2010 Major League Soccer season

Major League Soccer

Season	2010
MLS Cup	Colorado Rapids (1st title)
Supporters' Shield	Los Angeles Galaxy (3rd shield)
Champions League	Los Angeles Galaxy Colorado Rapids FC Dallas Seattle Sounders FC
SuperLiga	Real Salt Lake New York Red Bulls Columbus Crew S.J. Earthquakes
Matches played	240
Goals scored	591 (2.46 per match)
Top goalscorer	Chris Wondolowski (18 goals)
Biggest home win	NE 0–5 RSL (July 2)
Biggest away win	CHV 4–0 NE (May 5) LA 4–0 SEA (May 8) SEA 4–0 CLB (Sept 18)
Highest scoring	7 goals: HOU 4–3 CHI (August 21) KCW 4–3 HOU (September 22)
Longest winning run	5 wins: Real Salt Lake (May 1 – May 29) Seattle Sounders FC (Sep 18 – Oct 15)
Longest unbeaten run	18 matches: FC Dallas (May 27 – Oct 16)
Longest winless run	10 matches: Houston Dynamo (May 22 – Aug 21)
Longest losing run	6 losses: C.D. Chivas USA (May 8 – June 26)
Highest attendance	CHI @ SEA: 36,386
Lowest attendance	CHV @ NE: 5,990
Total attendance	4,002,053
Average attendance	16,675
← 2009 2011 →

D.C. United

New York

Columbus

New England

Chicago

Kansas City

Toronto

Philadelphia

Colorado

Dallas

Chivas USA

Galaxy

Houston

Salt Lake

San Jose

Seattle

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Locations of teams for the 2010 Major League Soccer season
Western Conference   Eastern Conference

The 2010 Major League Soccer season was the 15th season of Major League Soccer. It was also the 98th season of FIFA-sanctioned soccer in the United States, and the 32nd with a national first-division league.

Negotiations between the league and the players' union resulted in a new collective bargaining agreement being agreed to on March 20, 2010. The new Designated Player Rule permitted teams to sign two such players, up from one under the previous rule, and pay a luxury tax of $250,000 for the right to sign a third.

The Philadelphia Union joined the league as its 16th team. The club's first two home games were played at Lincoln Financial Field while the construction of their permanent home, PPL Park in Chester, was being completed. The New York Red Bulls opened their new stadium, Red Bull Arena, on March 27 against the Chicago Fire.

The regular season began on March 25, and concluded on October 24. The LA Galaxy won the Supporters' Shield by one point over Real Salt Lake. The 2010 MLS Cup Playoffs began on October 28, and concluded with MLS Cup 2010 on November 21. The Colorado Rapids won their first MLS Cup by defeating the FC Dallas, 2-1, at BMO Field in Toronto. It was the first MLS Cup to be played outside the United States.

Overview

Season format

The season began on March 25 and concluded with MLS Cup on November 21. The 16 teams were split evenly into two conferences. For the first time in league history, the season had a balanced schedule where each team played every other team in the league once at home and once away for a total of 30 games.

The top two teams from each conference automatically qualified for the MLS Cup Playoffs. In addition, the four highest remaining point totals, regardless of conference, also qualified. 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 League. Additionally, the winner of MLS Cup, and the runner-up, also qualified for the CONCACAF Champions League. An additional berth in the Champions League was also awarded to the winner of the U.S. Open Cup. If a team qualified for multiple berths into the Champions League, then additional berths were awarded to the highest overall finishing MLS team(s) not already qualified. Also, Toronto FC, as a Canadian-based team, could not qualify for the CONCACAF Champions League through MLS, and had to instead qualify through the Canadian Championship.

Automatic qualification for the U.S. Open Cup was awarded to the top six overall finishers. 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	Dick's Sporting Goods Park	18,061
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	CommunityAmerica Ballpark	10,385
LA Galaxy	Home Depot Center	27,000
New England Revolution	Gillette Stadium	68,756
New York Red Bulls	Red Bull Arena	25,000
Philadelphia Union	Lincoln Financial Field PPL Park	67,594 18,500
Real Salt Lake	Rio Tinto Stadium	20,213
San Jose Earthquakes	Buck Shaw Stadium	10,525
Seattle Sounders FC	Qwest Field	68,740
Toronto FC	BMO Field	21,566

