounders FC	47	30	12	7	11	38	29	+9
4	Chivas USA	45	30	13	11	6	34	31	+3
5	Real Salt Lake	40	30	11	12	7	43	35	+8
6	Colorado Rapids	40	30	10	10	10	42	38	+4
7	FC Dallas	39	30	11	13	6	50	47	+4
8	San Jose Earthquakes	30	30	7	14	9	36	50	−14

	2009 MLS Cup Playoffs
	2009 MLS Cup Playoffs (Wild Card)

Overall standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	D	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Columbus Crew (SS, E1)	30	13	7	10	41	31	+10	49	2010–11 CONCACAF Champions League Group Stage ^2
2	LA Galaxy (W1)	30	12	6	12	36	31	+5	48	2010–11 CONCACAF Champions League Preliminary Round ^2
3	Houston Dynamo	30	13	8	9	39	29	+10	48	2010 North American SuperLiga ^3
4	Seattle Sounders FC	30	12	7	11	38	29	+9	47	2010–11 CONCACAF Champions League Preliminary Round ^2
5	Chicago Fire	30	11	7	12	39	34	+5	45	2010 North American SuperLiga ^3
6	Chivas USA	30	13	11	6	34	31	+3	45
7	New England Revolution	30	11	10	9	33	37	−4	42
8	Real Salt Lake	30	11	12	7	43	35	+8	40	2010–11 CONCACAF Champions League Group Stage ^2
9	Colorado Rapids	30	10	10	10	42	38	+4	40
10	D.C. United	30	9	8	13	43	44	−1	40
11	FC Dallas	30	11	13	6	50	47	+3	39
12	Toronto FC	30	10	11	9	37	46	−9	39	2010–11 CONCACAF Champions League Preliminary Round ^1
13	Kansas City Wizards	30	8	13	9	33	42	−9	33
14	San Jose Earthquakes	30	7	14	9	36	50	−14	30
15	New York Red Bulls	30	5	19	6	27	47	−20	21

Source:

(SS) = Supporters Shield winner; (E1) = Eastern Conference champion; (W1) = Western Conference champion

• ^Note 1 - Toronto FC cannot qualify for the U.S. Open Cup, as it is a Canadian-based team. If they qualify for an automatic berth into the U.S. Open Cup, the next highest placed team not already qualified will be given a berth. Similarly, they cannot qualify for the CONCACAF Champions League through MLS. Rather, they can qualify through the Canadian Soccer Championship. If they qualify for the Champions League through MLS, then the highest placed team not already qualified will qualify.
• ^Note 2 - The winner of the 2009 MLS Supporters' Shield (Columbus Crew) and the winner of MLS Cup 2009 (Real Salt Lake) qualified for the 2010–11 CONCACAF Champions League Group Stage. The runner-up of MLS Cup 2009 (Los Angeles Galaxy) and the winner of the 2009 U.S. Open Cup (Seattle Sounders) qualified for the 2010–11 CONCACAF Champions League Preliminary Round.
• ^Note 3 - SuperLiga 2010 berths are awarded to the top 4 finishing teams from MLS who do not qualify for Champions League (Houston, Chicago, Chivas USA and New England).

Playoffs

Main article: 2009 MLS Cup Playoffs

	Conference Semifinals						Conference Finals					MLS Cup 2009
	E1	Columbus	0	2
	E4	Salt Lake	1	3
							E4	Salt Lake (AET) (PEN)	(0)5
	Eastern Conference
							E2	Chicago	(0)4
	E3	New England	2	0
	E2	Chicago	1	2
												E4	Salt Lake (AET) (PEN)	(1)5
												W1	Los Angeles	(1)4
	W1	Los Angeles	2	1
	W4	Chivas USA	2	0
							W1	Los Angeles (AET)	2
	Western Conference
							W2	Houston	0
	W3	Seattle	0	0
	W2	Houston (AET)	0	1

¹ Real Salt Lake earned the eighth and final playoff berth, despite finishing fifth in the Western Conference. They represent the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference playoff bracket, as only three teams in the Eastern Conference qualified for the playoffs.

