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 Real Salt Lake winning the MLS Cup 2009, on November 22 at Qwest Field in Seattle, defeating the Los Angeles Galaxy on penalties.
Changes from the 2008 season
The following changes were made since the 2008 season:- Seattle Sounders FC began play as an expansion team in the Western Conference.
- Two teams signed shirt sponsorship deals:
- * Xbox 360 Live became the shirt sponsor of Seattle Sounders FC.
- * Amway Global became the shirt sponsor of the San Jose Earthquakes.
- The top two teams from each conference will qualify automatically for the playoffs. In addition, the next four highest point totals, regardless of conference, will also qualify.
- Sigi Schmid did not sign a new contract with the Columbus Crew and was hired as head coach of Seattle Sounders FC.
- The Columbus Crew promoted assistant coach Robert Warzycha to head coach.
- After three seasons, the MLS Reserve Division was discontinued. As a result, each team's Developmental Roster spots were reduced from 10 to four, and each team's Senior Roster spots were increased from 18 to 20. This had the effect of reducing each team's total roster from 28 to 24 players.
Teams and locations
[|Competition format]
The format for the 2009 season was as follows:- The season began on March 19 and ended on November 22 with MLS Cup 2009.
- The 15 teams were split into two conferences. The Western Conference had eight teams with the addition of Seattle Sounders FC, and the Eastern Conference had seven teams. Each team played a total of 30 games that were evenly divided between home and away games. Each team played every other team twice, home and away, for a total of 28 games. The remaining two games were played against two conference rivals, one at home and one away.
- The two teams in each conference with the most points qualified for the 2009 MLS Cup Playoffs. In addition, the next four highest ranked teams, regardless of conference, also qualified. Teams were bracketed by conference, with the lowest ranked teams crossing over to the other conference if necessary. In the Conference Semifinals, aggregate goals over two matches determined the winners. The Conference Finals were played as single matches, and the winners advanced to MLS Cup 2009. After the completion of any round, ties were broken with two 15-minute periods of extra time, followed by penalty kick shootout if necessary. The away goals rule was not used in any round.
- The team with the most points in the regular season won the MLS Supporters' Shield and qualified directly into the Group Stage of the 2010–11 CONCACAF Champions League. The MLS Cup Winner also qualified for the Champions League Group Stage. The MLS Cup Runners-Up and the 2009 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Winners qualified for the Preliminary Round of the Champions League. If a team qualified for multiple berths into the Champions League, then additional berths were awarded to the highest-placed team in the 2009 MLS regular season's overall standings that had not already qualified.
- The four teams with the most points, regardless of conference, who had not qualified for the Champions League qualified for SuperLiga 2010.
- The six U.S.-based teams with the most points, regardless of conference, qualified for the Third Round of the 2010 U.S. Open Cup. The remaining U.S.-based MLS teams had to qualify for the remaining two berths via a series of play-in games.
- As a Canadian-based team, Toronto FC could not qualify through MLS for the Champions League or the U.S. Open Cup. In either case, any berth earned by Toronto FC was awarded to the highest-placed team in the overall standings which had not already qualified. Their means of entry into the Champions League is the Canadian Championship; they won that competition in both 2009 and 2010 to gain entry to the Champions League for 2009–10 and 2010–11.
Tiebreakers
- Head-to-Head
- Overall Goal Differential
- Overall Total Goals Scored
- Tiebreakers 1-3 applied only to matches on the road
- Tiebreakers 1-3 applied only to matches at home
- Fewest team disciplinary points in the League Fair Play table
- Coin toss
Results table
Standings
For an explanation of the playoff qualifications, see Competition format.Conference standings
Eastern Conference
Western Conference
Overall standings
Playoffs
Statistics
Golden Boot
| Rank | Scorer | Club | |||
| 1 |  Jeff Cunningham | FC Dallas | 28 | 17 | 8 |
| 2 | Conor Casey | Colorado Rapids | 24 | 16 | 1 |
| 3 |  Fredy Montero | Seattle Sounders FC | 27 | 12 | 7 |
| 4 | Landon Donovan | Los Angeles Galaxy | 25 | 12 | 6 |
| 5 | Robbie Findley | Real Salt Lake | 27 | 12 | 4 |
| 6 |  Guillermo Barros Schelotto | Columbus Crew | 24 | 12 | 3 |
| 7 | Juan Pablo Ángel | New York Red Bulls | 25 | 12 | 2 |
| 8 |  Dwayne de Rosario | Toronto FC | 28 | 11 | 6 |
| 9 |  Ryan Johnson | San Jose Earthquakes | 30 | 11 | 2 |
| 10 | Josh Wolff | Kansas City Wizards | 27 | 11 | 0 |
Stats last updated October 24, 2009.
