2006 Major League Soccer season

2006 Major League Soccer season

Season	2006
MLS Cup	Houston Dynamo (1st title)
Supporters' Shield	D.C. United (3rd shield)
2007 CONCACAF Champions' Cup	Houston Dynamo D.C. United
Matches played	192
Goals scored	503 (2.62 per match)
Top goalscorer	Jeff Cunningham Real Salt Lake Goals: 16
Biggest home win	NY 6–0 RSL
Biggest away win	NY 1–4 DCU LA 0–3 RSL DCU 2–5 LA
Highest scoring	NY 5–4 CHV
Longest winning run	D.C. United Wins: 6 (06/21 – 07/15)
Longest unbeaten run	D.C. United Wins: 14 (05/13 – 07/22)
Longest losing run	K.C. Wizards Loss: 7 (06/24 – 07/22) Los Angeles Galaxy Loss: 7 (05/06 -06/08)
Highest attendance	Los Angeles Galaxy Season: 333,016 Game avg.: 20,814
Lowest attendance	K.C. Wizards Season: 177,322 Game avg.: 11,083
Total attendance	2,976,787
Average attendance	15,504
← 2005 2007 →

D.C. United

New York

Columbus

New England

Chicago

Kansas City

Colorado

Dallas

Chivas USA

Galaxy

Houston

Salt Lake

class=notpageimage|

Locations of teams for the 2006 Major League Soccer season
Western Conference   Eastern Conference

The 2006 Major League Soccer season was the 11th season of Major League Soccer. It was also the 94th season of FIFA-sanctioned soccer in the United States, and the 28th with a national first-division league.

The MetroStars were bought by Austrian company Red Bull and rebranded as the New York Red Bulls.

Due to owner AEG being unable to secure a soccer specific stadium in San Jose, the Earthquakes ceased operations and had their personnel transferred to the expansion Houston Dynamo.

In June, the Chicago Fire moved into their new soccer-specific stadium, Toyota Park, in Bridgeview, Illinois.

The regular season began on April 1, and concluded on October 15. The 2006 MLS Cup Playoffs began on October 21, and concluded with MLS Cup 2006 on November 12. Houston marked their inaugural season with a league championship by defeating the New England Revolution on penalties in MLS Cup.

Overview

Season format

The season began on April 1 and concluded with MLS Cup on November 12. 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 and qualified for the CONCACAF Champions' Cup. Additionally, the winner of MLS Cup also qualified for the CONCACAF Champions' Cup. If a team qualified for multiple berths into the Champions' Cup, then additional berths were awarded to the highest overall finishing MLS team(s) not already qualified. Qualification for the inaugural SuperLiga was also awarded to the MLS Cup Champion and Supporters' Shield winner, as well two invited teams, FC Dallas and LA Galaxy.

Automatic qualification for the U.S. Open Cup was awarded to the top three finishers in each conference. The rest of the U.S.-based MLS teams had to qualify for the remaining two berths via a series of play-in games.

Stadiums and locations

Main article: List of Major League Soccer stadiums

Team	Stadium	Capacity
Chicago Fire	Toyota Park	20,000
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	Pizza Hut Park	21,193
Houston Dynamo	Robertson Stadium	32,000
Kansas City Wizards	Arrowhead Stadium	81,425
Los Angeles Galaxy	Home Depot Center	27,000
New England Revolution	Gillette Stadium	68,756
New York Red Bulls	Giants Stadium	80,200
Real Salt Lake	Rice-Eccles Stadium	45,017

Personnel and sponsorships

Team	Head coach	Captain	Shirt sponsor
Chicago Fire	Dave Sarachan		Honda
Chivas USA	Bob Bradley		—
Colorado Rapids	Fernando Clavijo		—
Columbus Crew	Sigi Schmid	Robin Fraser	—
D.C. United	Piotr Nowak		Sierra Mist
FC Dallas	Colin Clarke		RadioShack
Houston Dynamo	Dominic Kinnear	Wade Barrett	—
Kansas City Wizards	Brian Bliss		U.S. Soccer Foundation
Los Angeles Galaxy	Frank Yallop		Budweiser
New England Revolution	Steve Nicol		Sierra Mist
New York Red Bulls	Bruce Arena	Youri Djorkaeff	Red Bull
Real Salt Lake	John Ellinger	Jason Kreis	—

Coaching changes

Team	Outgoing coach	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Incoming coach	Date of appointment
Los Angeles Galaxy	Steve Sampson	Fired	June 6, 2006	Frank Yallop	June 7, 2006
New York Red Bulls	Mo Johnston	Fired	June 27, 2006	Richie Williams	June 28, 2006
New York Red Bulls	Richie Williams	End of interim period	July 18, 2006	Bruce Arena	July 18, 2006
Kansas City Wizards	Bob Gansler	Resigned	July 19, 2006	Brian Bliss	July 19, 2006