Personnel and sponsorships

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players and Managers may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Team	Manager	Captain	Shirt sponsor
Chicago Fire	Carlos de los Cobos	Brian McBride	Best Buy
Chivas USA	Martin Vasquez	Jonathan Bornstein	Tiendas Extra
Colorado Rapids	Gary Smith	Pablo Mastroeni	—
Columbus Crew	Robert Warzycha	Frankie Hejduk	Glidden
D.C. United	Ben Olsen	Jaime Moreno	Volkswagen
FC Dallas	Schellas Hyndman	Daniel Hernández	—
Houston Dynamo	Dominic Kinnear	Brian Ching	Amigo Energy
Kansas City Wizards	Peter Vermes	Davy Arnaud	—
LA Galaxy	Bruce Arena	Landon Donovan	Herbalife
New England Revolution	Steve Nicol	Shalrie Joseph	—
New York Red Bulls	Hans Backe	Juan Pablo Ángel	Red Bull
Philadelphia Union	Piotr Nowak	Danny Califf	—
Real Salt Lake	Jason Kreis	Kyle Beckerman	XanGo
San Jose Earthquakes	Frank Yallop	Ramiro Corrales	Amway Global
Seattle Sounders FC	Sigi Schmid	Kasey Keller	Xbox LIVE
Toronto FC	Nick Dasovic	Dwayne De Rosario	Bank of Montreal

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing coach	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Table	Incoming coach	Date of appointment	Table
Philadelphia Union	Expansion Team				Piotr Nowak	May 29, 2009	Pre-season
New York Red Bulls	Richie Williams	End of interim period	August 21, 2009	7th East ('09)	Hans Backe	January 7, 2010	Pre-season
Toronto FC	Chris Cummins	Contract expiration	October 27, 2009	5th East ('09)	Preki	November 18, 2009	Pre-season
D.C. United	Tom Soehn	Resigned	November 3, 2009	4th East ('09)	Curt Onalfo	December 28, 2009	Pre-season
Chivas USA	Preki	Mutual consent	November 12, 2009	4th West ('09)	Martín Vásquez	December 2, 2009	Pre-season
Chicago Fire	Denis Hamlett	Fired	November 24, 2009	2nd East ('09)	Carlos de los Cobos	January 11, 2010	Pre-season
D.C. United	Curt Onalfo	Fired	August 4, 2010	8th East	Ben Olsen	August 4, 2010	8th East
Toronto FC	Preki	Fired	September 14, 2010	3rd East	Nick Dasovic	September 14, 2010	3rd East

Results table

Home \ Away	CHI	CHV	COL	CLB	DCU	FCD	HOU	KCW	LAG	NER	NY	PHI	RSL	SJE	SEA	TOR
Chicago Fire		1–1	2–2	2–0	0–0	1–1	2–0	0–2	1–1	2–1	0–0	2–1	0–1	1–2	0–1	0–0
Chivas USA	1–4		0–1	3–1	1–0	1–2	0–2	1–2	1–2	2–0	2–0	1–1	1–2	3–2	0–0	3–0
Colorado Rapids	2–2	3–0		1–0	0–1	1–1	3–0	1–1	0–1	3–0	1–1	4–1	2–2	1–0	1–0	3–1
Columbus Crew	2–1	1–0	3–1		2–0	0–0	3–0	0–1	0–2	3–2	2–0	3–1	1–0	0–0	0–4	2–0
D.C. United	0–2	3–2	0–1	0–1		1–3	1–3	2–1	1–2	0–2	0–2	2–0	0–0	0–2	0–1	2–3
FC Dallas	3–0	1–0	2–2	2–2	1–0		1–1	1–0	0–1	2–2	2–2	3–1	2–0	2–0	2–2	1–0
Houston Dynamo	4–3	3–0	2–2	0–0	2–0	0–1		0–2	3–0	1–2	2–2	2–3	2–1	1–2	2–1	1–2
Kansas City Wizards	2–2	0–1	1–0	0–1	4–0	1–3	4–3		0–0	4–1	0–3	2–0	1–1	4–1	1–2	1–0
LA Galaxy	2–3	2–0	1–3	3–1	2–1	2–1	4–1	0–2		1–0	0–2	3–1	2–1	2–2	3–1	0–0
New England Revolution	0–1	0–4	1–2	2–2	1–0	1–1	1–0	1–0	2–0		3–2	1–2	1–2	0–0	3–1	4–1
New York Red Bulls	1–0	1–0	3–1	1–3	0–0	2–1	2–1	1–0	0–1	2–0		2–1	0–0	2–0	0–1	1–0
Philadelphia Union	1–0	3–0	1–1	1–2	3–2	1–1	1–1	1–1	0–1	1–1	2–1		1–1	1–2	3–1	2–1
Real Salt Lake	1–0	1–1	1–1	2–0	3–0	2–0	3–1	4–1	1–0	5–0	0–0	3–0		0–0	3–1	2–1
San Jose Earthquakes	0–3	3–0	1–0	2–2	1–1	0–0	0–1	1–0	1–0	2–0	4–0	1–0	0–3		0–1	1–3
Seattle Sounders FC	2–1	2–1	1–1	1–1	2–3	1–1	2–0	1–0	0–4	3–0	0–1	2–0	0–0	0–1		3–2
Toronto FC	4–1	2–1	1–0	2–2	0–1	1–1	1–1	0–0	0–0	1–0	1–4	2–1	0–0	2–3	2–0

