1997 Major League Soccer season

1997 Major League Soccer season
Season1997
MLS CupD.C. United (2nd title)
Supporters' ShieldD.C. United (1st shield)
CONCACAF Champions' CupD.C. United
Colorado Rapids
Matches played160
Goals scored522 (3.26 per match)
Top goalscorerJaime Moreno
(16 goals)
Longest winning runKansas City Wizards
Games: 7
(07/19 – 08/31)
Longest losing runNew England Revolution
Games: 9
(07/20 – 09/12)
Highest attendance57,407
NE 2–1 TB
(April 20, 1997)
Lowest attendance4,120
COL 1–0 DAL
(April 23, 1997)
Total attendance2,336,889
Average attendance14,606
← 1996
1998 →
Locations of teams for the 1997 Major League Soccer season
Western Conference   Eastern Conference

The 1997 Major League Soccer season was the second season of Major League Soccer. It was also the 85th season of FIFA-sanctioned soccer in the United States, and the 19th with a national first-division league.

Following the 1996 season, the Wiz changed names, becoming the Wizards, following legal action from electronics retailer The Wiz.

The regular season began on March 29, and concluded on September 28. The 1997 MLS Cup Playoffs began on October 4, and concluded with MLS Cup 1997 on October 26. D.C. United won their first Supporters' Shield and defended their MLS Cup championship becoming the first team to win back-to-back cups.

Overview

Season format

The season began on March 22 and concluded with MLS Cup on October 26. The 10 teams were split evenly into two conferences. Each team played 32 games that were evenly divided between home and away. Each team played every other team in their conference four times, for a total of 16 games. The rest of the schedule consisted of three games against each team from the opposite conference, with four games against one designated team.

The top four teams from each conference qualified for the MLS Cup Playoffs. The conference semifinals and finals were played as a best-of-three series, and the winners advanced to MLS Cup. In all rounds, draws were broken by penalty shootout if necessary. The away goals rule was not used in any round.

The team with the most points in the regular season was awarded the MLS Supporters' Shield. 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
Colorado Rapids Mile High Stadium 76,273
Columbus Crew Ohio Stadium 102,329
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
New England Revolution Foxboro Stadium 60,292
NY/NJ MetroStars Giants Stadium 80,200
San Jose Clash Spartan Stadium 30,456
Tampa Bay Mutiny Houlihan's Stadium 74,301

Personnel and sponsorships

Team Head coach Captain Shirt sponsor
Colorado Rapids Glenn Myernick
Columbus Crew Tom Fitzgerald Marcelo Carrera Snickers
D.C. United Bruce Arena MasterCard
Dallas Burn Dave Dir
Kansas City Wizards Ron Newman —
Los Angeles Galaxy Octavio Zambrano —
New England Revolution Thomas Rongen —
NY/NJ MetroStars Carlos Alberto Parreira Tony Meola
San Jose Clash Brian Quinn John Doyle Honda
Tampa Bay Mutiny John Kowalski

Coaching changes

Team Outgoing coach Manner of departure Date of vacancy Incoming coach Date of appointment
Los Angeles Galaxy Lothar Osiander Fired June 10, 1997[1][2] Octavio Zambrano June 10, 1997[1][2]
San Jose Clash Laurie Calloway Fired June 25, 1997 Brian Quinn June 25, 1997

Standings

Eastern Conference

Pos Team Pld W SOW L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 D.C. United 32 17 4 11 70 53 +17 55 MLS Cup Playoffs
2 Tampa Bay Mutiny 32 14 3 15 55 60 −5 45
3 Columbus Crew 32 12 3 17 42 41 +1 39
4 New England Revolution 32 11 4 17 40 53 −13 37
5 NY/NJ MetroStars 32 11 2 19 43 53 −10 35
Source: MLS

Western Conference

Pos Team Pld W SOW L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Kansas City Wizards 32 14 7 11 57 51 +6 49 MLS Cup Playoffs
2 Los Angeles Galaxy 32 14 2 16 55 44 +11 44
3 Dallas Burn 32 13 3 16 55 49 +6 42
4 Colorado Rapids 32 12 2 18 50 59 −9 38
5 San Jose Clash 32 9 3 20 55 59 −4 30
Source: MLS

