Well, here we go again, down the MLS stretch toward the postseason. This week, First XI takes a look at the last XI MLS stretch runs and what teams took control of their seasons as the leaves began to turn.
11 years ago: We all remember the Colorado Rapids, shocking the league in the playoffs and making a run to the final against all odds. But who recalls that the Rapids went completely in the tank over the final month of the '97 season? On August 31, the Rapids got pounded by Dallas 4-1 and followed that up with a home loss to Kansas City, a shutout loss at LA, a 2-1 home loss to the San Jose Clash (Eric Wynalda with the game-winner), and a 5-2 loss at Kansas City. It was not until their final game of the season that the Rapids rebounded, winning 3-1 at San Jose on goals by Paul Bravo, Peter Vermes and Marcelo Balboa, which must've set Mooch Myernick and the boys right just in time.
10 years ago: It was a loss, not a victory, that motivated the Chicago Fire down the stretch of their inaugural season. Playing in Dallas, the Fire and Burn -- who were already developing an intense rivalry -- looked all set to go to a shootout to decide a 2-2 draw. However, with just 15 seconds to go on the official scoreboard clock, Burn 'keeper Mark Dodd was able to find link-man Leonel Alvarez who found Oscar Pareja who simply played one last ball behind the Fire defense. A Hail Mary that was answered by Jorge Rodriguez who beat Zach Thornton just before time expired. The Fire used the loss as motivation down the stretch as they finished strong and took the double.
9 years ago: On the final day of the regular season, the Burn's Jason Kreis became the league's first-ever 15-15 man, with two goals and an assist as Dallas defeated Los Angeles 4-3 at the Cotton Bowl. It was the Burn's fourth consecutive September victory and helped propel them into the playoffs, where they'd take out the defending champion Fire in a memorable three-game series.
8 years ago: Perhaps motivated by coming up short in 1999, the 2000 Chicago Fire closed the season in strong fashion, winning all three of their September games, including a season-closing 3-2 road win against Columbus (Mike Sorber providing the winner in the 90th minute) that secured the Fire home-field advantage for the playoffs. The Fire used Soldier Field to their advantage in both their first-round series victory over New England and their conference final triumph against the MetroStars.
7 years ago: While the league shut down for 11 days after the events of September 11, the upstart San Jose Earthquakes were able to find the form that would lead them to the first of many championships. The playoffs would start in late September that year and the Quakes hit the ground running, storming past Columbus in two games before pulling off a stunning upset of the Miami Fusion and an MLS Cup title-clinching victory over the Galaxy.
6 years ago: It was perhaps the greatest charge of them all. All but dead as August drew to a close, the Revs made a coaching change that changed the course of an organization forever. Steve Nicol took over for Fernando Clavijo and New England went 4-0-1 down the stretch, stole the Eastern Conference title, and rode the wave all the way to the MLS Cup Final. The rest is history, folks, and September has become the Revolution's month. And, I would be remiss if I did not mention the amazing goal-scoring exploits of Brian Kamler during that 2002 run. The man scored one great goal after another for a month.
5 years ago: The Revs went 7-1-1 down the September/October stretch a year after Nicol took over, fully illustrating the coach's gift for good timing. In 2003, that final push was not enough to help the Revs catch the red-hot Fire in the Eastern standings, but the Revs did serve notice that their push in 2002 was not just a flash in the pan.
4 years ago: D.C. United. It was a long road back to the top for D.C. United, and the final push might well have begun on Sept. 11, 2004, when Alecko Eskandarian led D.C. to a 3-0 victory against Dallas and set them on a path to the MLS Cup. From that point on, first-year coach Peter Nowak's team seemed on a mission, and it did not end until they'd blazed through the MetroStars, New England and Kansas City on their way to a title.
3 years ago: The 2005 season included one of the most competitive stretch drives in league history as a number of teams had to battle down to the wire just to earn a spot in the postseason. The MetroStars, who were on their way to the second-best point total (47 points) in club history were unable to wrap up a playoff slot until the final day of the season, when they defeated Chivas USA 2-0 at the Home Depot Center behind a heroic performance by Tony Meola. To get to 47 points, the Metros needed to go 4-2-2 in September and October, and needed a miracle 5-4 victory against New England on Sept. 17 (a game won by Youri Djorkaeff, who scored from an impossible angle), in what goes down in my book as one of the greatest regular-season games in league history.
2 years ago: Once again, the Revolution owned September and October, going 5-1 down the stretch to enter the season on a high note. Needless to say, this is more than a trend for Nicol, it's a tradition.
1 year ago: After a 1-0 loss to the Red Bulls, the Fire were a disappointing 7-10-5 and on the outside looking in at the postseason. That was when new head coach Juan Carlos Osorio succeeded in making the Fire a tough out. The Fire did not lose another game the rest of the regular season, going 3-0-5 to find their way into the playoffs where they even managed to pull off a first-round upset over D.C. United.
No comments:
Post a Comment