Updated to match(es) played on March 15, 2011. Source: official website
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Standings

Eastern Conference

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	New York Red Bulls	30	15	9	6	38	29	+9	51	MLS Cup Playoffs
2	Columbus Crew	30	14	8	8	40	34	+6	50
3	Kansas City Wizards	30	11	13	6	36	35	+1	39
4	Chicago Fire	30	9	12	9	37	38	−1	36
5	Toronto FC	30	9	13	8	33	41	−8	35
6	New England Revolution	30	9	16	5	32	50	−18	32
7	Philadelphia Union	30	8	15	7	35	49	−14	31
8	D.C. United	30	6	20	4	21	47	−26	22

Source: MLS

Western Conference

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	LA Galaxy	30	18	7	5	44	26	+18	59	MLS Cup Playoffs
2	Real Salt Lake	30	15	4	11	45	20	+25	56
3	FC Dallas	30	12	4	14	42	28	+14	50
4	Seattle Sounders FC	30	14	10	6	39	35	+4	48
5	Colorado Rapids	30	12	8	10	44	32	+12	46
6	San Jose Earthquakes	30	13	10	7	34	33	+1	46
7	Houston Dynamo	30	9	15	6	40	49	−9	33
8	Chivas USA	30	8	18	4	31	45	−14	28

Source: MLS

Overall standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	LA Galaxy (S)	30	18	7	5	44	26	+18	59	CONCACAF Champions League
2	Real Salt Lake	30	15	4	11	45	20	+25	56
3	New York Red Bulls	30	15	9	6	38	29	+9	51
4	FC Dallas	30	12	4	14	42	28	+14	50	CONCACAF Champions League
5	Columbus Crew	30	14	8	8	40	34	+6	50
6	Seattle Sounders FC	30	14	10	6	39	35	+4	48	CONCACAF Champions League
7	Colorado Rapids (C)	30	12	8	10	44	32	+12	46
8	San Jose Earthquakes	30	13	10	7	34	33	+1	46
9	Kansas City Wizards	30	11	13	6	36	35	+1	39
10	Chicago Fire	30	9	12	9	37	38	−1	36
11	Toronto FC	30	9	13	8	33	41	−8	35	CONCACAF Champions League
12	Houston Dynamo	30	9	15	6	40	49	−9	33
13	New England Revolution	30	9	16	5	32	50	−18	32
14	Philadelphia Union	30	8	15	7	35	49	−14	31
15	Chivas USA	30	8	18	4	31	45	−14	28
16	D.C. United	30	6	20	4	21	47	−26	22

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

Main article: 2010 MLS Cup Playoffs

	Conference semifinals						Conference finals					MLS Cup
	E1	New York	1	1
	E4	San Jose	0	3
							E4	San Jose	0
	Eastern Conference
							E3	Colorado	1
	E2	Columbus	0	2
	E3	Colorado (5–4, PSO)	1	1
												E3	Colorado	2
												W3	Dallas	1
	W1	Los Angeles	1	2
	W4	Seattle	0	1
							W1	Los Angeles	0
	Western Conference
							W3	Dallas	3
	W2	Salt Lake	1	1
	W3	Dallas	2	1