Overall standings

Pos Team Pld W SOW L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 D.C. United (C, S) 32 17 4 11 70 53 +17 55 CONCACAF Champions' Cup
2 Kansas City Wizards 32 14 7 11 57 51 +6 49
3 Tampa Bay Mutiny 32 14 3 15 55 60 −5 45
4 Los Angeles Galaxy 32 14 2 16 55 44 +11 44
5 Dallas Burn 32 13 3 16 55 49 +6 42
6 Columbus Crew 32 12 3 17 42 41 +1 39
7 Colorado Rapids 32 12 2 18 50 59 −9 38 CONCACAF Champions' Cup
8 New England Revolution 32 11 4 17 40 53 −13 37
9 NY/NJ MetroStars 32 11 2 19 43 53 −10 35
10 San Jose Clash 32 9 3 20 55 59 −4 30
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

  • The ties were a best-of-three series.
Conference semifinals Conference finals MLS Cup
             
1 D.C. United 4 1 (4) x
4 New England Revolution 1 1 (3) x
1 D.C. United 3 1 x
Eastern Conference
3 Columbus Crew 2 0 x
2 Tampa Bay Mutiny 1 0 x
3 Columbus Crew 2 2 x
1 D.C. United 2
4 Colorado Rapids 1
1 Kansas City Wizards 0 2 x
4 Colorado Rapids 3 3 x
4 Colorado Rapids 1 2 x
Western Conference
3 Dallas Burn 0 1 x
2 LA Galaxy 0 (0) 0 x
3 Dallas Burn 0 (2) 3 x

Conference semifinals

Eastern Conference

Game 1
D.C. United4–1New England Revolution
  • Wegerle 13', 56'
  • Moreno 65', 76'
 Report
Attendance: 12,540
Referee: Tim Weyland
Game 2
New England Revolution1–1D.C. United
 Report
Penalties
 3–4
Attendance: 16,233
  • D.C. United advance to the Conference Finals.
Game 1
Tampa Bay Mutiny1–2Columbus Crew
 Report
Attendance: 8,272
Referee: Noel Kenny
Game 2
Columbus Crew2–0Tampa Bay Mutiny
 Report
Attendance: 13,102
Referee: Joshua Patlak
  • Columbus Crew advance to the Conference Finals.

Western Conference

Game 1
Los Angeles Galaxy0–0Dallas Burn
Report
Penalties
 0–2
Attendance: 18,921
Referee: Kevin Stott
Game 2
Dallas Burn3–0Los Angeles Galaxy
Washington 29', 69'
Peinado 86'		 Report
Attendance: 11,248
  • Dallas Burn advance to the Conference Finals.
Game 1
Kansas City Wizards0–3Colorado Rapids
Report
Attendance: 10,174
Referee: Brian Hall
Game 2
Colorado Rapids3–2Kansas City Wizards
 Report
Attendance: 13,117
  • Colorado Rapids advance to the Conference Finals.

Conference finals

Western Conference

Game 1
Dallas Burn0–1Colorado Rapids
Report
Attendance: 7,376
Referee: Kevin Stott
Game 2
Colorado Rapids2–1Dallas Burn
 Report
Attendance: 18,452
Referee: Noel Kenny
  • Colorado Rapids advance to MLS Cup.

Eastern Conference

Game 1
D.C. United3–2Columbus Crew
 Report
Attendance: 11,820
Referee: Kevin Terry
Game 2
Columbus Crew0–1D.C. United
Report
Attendance: 9,506
  • D.C. United advance to MLS Cup.

MLS Cup

Main article: MLS Cup 1997
D.C. United2–1Colorado Rapids
 Report
Attendance: 57,431
Referee: Brian Hall

Player statistics

Goals

Rank Player Club Goals
1 Jaime Moreno D.C. United 16
2 Raúl Díaz Arce D.C. United 15
3 Giovanni Savarese NY/NJ MetroStars 14
4 Preki Kansas City Wizards 12
Ronald Cerritos San Jose Clash
Dante Washington Dallas Burn
7 Damián Álvarez Dallas Burn 11
Wélton Los Angeles Galaxy
9 Jeff Baicher San Jose Clash 10
Mark Chung Kansas City Wizards
Roy Lassiter Tampa Bay Mutiny
Lawrence Lozzano San Jose Clash

