2015 MLS Cup Playoffs
Tournament details
CountryUnited States
Canada
Teams12
Defending championsLA Galaxy
Final positions
ChampionsPortland Timbers (1st title)
Runner-upColumbus Crew SC
Semifinalists
Tournament statistics
Matches played17
Goals scored46 (2.71 per match)
Attendance388,289 (22,841 per match)
Top goal scorer(s)Sierra Leone Kei Kamara
(4 goals)

The 2015 MLS Cup Playoffs (officially the Audi 2015 MLS Cup Playoffs for sponsorship reasons)[1] was the 20th post-season tournament culminating the Major League Soccer regular season. The tournament began on October 28 with D.C. United defeating New England Revolution and culminated on December 6, 2015 with MLS Cup 2015, the twentieth league championship match for MLS.

Twelve teams[2] (top 6 per conference) competed, up from 10 the last 3 seasons. The first round of each conference had the third-seeded team hosting the sixth seed, while the fourth-seed hosts the fifth, in a single match to determine who advances to the Conference Semifinals. In the Conference Semifinals, the top seed plays the lowest remaining seed while the second seed plays the next-lowest. The winners advanced to the Conference Finals.

Both the Conference Semifinals and Conference Finals are played as two-legged aggregate series. If teams are level at the end of the second leg, the away goals rule will be used in attempt to determine a winner. If the away goals rule does not resolve the deadlock, 30 minutes of extra time will be played, but the away goals rule will not be applied after extra time. If scores are still level following extra time, a penalty shootout will be conducted.

The winners advance to the MLS Cup final, a single match hosted by the participant with the better regular season record.[3]

The winner of MLS Cup 2015, Portland Timbers qualified for the 2016–17 CONCACAF Champions League. If a Canadian team were to win the MLS Cup, the next-best team from the United States will take their place.[4]

On March 6, 2015, Audi was announced as the official sponsor of the playoffs starting in 2015.[1]

The Portland Timbers won the MLS Cup by defeating the Columbus Crew SC by a score of 2–1. The Timbers' Diego Valeri scored the fastest goal in MLS Cup history at 27 seconds after Crew goalkeeper Steve Clark, made a fundamental error after he miscontrolled his defender's back-pass; allowing Valeri to strike at the opportunity.[5]

2015 MLS Conference standings

The top 6 teams from each conference advance to the MLS Cup playoffs. Green background denotes also qualified for 2016–17 CONCACAF Champions League.

Bracket

Source: [6]

Schedule

Knockout Round

Eastern Conference

D.C. United2–1New England Revolution
Pontius 45'
Rolfe 83'		 Report Agudelo 15'
Attendance: 11,554
Referee: Mark Geiger
Montreal Impact3–0Toronto FC
Bernier 18'
Piatti 33'
Drogba 39'		 Report
Attendance: 18,069

Western Conference

Conference Semifinals

Eastern Conference

D.C. United0–1New York Red Bulls
Report McCarty 72'
Attendance: 19,525
Referee: Fotis Bazakos
New York Red Bulls1–0D.C. United
Wright-Phillips 90+2' Report
Attendance: 25,219
Referee: Ted Unkel

New York Red Bulls win 2–0 on aggregate

Montreal Impact2–1Columbus Crew SC
Bernier 37'
Venegas 77'		 Report Higuaín 33'
Attendance: 17,655
Referee: Chris Penso
Columbus Crew SC3–1 (a.e.t.)Montreal Impact
Kamara 4', 111'
Finlay 77'		 Report Duka 40'
Attendance: 19,026

Columbus Crew wins 4–3 on aggregate

Western Conference

Vancouver Whitecaps FC0–2Portland Timbers
Report Adi 31'
Chara 90+4'
Attendance: 27,837
Referee: Ismail Elfath

