The 2009 MLS Cup Playoffs is the postseason to
Major League Soccer
Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Cana ...
's
2009 season.
MLS Cup 2009 concluded the season on November 22, 2009 at
Qwest Field
Lumen Field is a multi-purpose stadium in Seattle, Washington, United States. Located in the city's SoDo neighborhood, it is the home field for the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL), the Seattle Sea Dragons of the XFL, ...
in
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...
, Washington.
Real Salt Lake
Real Salt Lake, often shortened to RSL, is an American professional soccer franchise based in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area. The club competes as a member club of Major League Soccer (MLS) in the Western Conference. RSL began play in ...
won the Cup in penalties over the
L.A. Galaxy.
Format
At the 2009 season's end, the top two teams of each conference made the playoffs; in addition the clubs with the next four highest point totals, regardless of conference, were added to the playoffs. In the first round of this knockout tournament, aggregate goals over two matches determined the winners; the Conference Championships were one match each, with the winner of each conference advancing to
MLS Cup
The MLS Cup is the annual championship game of Major League Soccer (MLS) and the culmination of the MLS Cup Playoffs. The game is held in November and pits the winner of the Eastern Conference Final against the winner of the Western Conference ...
. In all rounds, the tie-breaking method was two 15-minute periods of extra time, followed by penalty kicks if necessary. The
away goals rule
The away goals rule is a method of tiebreaking in association football and other sports when teams play each other twice, once at each team's home ground. Under the away goals rule, if the total goals scored by each team are equal, the team that ...
was not used.
Standings
Conference standings
Overall standings
Bracket
Conference Semifinals
Eastern Conference
''Real Salt Lake advances 4–2 on aggregate.''
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''Chicago Fire advances 3–2 on aggregate.''
Western Conference
''Los Angeles Galaxy advances 3–2 on aggregate.''
----
''Houston Dynamo advances 1–0 on aggregate.''
Conference Finals
Eastern Conference
''Real Salt Lake advances 5–4 on penalties.''
Western Conference
''Los Angeles Galaxy advances.''
MLS Cup
See also
*
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 MLS Cup 2009 on November 22 at Qwest Field in Seattle. Expansion team Seattle Sounders FC debuted as the league's 15 ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mls Cup Playoffs 2009
2009
File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...
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