The 2014 MLS Cup Playoffs (branded as the 2014 MLS Cup Playoffs presented by AT&T for sponsorship reasons) was the nineteenth post-season tournament culminating the Major League Soccer regular season. The tournament began in late October and culminated on December 7, 2014 with MLS Cup 2014, the nineteenth league championship for MLS.
The 2014 playoffs was the first time that the away goals rule was applied to the home-and-away, aggregate-goal series.[1] The first series impacted by the rule was a Western Conference semifinal that saw Seattle Sounders FC advance past FC Dallas when the first match (held in Dallas) ended 1–1 and the second (held in Seattle) ended 0–0.[2]
The top five teams from both the Western Conference and the Eastern Conference qualified and are seeded in the MLS Playoffs to determine conference champions. The two conference champions will face off in the MLS Cup.
Knockout round
The fourth and fifth seeds in each conference play a single match hosted by the fourth seed, with the winner advancing to the conference semifinals.[3]
Conference Semifinals and Conference Finals
In the conference semifinals, the team with the best record in each conference plays the winner of their conference knockout round match while the second and third-seeded teams in each conference play one another. The teams winning the conference semifinal matches advance to their respective conference finals.
In these two rounds, all matches are played in a home-and-away aggregate-goal format, with the higher-seeded team hosting the second leg. The first leg lasts the usual 90 minutes and can end in a tie. In the second leg, if the two teams are tied after 90 minutes (180 minutes total) then the team that scored more goals away from home advances to the next round.
If there is still a tie after the away goals rule is applied, a 30-minute overtime period (divided into two 15-minute periods) is played followed by a penalty kick shootout, if necessary. The away goals rule does not apply to goals scored in the overtime period.[3]
MLS Cup
The two conference champions face each other in the MLS Cup, a single match hosted by the team with the better regular season record.[3]
Qualification
Qualification for the 2014 MLS Cup Playoffs was based on the results of the 2014 Regular Season. The five teams from each conference with the highest point totals were seeded into their conference playoff bracket.
The 2014 regular season ran from March 8, 2014 to October 26, 2014. Teams played 34 games total, 17 at home and 17 away and were awarded three points for a win, one point for a tie (draw), and zero points for a loss. When two or more teams have the same point totals, the following tiebreak rules were applied:[3][4]
Total number of wins
Goal Differential
Goals For
Fewest Disciplinary Points in the official points table
Road Goals Differential
Road Goal For
Home Goals Differential
Home Goal For
Coin Toss (2 clubs) or Drawing of Lots (3 or more)
Charlie Davies
Bradley Wright-Phillips