Statistics

Golden Boot

Full article: MLS Golden Boot

Rank	Scorer	Club	GP	G	A
1	Jeff Cunningham	FC Dallas	28	17	8
2	Conor Casey	Colorado Rapids	24	16	1
3	Fredy Montero	Seattle Sounders FC	27	12	7
4	Landon Donovan	Los Angeles Galaxy	25	12	6
5	Robbie Findley	Real Salt Lake	27	12	4
6	Guillermo Barros Schelotto	Columbus Crew	24	12	3
7	Juan Pablo Ángel	New York Red Bulls	25	12	2
8	Dwayne de Rosario	Toronto FC	28	11	6
9	Ryan Johnson	San Jose Earthquakes	30	11	2
10	Josh Wolff	Kansas City Wizards	27	11	0

Stats last updated October 24, 2009.[5]

Goalkeeping leaders

Rank	Goalkeeper	Club	GP	MINS	SHTS	SVS	GA	GAA	W–L–T	SHO
1	Zach Thornton	Chivas USA	27	2385	111	83	23	0.87	12–9–6	12
2	Kasey Keller	Seattle Sounders FC	29	2549	108	78	26	0.92	12–5–11	10
3	William Hesmer	Columbus Crew	19	1710	86	68	18	0.95	9–4–6	7
4	Matt Reis	New England Revolution	24	2160	140	114	23	0.96	10–8–6	8
5	Pat Onstad	Houston Dynamo	30	2700	121	89	29	0.97	13–8–9	10

Stats last updated October 26, 2009.[6]

Individual awards

Player of the Week

Week	Player of the Week	Club	Week's Statline
Week 1	Fredy Montero	Seattle Sounders FC	2 G (12', 75') GWG, A (25')
Week 2	Kasey Keller	Seattle Sounders FC	SHO, 5 SVS
Week 3	Conor Casey	Colorado Rapids	3 G (1', 49', 84') GWG
Week 4	Donovan Ricketts	Los Angeles Galaxy	SHO, 5 SVS
Week 5	Josh Wolff	Kansas City Wizards	2 G (78', 89') GTG
Week 6	Javier Morales	Real Salt Lake	2 A (53', 55') GWA
Week 7	Jaime Moreno	D.C. United	2 G (56', 66') GWG
Week 8	Macoumba Kandji	New York Red Bulls	G (40'), 2 A (13', 22') GWA
Week 9	Josh Wolff	Kansas City Wizards	2 G (20', 67') GWG
Week 10	Amado Guevara	Toronto FC	2 G (14', 70')
Week 11	Conor Casey	Colorado Rapids	2 G (25', 48')
Week 12	Taylor Twellman	New England Revolution	2 G (57', 64')
Week 13	Guillermo Barros Schelotto	Columbus Crew	2 G (61', 87') GWG
Week 14	Omar Cummings	Colorado Rapids	2 G (11', 45') GWG, A (49')
Week 15	Nate Jaqua	Seattle Sounders FC	A (23') GWA, 2 G (48', 68')
Week 16	Jeff Cunningham	FC Dallas	2 G (15', 17') GWG
Week 17	Chad Barrett	Toronto FC	2 G (5', 69')
Week 18	Cuauhtémoc Blanco	Chicago Fire	A (82') GWA, G (92+')
Week 19	Yura Movsisyan	Real Salt Lake	2 G (55', 93+')
Week 20	Jeff Cunningham	FC Dallas	4 G (38', 66', 76', 89'), GWG
Week 21	Conor Casey	Colorado Rapids	3 G (4', 23', 47+')
Week 22	Chad Marshall	Columbus Crew	G (10'), A (87')
Week 23	Kheli Dube	New England Revolution	3 G (9', 29', 66')
Week 24	Pablo Campos	Real Salt Lake	1 G (43') GWG, 1 G (18') GWG
Week 25	Josh Wolff	Kansas City Wizards	2 G (73', 91+')
Week 26	Jeff Cunningham	FC Dallas	2 G (25', 86') 2 A (71', 83')
Week 27	Brad Davis	Houston Dynamo	G (81') GWG, 2 A (2', 5')
Week 28	Shalrie Joseph	New England Revolution	2 G (51', 86') GWG
Week 29	Landon Donovan	Los Angeles Galaxy	1 G (42') GWG
Week 30	Jeff Cunningham	FC Dallas	1 G (81') GWG
Week 31	Freddie Ljungberg	Seattle Sounders FC	2 A (69', 76') GWA
Week 32	Robbie Findley	Real Salt Lake	2 G (15', 33') GWG

Player of the Month

Month	Player of the Month	Club	Month's Statline
March	Fredy Montero	Seattle Sounders FC	3 G, 1 A, Sounders 2-0-0 in March
April	Brian McBride	Chicago Fire	4 G, Fire 1-0-3 in April
May	Conor Casey	Colorado Rapids	4 G, 1 A, Rapids 2-0-2 in May
June	Guillermo Barros Schelotto	Columbus Crew	4 G, 2 A, Crew 3-1-0 in June
July	Landon Donovan	Los Angeles Galaxy	1 G, 2 A, Galaxy 3-0-1 in July
August	Chad Marshall	Columbus Crew	2 G, 3 SHO Crew 3-1-0 in August
September	Jeff Cunningham	FC Dallas	7 G, 3 A, Dallas 3-1-1 in September
October	Freddie Ljungberg	Seattle Sounders FC	4 A, Sounders 3-0-0 in October