Goalkeeping leaders
| Rank | Goalkeeper | Club | W–L–T | |||||||
| 1 | Zach Thornton | Chivas USA | 27 | 2385 | 111 | 83 | 23 | 0.87 | 12–9–6 | 12 |
| 2 | Kasey Keller | Seattle Sounders FC | 29 | 2549 | 108 | 78 | 26 | 0.92 | 12–5–11 | 10 |
| 3 | William Hesmer | Columbus Crew | 19 | 1710 | 86 | 68 | 18 | 0.95 | 9–4–6 | 7 |
| 4 | Matt Reis | New England Revolution | 24 | 2160 | 140 | 114 | 23 | 0.96 | 10–8–6 | 8 |
| 5 | Pat Onstad | Houston Dynamo | 30 | 2700 | 121 | 89 | 29 | 0.97 | 13–8–9 | 10 |
Stats last updated October 26, 2009.
Individual awards
Player of the Week
| Week | Player of the Week | Club | Week's Statline |
| Week 1 | Fredy Montero | Seattle Sounders FC | |
| Week 2 | Kasey Keller | Seattle Sounders FC | |
| Week 3 | Conor Casey | Colorado Rapids | |
| Week 4 | Donovan Ricketts | Los Angeles Galaxy | |
| Week 5 | Josh Wolff | Kansas City Wizards | |
| Week 6 | Javier Morales | Real Salt Lake | |
| Week 7 |  Jaime Moreno | D.C. United | |
| Week 8 |  Macoumba Kandji | New York Red Bulls | |
| Week 9 | Josh Wolff | Kansas City Wizards | |
| Week 10 |  Amado Guevara | Toronto FC | |
| Week 11 | Conor Casey | Colorado Rapids | |
| Week 12 | Taylor Twellman | New England Revolution | |
| Week 13 | Guillermo Barros Schelotto | Columbus Crew | |
| Week 14 | Omar Cummings | Colorado Rapids | |
| Week 15 | Nate Jaqua | Seattle Sounders FC | |
| Week 16 | Jeff Cunningham | FC Dallas | |
| Week 17 | Chad Barrett | Toronto FC | |
| Week 18 |  Cuauhtémoc Blanco | Chicago Fire | |
| Week 19 |  Yura Movsisyan | Real Salt Lake | |
| Week 20 | Jeff Cunningham | FC Dallas | |
| Week 21 | Conor Casey | Colorado Rapids | |
| Week 22 | Chad Marshall | Columbus Crew | |
| Week 23 |  Kheli Dube | New England Revolution | |
| Week 24 |  Pablo Campos | Real Salt Lake | |
| Week 25 | Josh Wolff | Kansas City Wizards | |
| Week 26 | Jeff Cunningham | FC Dallas | |
| Week 27 | Brad Davis | Houston Dynamo | |
| Week 28 |  Shalrie Joseph | New England Revolution | |
| Week 29 | Landon Donovan | Los Angeles Galaxy | |
| Week 30 | Jeff Cunningham | FC Dallas | |
| Week 31 |  Freddie Ljungberg | Seattle Sounders FC | |
| Week 32 | Robbie Findley | Real Salt Lake |
Player of the Month
| Month | Player of the Month | Club | Month's Statline |
| March | Fredy Montero | Seattle Sounders FC | |
| April | Brian McBride | Chicago Fire | |
| May | Conor Casey | Colorado Rapids | |
| June | Guillermo Barros Schelotto | Columbus Crew | |
| July | Landon Donovan | Los Angeles Galaxy | |
| August | Chad Marshall | Columbus Crew | |
| September | Jeff Cunningham | FC Dallas | |
| October | Freddie Ljungberg | Seattle Sounders FC |
Goal of the Week
| Week | Scorer | Club | Goal |
| Week 1 | Fredy Montero | Seattle Sounders FC | |
| Week 2 | Fredy Montero | Seattle Sounders FC | |
| Week 3 |  Sainey Nyassi | New England Revolution | |
| Week 4 | Brian McBride | Chicago Fire | |
| Week 5 | Brian Ching | Houston Dynamo | |
| Week 6 | Clint Mathis | Real Salt Lake | |
| Week 7 | Jaime Moreno | D.C. United | |
| Week 8 | Chris Pontius | D.C. United | |
