# 2005 Major League Soccer season

The 2005 Major League Soccer season was the 10th season of Major League Soccer. It was also the 93rd season of FIFA-sanctioned soccer in the United States, and the 27th with a national first-division league.
At MLS Cup 2004, two new expansion teams were announced to start play in 2005, Real Salt Lake and Chivas USA. Since both teams were assigned to the Western Conference, the Kansas City Wizards moved to the Eastern Conference to maintain regional balance.
The Dallas Burn re-branded as FC Dallas and moved to the league's newest soccer-specific stadium when Pizza Hut Park opened on August 6, 2005.
The league returned to a 32-game schedule which marked the most games played since the 2000 season.
The regular season began on April 2, and concluded on October 16. The 2005 MLS Cup Playoffs began on October 22, and concluded with MLS Cup 2005 on November 13. For the second time in four years, the Los Angeles Galaxy beat the New England Revolution to win MLS Cup before a sell-out crowd at Pizza Hut Park.

## Overview
### Season format

The season began on April 2 and concluded with MLS Cup on November 13. The 12 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, and every team in the opposite conference twice.
The top four teams from each conference qualified for the MLS Cup Playoffs. In the first round, aggregate goals over two matches determined the winners. The conference finals were played as a single match, and the winners advanced to MLS Cup. In all rounds, draws were broken with two 15-minute periods of extra time, followed by penalty kicks 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. Additionally, the winner of MLS Cup and the runner-up qualified for the CONCACAF Champions' Cup.

### Stadiums and locations

| Team | Stadium | Capacity |
| Chicago Fire | Soldier Field | 61,500 |
| Chivas USA | Home Depot Center | 27,000 |
| Colorado Rapids | Invesco Field at Mile High | 76,125 |
| Columbus Crew | Columbus Crew Stadium | 22,555 |
| D.C. United | RFK Stadium | 46,000 |
| FC Dallas | Cotton Bowl Pizza Hut Park | 92,100 21,193 |
| Kansas City Wizards | Arrowhead Stadium | 81,425 |
| Los Angeles Galaxy | Home Depot Center | 27,000 |
| MetroStars | Giants Stadium | 80,200 |
| New England Revolution | Gillette Stadium | 68,756 |
| Real Salt Lake | Rice-Eccles Stadium | 45,017 |
| San Jose Earthquakes | Spartan Stadium | 30,456 |

### Personnel and sponsorships

| Team | Head coach | Captain | Shirt sponsor |
| Chicago Fire | Dave Sarachan | | Honda |
| Chivas USA | Thomas Rongen | | — |
| Colorado Rapids | Fernando Clavijo | | — |
| Columbus Crew | Greg Andrulis | Robin Fraser | — |
| D.C. United | Piotr Nowak | | Sierra Mist |
| FC Dallas | Colin Clarke | | RadioShack |
| Kansas City Wizards | Bob Gansler | | U.S. Soccer Foundation |
| Los Angeles Galaxy | Steve Sampson | | Budweiser |
| MetroStars | Bob Bradley | Youri Djorkaeff | — |
| New England Revolution | Steve Nicol | | — |
| Real Salt Lake | John Ellinger | Jason Kreis | — |
| San Jose Earthquakes | Dominic Kinnear | Wade Barrett | — |

### Coaching changes

| Team | Outgoing coach | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Incoming coach | Date of appointment |
| Chivas USA | Thomas Rongen | Reassigned | May 30, 2005 | Javier Ledesma | May 30, 2005 |
| Chivas USA | Javier Ledesma | End of interim period | June 3, 2005 | Hans Westerhof | June 3, 2005 |
| Columbus Crew | Greg Andrulis | Fired | July 16, 2005 | Robert Warzycha | July 16, 2005 |
| MetroStars | Bob Bradley | Fired | October 4, 2005 | Mo Johnston | October 4, 2005 |

## Standings
### Eastern Conference

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | L | T | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | New England Revolution | 32 | 17 | 7 | 8 | 55 | 37 | +18 | 59 | MLS Cup Playoffs |
| 2 | D.C. United | 32 | 16 | 10 | 6 | 58 | 37 | +21 | 54 | MLS Cup Playoffs |
| 3 | Chicago Fire | 32 | 15 | 13 | 4 | 49 | 50 | −1 | 49 | MLS Cup Playoffs |
| 4 | MetroStars | 32 | 12 | 9 | 11 | 53 | 49 | +4 | 47 | MLS Cup Playoffs |
| 5 | Kansas City Wizards | 32 | 11 | 9 | 12 | 52 | 44 | +8 | 45 | |
| 6 | Columbus Crew | 32 | 11 | 16 | 5 | 34 | 45 | −11 | 38 | |