Player statistics

Goals

Rank	Scorer	Club	Goals
1	Chris Wondolowski	San Jose Earthquakes	18
2	Edson Buddle	LA Galaxy	17
3	Dwayne De Rosario	Toronto FC	15
4	Omar Cummings	Colorado Rapids	14
	Sébastien Le Toux	Philadelphia Union
6	Juan Pablo Ángel	New York Red Bulls	13
	Conor Casey	Colorado Rapids
8	Álvaro Saborío	Real Salt Lake	12
9	Jeff Cunningham	FC Dallas	11
10	Kei Kamara	Kansas City Wizards	10
	Fredy Montero	Seattle Sounders FC
	Steve Zakuani	Seattle Sounders FC

Assists

Rank	Player	Club	Assists
1	Landon Donovan	LA Galaxy	16
2	David Ferreira	FC Dallas	13
3	Brad Davis	Houston Dynamo	12
4	Sébastien Le Toux	Philadelphia Union	11
5	Bobby Convey	San Jose Earthquakes	10
	Fredy Montero	Seattle Sounders FC
	Patrick Nyarko	Chicago Fire
8	Guillermo Barros Schelotto	Columbus Crew	9
	Javier Morales	Real Salt Lake
10	Jamie Smith	Colorado Rapids	8
	Ryan Johnson	San Jose Earthquakes
	Michael Stephens	LA Galaxy

Clean sheets

Rank	Player	Club	Clean sheets
1	Nick Rimando	Real Salt Lake	14
2	Bouna Coundoul	New York Red Bulls	11
	Will Hesmer	Columbus Crew
	Kasey Keller	Seattle Sounders FC
	Donovan Ricketts	LA Galaxy
6	Jimmy Nielsen	Kansas City Wizards	10
7	Kevin Hartman	FC Dallas	9
8	Stefan Frei	Kansas City Wizards	8
9	Jon Busch	San Jose Earthquakes	7
	Matt Pickens	Colorado Rapids

Awards

Individual awards

Award	Player	Club
Most Valuable Player	David Ferreira	FC Dallas
Defender of the Year	Jámison Olave	Real Salt Lake
Goalkeeper of the Year	Donovan Ricketts	LA Galaxy
Coach of the Year	Schellas Hyndman	FC Dallas
Rookie of the Year	Andy Najar	D.C. United
Newcomer of the Year	Álvaro Saborío	Real Salt Lake
Comeback Player of the Year	Bobby Convey	San Jose Earthquakes
Golden Boot	Chris Wondolowski	San Jose Earthquakes
Goal of the Year	Marco Pappa	Chicago Fire
Save of the Year	Kasey Keller	Seattle Sounders FC
Fair Play Award	Sébastien Le Toux	Philadelphia Union
Humanitarian of the Year	Seth Stammler	New York Red Bulls

Best XI

Goalkeeper	Defenders	Midfielders	Forwards
Donovan Ricketts, LA Galaxy	Nat Borchers, Salt Lake Omar Gonzalez, LA Galaxy Jámison Olave, Salt Lake	Dwayne De Rosario, Toronto Landon Donovan, LA Galaxy David Ferreira, Dallas Sébastien Le Toux, Philadelphia Javier Morales, Salt Lake	Edson Buddle, LA Galaxy Chris Wondolowski, San Jose

Monthly awards

Month	MLS Player of the Month			MLS W.O.R.K.S. Humanitarian of the Month
	Player	Club	Link	Player	Club	Link
April	Edson Buddle	Los Angeles Galaxy	7G 4–0–1	Sanna Nyassi	Seattle Sounders FC	April Humanitarian Archived April 24, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
May	Álvaro Saborío	Real Salt Lake	4G 3A 5–0–0 Archived November 18, 2010, at the Wayback Machine	Chris Tierney	New England Revolution	May Humanitarian Archived May 27, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
June	Nick Rimando	Real Salt Lake	0G Allowed 1–0–2 Archived July 3, 2010, at the Wayback Machine	Craig Waibel	Houston Dynamo	June Humanitarian Archived June 23, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
July	Fredy Montero	Seattle Sounders FC	2G 3A 3–1–1 Archived October 3, 2012, at the Wayback Machine	Jed Zayner	Columbus Crew	July Humanitarian Archived July 30, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
August	Kevin Hartman	FC Dallas	2G Allowed 2–0–2 Archived October 4, 2012, at the Wayback Machine	Michael Lahoud	Chivas USA	August Humanitarian Archived August 26, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
September	Omar Cummings	Colorado Rapids	6G 1A 3–1–1	Kei Kamara	Kansas City Wizards	September Humanitarian Archived October 4, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
October	Chris Wondolowski	San Jose Earthquakes	6G 2–2–1 Archived October 5, 2012, at the Wayback Machine	James Riley	Seattle Sounders FC	October Humanitarian Archived November 8, 2010, at the Wayback Machine