| Week 9 | Santino Quaranta | D.C. United | |
| Week 10 | Claudio López | Kansas City Wizards | |
| Week 11 | Nate Jaqua | Seattle Sounders FC | |
| Week 12 | Omar Cummings | Colorado Rapids | |
| Week 13 | Davy Arnaud | Kansas City Wizards | |
| Week 14 | Eric Avila | FC Dallas | |
| Week 15 | Nate Jaqua | Seattle Sounders FC | |
| Week 16 |  Marco Pappa | Chicago Fire | |
| Week 17 | Patrick Ianni | Seattle Sounders FC | |
| Week 18 | Bryan Namoff | D.C. United | |
| Week 19 | Claudio López | Kansas City Wizards | |
| Week 20 | Fred | D.C. United | |
| Week 21 | Landon Donovan | Los Angeles Galaxy | |
| Week 22 |  Steve Zakuani | Seattle Sounders FC | |
| Week 23 | Nate Jaqua | Seattle Sounders FC | |
| Week 24 | Wells Thompson | New England Revolution | |
| Week 25 |  Edgaras Jankauskas | New England Revolution | |
| Week 26 | O'Brian White | Toronto FC | |
| Week 27 | Brad Davis | Houston Dynamo | |
| Week 28 | Jeff Cunningham | FC Dallas | |
| Week 29 | Jeff Cunningham | FC Dallas | |
| Week 30 | Jeff Cunningham | FC Dallas | |
| Week 31 | George John | FC Dallas | |
| Week 32 | Robbie Findley | Real Salt Lake |
Save of the Week
Save of the week was first introduced during week 10 of the 2009 season.| Week | Goalkeeper | Club | Save |
| Week 10 | Kasey Keller | Seattle Sounders FC | |
| Week 11 | Kevin Hartman | Kansas City Wizards | |
| Week 12 | Pat Onstad | Houston Dynamo | |
| Week 13 | Danny Cepero | New York Red Bulls | |
| Week 14 | Donovan Ricketts | Los Angeles Galaxy | |
| Week 15 |  Stefan Frei | Toronto FC | |
| Week 16 |  Josh Saunders | Los Angeles Galaxy | |
| Week 17 | Pat Onstad | Houston Dynamo | |
| Week 18 | Donovan Ricketts | Los Angeles Galaxy | |
| Week 19 | Nick Rimando | Real Salt Lake | |
| Week 20 | Darío Sala | FC Dallas | |
| Week 21 | Kasey Keller | Seattle Sounders FC | |
| Week 22 | Amado Guevara | Toronto FC | |
| Week 23 | Onstad & Barret | Houston Dynamo | |
| Week 24 | Stefan Frei | Toronto FC | |
| Week 25 | Stefan Frei | Toronto FC | |
| Week 26 | Stefan Frei | Toronto FC | |
| Week 27 | Zach Thornton | Chivas USA | |
| Week 28 | Darío Sala | FC Dallas | |
| Week 29 | Tyrone Marshall | Seattle Sounders FC | |
| Week 30 | Dario Sala | FC Dallas | |
| Week 31 | Geoff Cameron | Houston Dynamo | |
| Week 32 | Kevin Hartman | Kansas City Wizards |
Team Attendance Totals
| Club | Games | Season | Game Avg. |
| Seattle Sounders FC | 15 | 499,262 | 30,897 |
| Los Angeles Galaxy | 15 | 333,239 | 20,827 |
| Toronto FC | 15 | 305,167 | 20,344 |
| Real Salt Lake | 15 | 303,138 | 17,831 |
| Houston Dynamo | 15 | 264,368 | 17,624 |
| Chivas USA | 15 | 251,611 | 15,725 |
| D.C. United | 15 | 202,605 | 15,585 |
| Chicago Fire | 15 | 247,908 | 15,487 |
| Columbus Crew | 15 | 226,808 | 14,175 |
| Colorado Rapids | 15 | 195,282 | 13,018 |
| New York Red Bulls | 15 | 165,672 | 12,744 |
| New England Revolution | 15 | 173,985 | 12,427 |
| San Jose Earthquakes | 15 | 134,283 | 10,329 |
| Kansas City Wizards | 15 | 150,802 | 10,053 |
| FC Dallas | 15 | 108,717 | 9,883 |
| OVERALL | 225 | 3,562,847 | 16,120 |