Goal of the Week

Week	Scorer	Club	Goal
Week 1	Fredy Montero	Seattle Sounders FC	12'
Week 2	Fredy Montero	Seattle Sounders FC	77'
Week 3	Sainey Nyassi	New England Revolution	56'
Week 4	Brian McBride	Chicago Fire	57'
Week 5	Brian Ching	Houston Dynamo	20'
Week 6	Clint Mathis	Real Salt Lake	55'
Week 7	Jaime Moreno	D.C. United	66'
Week 8	Chris Pontius	D.C. United	86'
Week 9	Santino Quaranta	D.C. United	85'
Week 10	Claudio López	Kansas City Wizards	56'
Week 11	Nate Jaqua	Seattle Sounders FC	58'
Week 12	Omar Cummings	Colorado Rapids	88'
Week 13	Davy Arnaud	Kansas City Wizards	19'
Week 14	Eric Avila	FC Dallas	80'
Week 15	Nate Jaqua	Seattle Sounders FC	48'
Week 16	Marco Pappa	Chicago Fire	30'
Week 17	Patrick Ianni	Seattle Sounders FC	46'
Week 18	Bryan Namoff	D.C. United	56'
Week 19	Claudio López	Kansas City Wizards	26'
Week 20	Fred	D.C. United	74'
Week 21	Landon Donovan	Los Angeles Galaxy	21'
Week 22	Steve Zakuani	Seattle Sounders FC	22'
Week 23	Nate Jaqua	Seattle Sounders FC	70'
Week 24	Wells Thompson	New England Revolution	73'
Week 25	Edgaras Jankauskas	New England Revolution	63'
Week 26	O'Brian White	Toronto FC	71'
Week 27	Brad Davis	Houston Dynamo	81'
Week 28	Jeff Cunningham	FC Dallas	87'
Week 29	Jeff Cunningham	FC Dallas	71'
Week 30	Jeff Cunningham	FC Dallas	82'
Week 31	George John	FC Dallas	4'
Week 32	Robbie Findley	Real Salt Lake	33'

Save of the Week

Save of the week was first introduced during week 10 of the 2009 season.[7]

Week	Goalkeeper	Club	Save
Week 10	Kasey Keller	Seattle Sounders FC	34'
Week 11	Kevin Hartman	Kansas City Wizards	82'
Week 12	Pat Onstad	Houston Dynamo	34'
Week 13	Danny Cepero	New York Red Bulls	32'
Week 14	Donovan Ricketts	Los Angeles Galaxy	14'
Week 15	Stefan Frei	Toronto FC	34'
Week 16	Josh Saunders	Los Angeles Galaxy	73'
Week 17	Pat Onstad	Houston Dynamo	43'
Week 18	Donovan Ricketts	Los Angeles Galaxy	42'
Week 19	Nick Rimando	Real Salt Lake	71'
Week 20	Darío Sala	FC Dallas	48'
Week 21	Kasey Keller	Seattle Sounders FC	47'
Week 22	Amado Guevara	Toronto FC	47'
Week 23	Onstad & Barret	Houston Dynamo	4'
Week 24	Stefan Frei	Toronto FC	93+'
Week 25	Stefan Frei	Toronto FC	24'
Week 26	Stefan Frei	Toronto FC	77'
Week 27	Zach Thornton	Chivas USA	15'
Week 28	Darío Sala	FC Dallas	7'
Week 29	Tyrone Marshall	Seattle Sounders FC	70'
Week 30	Dario Sala	FC Dallas	53'
Week 31	Geoff Cameron	Houston Dynamo	7'
Week 32	Kevin Hartman	Kansas City Wizards	51'

Team Attendance Totals

[8]

Club	Games	Season	Game Avg.
Seattle Sounders FC	15	499,262	30,897
Los Angeles Galaxy	15	333,239	20,827
Toronto FC	15	305,167	20,344
Real Salt Lake	15	303,138	17,831
Houston Dynamo	15	264,368	17,624
Chivas USA	15	251,611	15,725
D.C. United	15	202,605	15,585
Chicago Fire	15	247,908	15,487
Columbus Crew	15	226,808	14,175
Colorado Rapids	15	195,282	13,018
New York Red Bulls	15	165,672	12,744
New England Revolution	15	173,985	12,427
San Jose Earthquakes	15	134,283	10,329
Kansas City Wizards	15	150,802	10,053
FC Dallas	15	108,717	9,883
OVERALL	225	3,562,847	16,120

Related competitions

International competitions

CONCACAF Champions League

The Houston Dynamo continued their CONCACAF Champions League 2008–09 campaign that began during the previous season. They were eliminated in the quarterfinals over two legs by eventual champions Atlante.