Hat-tricks

Main article: List of Major League Soccer hat-tricks
Player Club Against Result Date
Raúl Díaz Arce4 D.C. United Colorado Rapids 5–2 April 12
Alberto Naveda New England Revolution NY/NJ MetroStars 3–1 May 30
Dante Washington Dallas Burn San Jose Clash 3–1 July 18
Eduardo Hurtado Los Angeles Galaxy Tampa Bay Mutiny 6–1 September 7
Jose Vasquez Los Angeles Galaxy San Jose Clash 3–2 September 21

Assists

Rank Player Club Assists
1 Carlos Valderrama Tampa Bay Mutiny 15
2 Preki Kansas City Wizards 12
Eddie Lewis San Jose Clash
4 Chris Henderson Colorado Rapids 9
Mauricio Cienfuegos Los Angeles Galaxy
6 Lawrence Lozzano San Jose Clash 8
Steve Ralston Tampa Bay Mutiny
Eric Wynalda San Jose Clash
Adrián Paz Colorado Rapids
Miles Joseph NY/NJ MetroStars

Clean sheets

Rank Player Club Clean
sheets
1 Brad Friedel Columbus Crew 7
2 Walter Zenga New England Revolution 6
3 Mike Ammann Kansas City Wizards 5
Marcus Hahnemann Colorado Rapids
Tony Meola NY/NJ MetroStars
6 Jorge Campos Los Angeles Galaxy 4
7 Mark Dodd Dallas Burn 3
Mark Dougherty Tampa Bay Mutiny
Kevin Hartman Los Angeles Galaxy
Mark Simpson D.C. United

Awards

Individual awards

Award Player Club
Most Valuable Player Preki Kansas City Wizards
Defender of the Year Eddie Pope D.C. United
Goalkeeper of the Year Brad Friedel Columbus Crew
Coach of the Year Bruce Arena D.C. United
Rookie of the Year Mike Duhaney Tampa Bay Mutiny
Scoring Champion Preki Kansas City Wizards
Goal of the Year Marco Etcheverry D.C. United
Fair Play Award Mark Chung Kansas City Wizards

Best XI

Goalkeeper Defenders Midfielders Forwards
Brad Friedel, Columbus Jeff Agoos, D.C. United
Thomas Dooley, Columbus
Richard Gough, Kansas City
Eddie Pope, D.C. United 		Mark Chung, Kansas City
Marco Etcheverry, D.C. United
Preki, Kansas City
Carlos Valderrama, Tampa Bay 		Ronald Cerritos, San Jose
Jaime Moreno, D.C. United

Player of the Month

Month Player Club Stats
April Jaime Moreno D.C. United 4G, 2A
May Alain Sutter Dallas Burn 1G
June John Harkes D.C. United 1G, 2A
July Wélton Los Angeles Galaxy 4G, 1A
August Brad Friedel Columbus Crew 3GA
September Walter Zenga New England Revolution 5GA

Weekly awards

Attendance

Main article: Major League Soccer attendance
Rank Team GP Cumulative High Low Mean
1 New England Revolution 16 340,762 57,407 10,242 21,298
2 Los Angeles Galaxy 16 330,015 53,147 7,232 20,626
3 NY/NJ MetroStars 16 270,288 26,322 10,510 16,893
4 D.C. United 16 267,171 28,749 9,675 16,698
5 Columbus Crew 16 240,650 22,259 10,662 15,041
6 San Jose Clash 16 217,546 23,501 7,955 13,597
7 Colorado Rapids 16 189,355 36,252 4,120 11,835
8 Tampa Bay Mutiny 16 181,322 18,070 6,984 11,333
9 Dallas Burn 16 154,845 16,089 4,451 9,678
10 Kansas City Wizards 16 144,935 12,485 6,272 9,058
Total 160 2,336,889 57,407 4,120 14,606

References

  1. ^ a b Jones, Grahame L. (June 10, 1997). "Galaxy Dumps Osiander". Los Angeles Times. p. 37. Retrieved June 7, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ a b Caldwell, Kevin (June 11, 1997). "Osiander out, Caligiuri in as Galaxy making changes". News-Pilot. p. 20. Retrieved June 7, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.