### Western Conference

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | L | T | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | San Jose Earthquakes | 32 | 18 | 4 | 10 | 53 | 31 | +22 | 64 | MLS Cup Playoffs |
| 2 | FC Dallas | 32 | 13 | 10 | 9 | 52 | 44 | +8 | 48 | MLS Cup Playoffs |
| 3 | Colorado Rapids | 32 | 13 | 13 | 6 | 40 | 37 | +3 | 45 | MLS Cup Playoffs |
| 4 | Los Angeles Galaxy | 32 | 13 | 13 | 6 | 44 | 45 | −1 | 45 | MLS Cup Playoffs |
| 5 | Real Salt Lake | 32 | 5 | 22 | 5 | 30 | 65 | −35 | 20 | |
| 6 | Chivas USA | 32 | 4 | 22 | 6 | 31 | 67 | −36 | 18 | |

### Overall standings

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | L | T | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | San Jose Earthquakes (S) | 32 | 18 | 4 | 10 | 53 | 31 | +22 | 64 | |
| 2 | New England Revolution | 32 | 17 | 7 | 8 | 55 | 37 | +18 | 59 | CONCACAF Champions' Cup |
| 3 | D.C. United | 32 | 16 | 10 | 6 | 58 | 37 | +21 | 54 | |
| 4 | Chicago Fire | 32 | 15 | 13 | 4 | 49 | 50 | −1 | 49 | |
| 5 | Dallas Burn | 32 | 13 | 10 | 9 | 52 | 44 | +8 | 48 | |
| 6 | MetroStars | 32 | 12 | 9 | 11 | 53 | 49 | +4 | 47 | |
| 7 | Colorado Rapids | 32 | 13 | 13 | 6 | 40 | 37 | +3 | 45 | |
| 8 | Los Angeles Galaxy (C) | 32 | 13 | 13 | 6 | 44 | 45 | −1 | 45 | CONCACAF Champions' Cup |
| 9 | Kansas City Wizards | 32 | 11 | 9 | 12 | 52 | 44 | +8 | 45 | |
| 10 | Columbus Crew | 32 | 11 | 16 | 5 | 34 | 45 | −11 | 38 | |
| 11 | Real Salt Lake | 32 | 5 | 22 | 5 | 30 | 65 | −35 | 20 | |
| 12 | Chivas USA | 32 | 4 | 22 | 6 | 31 | 67 | −36 | 18 | |

## MLS Cup Playoffs
### Bracket

| Conference semifinals | Conference semifinals | Conference semifinals | Conference semifinals | Conference finals | Conference finals | Conference finals | MLS Cup | MLS Cup | MLS Cup |
| E1 | New England | 0 | 3 | | | | | | |
| E4 | MetroStars | 1 | 1 | | | | | | |
| E4 | MetroStars | 1 | 1 | E1 | New England | 1 | | | |
| Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | E1 | New England | 1 | | | |
| Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | E3 | Chicago | 0 | | | |
| E3 | Chicago | 0 | 4 | E3 | Chicago | 0 | | | |
| E2 | D.C. United | 0 | 0 | | | | | | |
| E2 | D.C. United | 0 | 0 | | | | E1 | New England | 0 |
| | | | | | | | W4 | Los Angeles | 1 |
| W1 | San Jose | 1 | 1 | | | | | | | W4 | Los Angeles | 1 |
| W4 | Los Angeles | 3 | 1 | | | | | | |
| W4 | Los Angeles | 3 | 1 | W4 | Los Angeles | 2 | | | |
| Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | W4 | Los Angeles | 2 | | | |
| Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | W3 | Colorado | 0 | | | |
| W3 | Colorado | 0 | 2(5) | W3 | Colorado | 0 | | | |
| W2 | Dallas | 0 | 2(4) | | | | | | |

### Conference semifinals

New England Revolution advance 3-2 on aggregate.
Chicago Fire advance 4-0 on aggregate.
Los Angeles Galaxy advance 4-2 on aggregate.
Colorado Rapids advance 5-4 on penalties (2-2 on aggregate).