Columbus (MLS Cup and Supporters' Shield winner), Houston (MLS Supporters' Shield Runner-up), New York (MLS Cup runner-up), and D.C. United (U.S. Open Cup winner), will be the representatives in the CONCACAF Champions League 2009–10—an additional slot from Canada was gained by Toronto by virtue of their Voyageurs Cup win. New York and Toronto were eliminated at the preliminary round, while D.C. advanced to the group stage on penalty kicks. Columbus and Houston qualified directly into the Group stage.[9] Houston and D.C. were eliminated during the group stage, with only Columbus progressing to the knockout rounds.

SuperLiga 2009

Chicago, New England, Chivas USA, and Kansas City were MLS's entrants in SuperLiga 2009, based on their finish in the 2008 regular season as the top four teams not already qualified for the CONCACAF Champions League. Chivas U.S.A. and Kansas City were eliminated in the group stage. Chicago eliminated New England in the semi-finals, only to lose to Tigres in the final.

National competitions

2009 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup

MLS awarded the top six finishers in 2008, regardless of conference, automatic berths into the 2009 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup's third round. Columbus, Houston, Chicago Fire, New England, Chivas USA, and Kansas City qualified based on their top-six finish. D.C. United and Seattle qualified via an eight team qualifying tournament.

Each of the qualified MLS teams were matched up against the winner of a second-round game, all of whom come from one of the USL's three divisions. Seattle and D.C. eventually emerged to play the final on September 2 at RFK stadium, which Seattle ultimately won.

2009 Canadian Championship

Main article: 2009 Canadian Championship

Canada's top three teams, MLS's Toronto FC, USL-1's Montreal Impact and Vancouver Whitecaps FC competed in the Voyageurs Cup. The tournament was played as a double round robin group from May 6 to June 18, and won by Toronto, who gained Canada's berth into the CONCACAF Champions League 2009-10.

All-Star game

Main article: 2009 MLS All-Star Game

The 2009 MLS All-Star Game against Everton F.C., of the English Premier League, took place on July 29 from Rio Tinto Stadium home of Real Salt Lake. Everton defeated the MLS All-Stars in a penalty shootout 4-3 after the game was tied 1-1. No extra time was played following regular time. Tim Howard, the Everton and U.S. Men's National Team goalkeeper, was named the game's MVP.

Coaches

Eastern Conference

• Chicago Fire: Denis Hamlett
• Columbus Crew: Robert Warzycha
• D.C. United: Tom Soehn
• Kansas City Wizards: Curt Onalfo
• New England Revolution: Steve Nicol
• New York Red Bulls: Richie Williams
• Toronto FC: Chris Cummins

Western Conference

• Chivas USA: Preki
• Colorado Rapids: Gary Smith
• FC Dallas: Schellas Hyndman
• Houston Dynamo: Dominic Kinnear
• Los Angeles Galaxy: Bruce Arena
• Real Salt Lake: Jason Kreis
• San Jose Earthquakes: Frank Yallop
• Seattle Sounders FC: Sigi Schmid

See also

• List of transfers for the 2009 Major League Soccer season
• 2008 MLS Expansion Draft

References

1. Coon, John (April 25, 2009). "RSL's record-setting rout dooms Revs". MLSworks. Major League Soccer. Archived from the original on September 9, 2009. Retrieved September 7, 2009.
2. King, Jeffrey J. (September 13, 2009). "Dallas earns crucial win over Galaxy". MLSworks. Major League Soccer. Retrieved September 17, 2009.
3. "MLS Opener Set for March 19 on ESPN2". SounderFC.com. Renton, Washington: Major League Soccer. Archived from the original on December 25, 2008. Retrieved December 22, 2008.
4. "2009 Rules of Competition". Major League Soccer official website. Archived from the original on November 14, 2009. Retrieved November 14, 2009.
5. MLS goldenboot stats Archived January 30, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
6. MLS Stats Archived January 30, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
7. "Save of the Week". MLSNet.com. Archived from the original on July 30, 2009. Retrieved May 30, 2009.
8. http://soccernet.espn.go.com/stats/attendance?league=usa.1&year=2009&cc=4716
9. "Red Bulls return New York to CONCACAF club championship". CONCACAF. November 24, 2008. Archived from the original on December 2, 2008. Retrieved November 25, 2008.

External links

• Soccernet ESPN (Stats) Site
• MLS Site