Weekly awards

Week	Player of the Week		AT&T Goal of the Week		NAPA Save of the Week
	Player	Club	Player	Club	Player	Club
Week 1	Javier Morales	Real Salt Lake	Javier Morales	Real Salt Lake	Nick Rimando	Real Salt Lake
Week 2	Kenny Mansally	New England Revolution	Kenny Mansally	New England Revolution	Preston Burpo	New England Revolution
Week 3	Sébastien Le Toux	Philadelphia Union	Marco Pappa	Chicago Fire	Jason Hernandez	San Jose Earthquakes
Week 4	Edson Buddle	Los Angeles Galaxy	Lovel Palmer	Houston Dynamo	Kasey Keller	Seattle Sounders FC
Week 5	Dwayne De Rosario	Toronto FC	Fredy Montero	Seattle Sounders FC	Andrew Dykstra	Chicago Fire
Week 6	Edson Buddle	Los Angeles Galaxy	Chris Wondolowski	San Jose Earthquakes	Joe Cannon	San Jose Earthquakes
Week 7	Landon Donovan	Los Angeles Galaxy	Logan Pause	Chicago Fire	Kevin Hartman	FC Dallas
Week 8	Alvaro Saborio	Real Salt Lake	Danny Mwanga	Philadelphia Union	Gino Padula	Columbus Crew
Week 9	Emilio Rentería	Columbus Crew	Dominic Oduro	Houston Dynamo	Jimmy Nielsen	Kansas City Wizards
Week 10	Dwayne De Rosario	Toronto FC	Shea Salinas	Philadelphia Union	Donovan Ricketts	Los Angeles Galaxy
Week 11	Brek Shea	FC Dallas	Leo González	Seattle Sounders FC	Chris Seitz	Philadelphia Union
Week 12	Chris Pontius	D.C. United	Kei Kamara	Kansas City Wizards	Nick Rimando	Real Salt Lake
Week 13	Juan Pablo Ángel	New York Red Bulls	Juan Pablo Ángel	New York Red Bulls	Jimmy Nielsen	Kansas City Wizards
Week 14	Álvaro Saborío	Real Salt Lake	Juninho	Los Angeles Galaxy	Jimmy Nielsen	Kansas City Wizards
Week 15	Justin Braun	Chivas USA	David Ferreira	FC Dallas	Stefan Frei	Toronto FC
Week 16	Sébastien Le Toux	Philadelphia Union	Roger Levesque	Seattle Sounders FC	Jimmy Nielsen	Kansas City Wizards
Week 17	Steve Zakuani	Seattle Sounders FC	Ned Grabavoy	Real Salt Lake	Kasey Keller	Seattle Sounders FC
Week 18	Juan Pablo Ángel	New York Red Bulls	Sébastien Le Toux	Philadelphia Union	Sean Johnson	Chicago Fire
Week 19	Jeff Cunningham	FC Dallas	Fredy Montero	Seattle Sounders FC	Sean Johnson	Chicago Fire
Week 20	Javier Morales	Real Salt Lake	Javier Morales	Real Salt Lake	Nick Rimando	Real Salt Lake
Week 21	Brian Ching	Houston Dynamo	Rafael Márquez	New York Red Bulls	Sean Johnson	Chicago Fire
Week 22	Fredy Montero	Seattle Sounders FC	Dane Richards	New York Red Bulls	Jimmy Nielsen	Kansas City Wizards
Week 23	Omar Cummings	Colorado Rapids	Geovanni	San Jose Earthquakes	Kasey Keller	Seattle Sounders FC
Week 24	Alan Gordon	Chivas USA	Omar Cummings	Colorado Rapids	Kasey Keller	Seattle Sounders FC
Week 25	Blaise Nkufo	Seattle Sounders FC	Blaise Nkufo	Seattle Sounders FC	Kasey Keller	Seattle Sounders FC
Week 26	Chris Wondolowski	San Jose Earthquakes	Nat Borchers	Real Salt Lake	Kasey Keller	Seattle Sounders FC
Week 27	Bouna Coundoul	New York Red Bulls	Steve Zakuani	Seattle Sounders FC	Bouna Coundoul	New York Red Bulls
Week 28	Chris Wondolowski	San Jose Earthquakes	Álvaro Fernández	Seattle Sounders FC	Brad Knighton	Philadelphia Union
Week 29	Steve Zakuani	Seattle Sounders FC	Steve Zakuani	Seattle Sounders FC	Fred	Philadelphia Union
Week 30	Chris Wondolowski	San Jose Earthquakes	James Riley	Seattle Sounders FC	Eddie Gaven	Columbus Crew

Related Competitions

International competitions

CONCACAF Champions League

Main articles: 2009–10 CONCACAF Champions League and CONCACAF Champions League 2010–11

The Columbus Crew continued their 2009–10 CONCACAF Champions League campaign that began during the previous season. They were defeated by Mexican club Toluca in the quarterfinals, 5–4 on aggregate.