Related competitions
International competitions
CONCACAF Champions League
The Houston Dynamo continued their CONCACAF Champions League 2008–09 campaign that began during the previous season. They were eliminated in the quarterfinals over two legs by eventual champions Atlante.Columbus, Houston, New York, and D.C. United, will be the representatives in the CONCACAF Champions League 2009–10—an additional slot from Canada was gained by Toronto by virtue of their Voyageurs Cup win. New York and Toronto were eliminated at the preliminary round, while D.C. advanced to the group stage on penalty kicks. Columbus and Houston qualified directly into the Group stage. Houston and D.C. were eliminated during the group stage, with only Columbus progressing to the knockout rounds.
SuperLiga 2009
, New England, Chivas USA, and Kansas City were MLS's entrants in SuperLiga 2009, based on their finish in the 2008 regular season as the top four teams not already qualified for the CONCACAF Champions League. Chivas U.S.A. and Kansas City were eliminated in the group stage. Chicago eliminated New England in the semi-finals, only to lose to Tigres in the final.National competitions
2009 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup
MLS awarded the top six finishers in 2008, regardless of conference, automatic berths into the 2009 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup's third round. Columbus, Houston, Chicago Fire, New England, Chivas USA, and Kansas City qualified based on their top-six finish. D.C. United and Seattle qualified via an eight team qualifying tournament.Each of the qualified MLS teams were matched up against the winner of a second-round game, all of whom come from one of the USL's three divisions. Seattle and D.C. eventually emerged to play the final on September 2 at RFK stadium, which Seattle ultimately won.
2009 Canadian Championship
Canada's top three teams, MLS's Toronto FC, USL-1's Montreal Impact and Vancouver Whitecaps FC competed in the Voyageurs Cup. The tournament was played as a double round robin group from May 6 to June 18, and won by Toronto, who gained Canada's berth into the CONCACAF Champions League 2009-10.All-Star game
The 2009 MLS All-Star Game against Everton F.C., of the English Premier League, took place on July 29 from Rio Tinto Stadium home of Real Salt Lake. Everton defeated the MLS All-Stars in a penalty shootout 4-3 after the game was tied 1-1. No extra time was played following regular time. Tim Howard, the Everton and U.S. Men's National Team goalkeeper, was named the game's MVP.Coaches
Eastern Conference
- Chicago Fire: Denis Hamlett
- Columbus Crew: Robert Warzycha
- D.C. United: Tom Soehn
- Kansas City Wizards: Curt Onalfo
- New England Revolution: Steve Nicol
- New York Red Bulls: Richie Williams
- Toronto FC: Chris Cummins
Western Conference
- Chivas USA: Preki
- Colorado Rapids: Gary Smith
- FC Dallas: Schellas Hyndman
- Houston Dynamo: Dominic Kinnear
- Los Angeles Galaxy: Bruce Arena
- Real Salt Lake: Jason Kreis
- San Jose Earthquakes: Frank Yallop
- Seattle Sounders FC: Sigi Schmid