Standings

Eastern Conference

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	D.C. United	32	15	7	10	52	38	+14	55	MLS Cup Playoffs
2	New England Revolution	32	12	8	12	39	35	+4	48
3	Chicago Fire	32	13	11	8	43	41	+2	47
4	New York Red Bulls	32	9	11	12	41	41	0	39
5	Kansas City Wizards	32	10	14	8	43	45	−2	38
6	Columbus Crew	32	8	15	9	30	42	−12	33

Source: MLS

Western Conference

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	FC Dallas	32	16	12	4	48	44	+4	52	MLS Cup Playoffs
2	Houston Dynamo	32	11	8	13	44	40	+4	46
3	Chivas USA	32	10	9	13	45	42	+3	43
4	Colorado Rapids	32	11	13	8	36	49	−13	41
5	Los Angeles Galaxy	32	11	15	6	37	37	0	39
6	Real Salt Lake	32	10	13	9	45	49	−4	39

Source: MLS

Overall standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	D.C. United (S)	32	15	7	10	52	38	+14	55	CONCACAF Champions' Cup
2	FC Dallas	32	16	12	4	48	44	+4	52	North American SuperLiga
3	New England Revolution	32	12	8	12	39	35	+4	48
4	Chicago Fire	32	13	11	8	43	41	+2	47
5	Houston Dynamo (C)	32	11	8	13	44	40	+4	46	CONCACAF Champions' Cup
6	Chivas USA	32	10	9	13	45	42	+3	43
7	Colorado Rapids	32	11	13	8	36	49	−13	41
8	New York Red Bulls	32	9	11	12	41	41	0	39
9	Los Angeles Galaxy	32	11	15	6	37	37	0	39	North American SuperLiga
10	Real Salt Lake	32	10	13	9	45	49	−4	39
11	Kansas City Wizards	32	10	14	8	43	45	−2	38
12	Columbus Crew	32	8	15	9	30	42	−12	33

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

	Conference semifinals						Conference finals					MLS Cup
	E1	D.C. United	1	1
	E4	New York	0	1
							E1	D.C. United	0
	Eastern Conference
							E2	New England	1
	E3	Chicago	1	1 (2)
	E2	New England (p)	0	2 (4)
												E2	New England	1 (3)
												W2	Houston (p)	1 (4)
	W1	Dallas	2	2 (4)
	W4	Colorado (p)	1	3 (5)
							W4	Colorado	1
	Western Conference
							W2	Houston	3
	W3	Chivas USA	2	0
	W2	Houston	1	2

---

Conference semifinals

October 21, 2006

D.C. United	1–0	New York Red Bulls
Gómez 77'	Report

Giants Stadium
East Rutherford, New Jersey

Attendance: 8,630

Referee: Michael Kennedy

October 29, 2006

New York Red Bulls	1–1	D.C. United
Altidore 70'	Report	Gómez 86'

RFK Stadium
Washington, D.C.

Attendance: 21,455

Referee: Tim Weyland

D.C. United advance 2–1 on aggregate.

---

October 22, 2006

New England Revolution	0–1	Chicago Fire
	Report	Mapp 35'

Toyota Park
Bridgeview, Illinois

Attendance: 10,217

Referee: Tim Weyland

October 28, 2006

Chicago Fire	1–2 (AET)	New England Revolution
Jaqua 18'	(Report)	Twellman 41' Noonan 58'
Penalties
Thiago Gutiérrez Herron Guerrero	2–4	Cancela Reis Noonan Twellman

Gillette Stadium
Foxborough, Massachusetts

Attendance: 9,372

Referee: Jair Marrufo

New England Revolution advance 4–2 on penalties (2–2 aggregate after extra time).

---

October 21, 2006

FC Dallas	2–1	Colorado Rapids
Ruíz 15' Thompson 55'	Report	Cooke 23' Martins  88'

INVESCO Field at Mile High
Denver, Colorado

Attendance: 4,176

Referee: Hilario Grajeda

October 28, 2006

Colorado Rapids	3–2 (AET)	FC Dallas
Hernández 57', 83' Mathis 114'	Report	Gbandi  29' Ruíz 48' Goodson 92'
Penalties
Mathis Hernández Kirovski Beckerman Karanka Mastroeni	5–4	Ruíz O'Brien Mulrooney Vanney Valakari Sala

Pizza Hut Park
Frisco, Texas

Attendance: 15,486

Referee: Abiodun Okulaja

Colorado Rapids advance 5–4 on penalties (4–4 aggregate after extra time).