Portland Timbers win 2–0 on aggregate

FC Dallas wins 4–2 on penalties after 3–3 draw on aggregate

Conference Finals

Eastern Conference

Columbus Crew SC2–0New York Red Bulls
Meram 1'
Kamara 85'		 Report
Attendance: 21,617
Referee: Allen Chapman

Columbus Crew wins 2–1 on aggregate

Western Conference

Portland Timbers3–1FC Dallas
Ridgewell 23'
Asprilla 53'
Borchers 90+1'		 Report Texeira 62'
Attendance: 21,144
Referee: Ted Unkel
FC Dallas2–2Portland Timbers
Hollingshead 68'
Pérez 73'		 Report Adi 54'
Melano 90+5'
Attendance: 20,966
Referee: Ismail Elfath

Portland Timbers win 5–3 on aggregate

MLS Cup

Columbus Crew1–2Portland Timbers
Kamara 18' Report Valeri 1'
Wallace 7'
Attendance: 21,747
Referee: Jair Marrufo

Goalscorers

Rank Player Club Goals [7]
1 Sierra Leone Kei Kamara Columbus Crew SC 4
2 Nigeria Fanendo Adi Portland Timbers 2
Canada Patrice Bernier Montreal Impact
United States Clint Dempsey Seattle Sounders FC
Costa Rica Rodney Wallace Portland Timbers
6 Cameroon Anatole Abang New York Red Bulls 1
United States Juan Agudelo New England Revolution
Canada Tesho Akindele FC Dallas
Colombia Dairon Asprilla Portland Timbers
United States Nat Borchers Portland Timbers
Colombia Fabian Castillo FC Dallas
Colombia Diego Chará Portland Timbers
Ivory Coast Didier Drogba Montreal Impact
United States Dilly Duka Montreal Impact
United States Kevin Ellis Sporting Kansas City
United States Ethan Finlay Columbus Crew SC
Sweden Erik Friberg Seattle Sounders FC
Argentina Federico Higuaín Columbus Crew SC
United States Ryan Hollingshead FC Dallas
Austria Andreas Ivanschitz Seattle Sounders FC
United States Sebastian Lletget LA Galaxy
United States Chad Marshall Seattle Sounders FC
Argentina Lucas Melano Portland Timbers
United States Dax McCarty New York Red Bulls
Iraq Justin Meram Columbus Crew SC
Hungary Krisztián Németh Sporting Kansas City
Panama Blas Pérez FC Dallas
Argentina Ignacio Piatti Montreal Impact
United States Chris Pontius D.C. United
England Liam Ridgewell Portland Timbers
United States Chris Rolfe D.C. United
Uruguay David Texeira FC Dallas
Argentina Maximiliano Urruti Portland Timbers
Paraguay Nelson Valdez Seattle Sounders FC
Argentina Diego Valeri Portland Timbers
Costa Rica Johan Venegas Montreal Impact
England Bradley Wright-Phillips New York Red Bulls
United States Gyasi Zardes LA Galaxy
United States Walker Zimmerman FC Dallas

References

  1. 1 2 "MLS announces partnership with Audi, including presenting sponsorship of MLS Cup Playoffs". mlssoccer.com. Major League Soccer. Retrieved October 5, 2015.
  2. ↑ "Armchair Analyst: Ranking the Audi 2015 MLS Cup Playoff teams, 1-through-12". MLSsoccer.com.
  3. ↑ "Audi MLS Cup Playoffs 101: Everything you need to know about the postseason". MLSsoccer.com.
  4. ↑ Kingston, Gary (August 25, 2015). "Whitecaps face fine balancing act in settling on Voyageurs Cup lineup". Vancouver Sun. Retrieved September 1, 2015.
  5. ↑ "Portland Timbers' Diego Valeri Scores Fastest Goal In MLS Cup History (Video)". NESN. December 6, 2015. Retrieved December 6, 2015.
  6. ↑ "MLS Playoff Bracket". MLSsoccer.com. Retrieved October 29, 2015.
  7. ↑ "Schedule". MLSsoccer.com.
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