### MLS Cup
## Player statistics
### Goals

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Taylor Twellman | New England Revolution | 17 |
| 2 | Jaime Moreno | D.C. United | 16 |
| 3 | Jeff Cunningham | Colorado Rapids | 12 |
| 3 | Landon Donovan | Los Angeles Galaxy | 12 |
| 5 | Christian Gómez | D.C. United | 11 |
| 5 | Herculez Gomez | Los Angeles Galaxy | 11 |
| 5 | Amado Guevara | MetroStars | 11 |
| 5 | Carlos Ruiz | FC Dallas | 11 |
| 9 | Clint Dempsey | New England Revolution | 10 |
| 9 | Youri Djorkaeff | MetroStars | 10 |
| 9 | Josh Wolff | Kansas City Wizards | 10 |

### Assists

| Rank | Player | Club | Assists |
| 1 | Josh Wolff | Kansas City Wizards | 10 |
| 2 | Landon Donovan | FC Dallas | 9 |
| 3 | Ronnie O'Brien | Colorado Rapids | 8 |
| 4 | Christian Gómez | D.C. United | 7 |
| 4 | Amado Guevara | MetroStars | 7 |
| 4 | Dwayne De Rosario | San Jose Earthquakes | 7 |
| 4 | Ronald Cerritos | San Jose Earthquakes | 7 |
| 4 | Brad Davis | San Jose Earthquakes | 7 |
| 9 | Chris Rolfe | Chicago Fire | 6 |
| 10 | 16 players | 16 players | 5 |

### Clean sheets

| Rank | Player | Club | Clean sheets |
| 1 | Pat Onstad | San Jose Earthquakes | 12 |
| 2 | Nick Rimando | D.C. United | 11 |
| 3 | Matt Reis | New England Revolution | 10 |
| 4 | Joe Cannon | Colorado Rapids | 8 |
| 5 | Bo Oshoniyi | Kansas City Wizards | 7 |
| 6 | Scott Garlick | FC Dallas | 6 |
| 6 | Kevin Hartman | Los Angeles Galaxy | 6 |
| 6 | Zach Thornton | Chicago Fire | 6 |
| 9 | Jonny Walker | Columbus Crew | 5 |
| 10 | D.J. Countess | Real Salt Lake | 4 |
| 10 | Zach Wells | MetroStars | 4 |

## Awards
### Individual awards

| Award | Player | Club |
| Most Valuable Player | Taylor Twellman | New England Revolution |
| Defender of the Year | Jimmy Conrad | Kansas City Wizards |
| Goalkeeper of the Year | Pat Onstad | San Jose Earthquakes |
| Coach of the Year | Dominic Kinnear | San Jose Earthquakes |
| Rookie of the Year | Michael Parkhurst | New England Revolution |
| Comeback Player of the Year | Chris Klein | Kansas City Wizards |
| Golden Boot | Taylor Twellman | New England Revolution |
| Goal of the Year | Dwayne De Rosario | San Jose Earthquakes |
| Fair Play Award | Ronald Cerritos | San Jose Earthquakes |
| Humanitarian of the Year | Brian Kamler | Real Salt Lake |

### Best XI

| Goalkeeper | Defenders | Midfielders | Forwards |
| Pat Onstad, San Jose | Chris Albright, LA Galaxy Danny Califf, San Jose Jimmy Conrad, Kansas City | Clint Dempsey, New England Dwayne De Rosario, San Jose Christian Gómez, D.C. United Shalrie Joseph, New England Ronnie O'Brien, Dallas | Jaime Moreno, D.C. United Taylor Twellman, New England |

## Attendance

| Club | Games | Total | Average |
| Los Angeles Galaxy | 16 | 387,256 | 24,204 |
| Real Salt Lake | 16 | 288,586 | 18,037 |
| Chicago Fire | 16 | 275,811 | 17,238 |
| Chivas USA | 16 | 273,284 | 17,080 |
| D.C. United | 16 | 266,617 | 16,664 |
| MetroStars | 16 | 241,230 | 15,077 |
| Colorado Rapids | 16 | 218,206 | 13,638 |
| San Jose Earthquakes | 16 | 208,594 | 13,037 |
| Columbus Crew | 16 | 206,654 | 12,916 |
| New England Revolution | 16 | 200,397 | 12,525 |
| FC Dallas | 16 | 179,021 | 11,189 |
| Kansas City Wizards | 16 | 155,060 | 9,691 |
| Totals | 192 | 2,900,716 | 15,108 |