---

October 22, 2006

Houston Dynamo	1–2	Chivas USA
Ching 75'	Report	Razov 45' Palencia 68'

Home Depot Center
Carson, California

Attendance: 15,110

Referee: Jorge Gonzalez

October 29, 2006

Chivas USA	0–2	Houston Dynamo
Palencia  57'  58'	Report	Davis 64' (pen.) Ching 90+3'

Robertson Stadium
Houston, Texas

Attendance: 17,440

Referee: Michael Kennedy

Houston Dynamo advance 3–2 on aggregate.

---

Conference finals

November 5, 2006

New England Revolution	1–0	D.C. United
Twellman 4'	Report

RFK Stadium
Washington, D.C.

Attendance: 19,552

Referee: Kevin Stott

New England Revolution advances 1–0 in single elimination.

---

November 5, 2006

Colorado Rapids	1–3	Houston Dynamo
Kirovski 4'	Report	Dalglish 10', 21' Mullan 71'

Robertson Stadium
Houston, Texas

Attendance: 23,107

Referee: Brian Hall

Houston Dynamo advances 3–1 in single elimination.

---

MLS Cup

Main article: MLS Cup 2006

November 12, 2006

Houston Dynamo	1–1 (AET)	New England Revolution
Ching 114'	(Report)	Twellman 113'
Penalties
Gray Holden De Rosario Davis Ching	4–3	Joseph Reis Noonan Twellman Heaps

Pizza Hut Park
Frisco, Texas

Attendance: 22,427

Referee: Jair Marrufo

Player statistics

Goals

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Jeff Cunningham	Real Salt Lake	16
2	Christian Gómez	D.C. United	14
	Ante Razov	Chivas USA
4	Carlos Ruiz	FC Dallas	13
5	Landon Donovan	Los Angeles Galaxy	12
6	Jaime Moreno	D.C. United	11
	Dwayne De Rosario	Houston Dynamo
	Taylor Twellman	New England Revolution
	Kenny Cooper	FC Dallas
	Brian Ching	Houston Dynamo

Assists

Rank	Player	Club	Assists
1	Brad Davis	Houston Dynamo	9
2	Jeff Cunningham	Real Salt Lake	8
	Christian Gómez	D.C. United
	José Burciaga Jr.	Kansas City Wizards
	Justin Mapp	Chicago Fire
	Carey Talley	Real Salt Lake
	Ronnie O'Brien	FC Dallas
	Terry Cooke	Colorado Rapids
9	Landon Donovan	Los Angeles Galaxy	7
	Andy Dorman	New England Revolution
	Sasha Victorine	Kansas City Wizards

Clean sheets

Rank	Player	Club	Clean sheets
1	Matt Reis	New England Revolution	10
2	Kevin Hartman	Los Angeles Galaxy	9
3	Troy Perkins	D.C. United	8
4	Joe Cannon	Colorado Rapids	7
	Zach Thornton	Chicago Fire
6	Preston Burpo	Chivas USA	5
	Jon Conway	New York Red Bulls
	Brad Guzan	Chivas USA
	Tony Meola	New York Red Bulls
	Pat Onstad	Houston Dynamo
	Bo Oshoniyi	Kansas City Wizards
	Darío Sala	FC Dallas

Awards

Individual awards

Award	Player	Club
Most Valuable Player	Christian Gómez	D.C. United
Defender of the Year	Bobby Boswell	D.C. United
Goalkeeper of the Year	Troy Perkins	D.C. United
Coach of the Year	Bob Bradley	Chivas USA
Rookie of the Year	Jonathan Bornstein	Chivas USA
Comeback Player of the Year	Richard Mulrooney	FC Dallas
Golden Boot	Jeff Cunningham	Real Salt Lake
Goal of the Year	Brian Ching	Houston Dynamo
Fair Play Award	Chris Klein	Real Salt Lake
Humanitarian of the Year	Michael Parkhurst	New England Revolution

Best XI

Goalkeeper	Defenders	Midfielders	Forwards
Troy Perkins, D.C. United	Bobby Boswell, D.C. United José Burciaga Jr., Kansas City Jimmy Conrad, Kansas City	Ricardo Clark, Houston Clint Dempsey, New England Dwayne De Rosario, Houston Christian Gómez, D.C. United Justin Mapp, Chicago	Jeff Cunningham, Salt Lake Jaime Moreno, D.C. United

Attendance

Club	Games	Total	Average
Los Angeles Galaxy	16	333,016	20,814
Chivas USA	16	317,432	19,840
Houston Dynamo	16	302,957	18,935
D.C. United	16	291,442	18,215
Real Salt Lake	16	261,855	16,366
FC Dallas	16	239,714	14,982
New York Red Bulls	16	233,112	14,570
Chicago Fire	16	225,775	14,111
Columbus Crew	16	212,699	13,294
Colorado Rapids	16	192,894	12,056
New England Revolution	16	188,569	11,786
Kansas City Wizards	16	177,322	11,083
Totals	192	2,976,787	15,504

External links

• MLS 2006 Season Stats