MLS Playoff Takeaways: First Round

Photo by Clare Grant from The Columbus Dispatch

This year, MLS started a new “best of 3” round.

In this best of 3 round, everyone who won the first game ended up winning the series.

So basically, all we did was make teams play more games and waste a week of the postseason.

Cool.

Let’s get into what we’ve learned.

Sporting Kansas City defeats St. Louis 2 games to 0

I pointed out that SKC was red hot, and I pointed out that St. Louis likely overperformed this year.

I figured SKC was going to pull off the upset over top seeded St. Louis.

But St. Louis fell down to earth, and HARD.

SKC dominated this tie. It wasn’t ever close.

Game 2 only ended 2-1 because St. Louis scored on an accidental cross.

It was still a good year for St. Louis. It’s a good building block.

But this is sort of what we expected from them.

Houston defeats Real Salt Lake 2 games to 1

Houston was the better team this series, and the deserved winners, but two of the games took penalty kicks.

That’s that xDawg RSL has in them.

Wasn’t enough to pull off the upset, but enough to make it interesting.

LAFC defeats Vancouver 2 games to 0

Dennis Bouanga woke up again after a little midseason slump, if you can even call it that.

The result? Utter domination from LAFC over the Whitecaps.

It’s hard not to think of LAFC as the favorites in the West right now.

Seattle defeats Dallas 2 games to 1

Game 3 was a winner take all scenario, and it was another example of how good Seattle’s defense has been this year, as Dallas was only ever able to muster one shot, and that’s while trailing for most of the game.

Seattle’s defense is their strong suit, and it’s up for a huge test against a high flying LAFC attack.

Cincinnati defeats New York Red Bulls 2 games to 0

Game 2 went to penalty kicks, which Cincy won after a long shootout, but there was no doubt who the better team was.

It showed that it is very hard to win on the road in this league, but the odds are Cincy would win game 3 regardless.

Did I mention that I think the best of 3 is a waste of time? Because I think it’s a waste of time.

Philadelphia defeats New England 2 games to 0

The Union are playing quality soccer, while New England is in a bit of turmoil due to the departure of coach Bruce Arena due to an internal investigation (what that investigation was on, we still don’t know).

This series really only had one outcome.

Columbus defeats Atlanta 2 games to 1

Two teams with awesome offenses and terrible defenses.

The result? 14 total goals in 3 games.

An absolute blast to watch.

This was the only series that made me think the best of 3 might have been worth it.

But no. It still isn’t.

Orlando defeats Nashville 2 games to 0

And on the complete other end of the spectrum, we have 2 total goals in 2 games.

I said Nashville would have to live through Hany in attack. They don’t have anything else.

Hany didn’t score, and therefore neither did Nashville.

They need some serious, serious offensive help this offseason.

Grinding out wins with defense can only work for so long.