Seattle Sounders FC became the first team to qualify for the 2010–11 CONCACAF Champions League by winning the 2009 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. The Columbus Crew qualified next by winning the 2009 MLS Supporters' Shield. The Los Angeles Galaxy and Real Salt Lake also qualified by being the two 2009 MLS Cup finalists, while Toronto FC took the Canadian berth by virtue of their Canadian Championship win. Los Angeles, Seattle, and Toronto entered the competition in the preliminary round, while RSL and Columbus were seeded directly into the group stage.

Seattle and Toronto won their preliminary round ties, beating Isidro Metapán of El Salvador and Motagua of Honduras, respectively. Los Angeles crashed out of the preliminary round after losing their home match 4–1 to the Puerto Rico Islanders of the USSF D-2 Pro League and failing to make up the deficit in the away leg.

The group stage was held August 17 – Oct 21. Real Salt Lake won Group A with 13 points over Cruz Azul, Toronto, and Arabe Unido of Panama. Toronto finished in 3rd place with 8 points. Columbus finished 2nd in Group B behind Club Santos Laguna but ahead of C.S.D. Municipal of Guatemala and Joe Public F.C. of Trinidad. Seattle finished 4th in Group C with 3 points behind C.F. Monterrey, C.D. Saprissa of Costa Rica, and C.D. Marathón of Honduras.

On November 1, the draw for the Championship round was held. Real Salt Lake will face Columbus in the quarterfinal in February/March 2011, immediately prior to the 2011 MLS Regular Season.

SuperLiga

Main article: 2010 North American SuperLiga

As was the case for the 2009 SuperLiga, the top four overall finishers in MLS in 2009 that hadn't already qualified for the Champions League qualified for SuperLiga. This year's competition was contested by the Houston Dynamo, the Chicago Fire, Chivas USA, and the New England Revolution from MLS. The four Mexican teams were Pachuca, Morelia, Puebla, and UNAM.

New England, Houston, Morelia and Puebla advanced from their groups, with the Revolution beating Puebla on penalties in one semifinal, and Morelia defeating Houston in the other. Morelia defeated New England 2–1 in the final at Gillette Stadium on September 1.

Domestic competitions

Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup

Main articles: 2010 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup and 2010 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup qualification

The top six overall teams from the 2009 MLS season (Columbus, Los Angeles, Houston, Seattle, Chicago, and Chivas USA) received automatic berths into the third round of the 2010 U.S. Open Cup, while the eight remaining U.S.-based MLS teams and the expansion Philadelphia Union competed in a single-elimination qualification tournament to determine the MLS's final two official entrants into the competition. Teams were seeded one through nine, with the seventh-place MLS team from 2009 earning the first seed (and would play the winner of the eight v. nine play-in game), while each following team would receive its respective seed. The New York Red Bulls and D.C. United earned the final two MLS spots in the third round.

For the first time since 2006, the semifinals were contested exclusively by MLS teams, with Seattle beating Chivas USA and Columbus defeating D.C. United. The final was played October 5 at Qwest Field in Seattle with the defending cup holders, the Sounders, defeating the Crew 2–1. The Sounders became the first MLS team ever to successfully defend the U.S. Open Cup, and the first team from any league to do so since New York Pancyprian-Freedoms in 1983.

Canadian championship

Main article: 2010 Canadian Championship

Toronto FC, as a Canadian-based MLS team, is not eligible to compete in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, and instead contested the Canadian Championship with the two Canadian-based teams in the Division-2 Pro League, Vancouver Whitecaps and Montreal Impact. Toronto FC won the tournament, claiming the Voyageurs Cup and Canada's entry into the preliminary round of the 2010–11 CONCACAF Champions League.

External links

• 2010 Major League Soccer season at ESPN Archived April 15, 2010, at the Wayback Machine