1998 Major League Soccer season

3rd season of Major League Soccer June 2017 June 2017 1998 12 Chicago Fire (1st title) Los Angeles Galaxy (1st shield) CONCACAF Champions' Cup Chicago FireD.C. UnitedLos Angeles Galaxy Stern John(26 goals) 192 701 Chicago FireGames: 11(05/16 – 07/09) New England RevolutionGames: 9(05/13 – 07/04) 56,404MET 4–2 MIA (May 23, 1998) 4,130KC 1–0 CHI (April 8, 1998) 2,747,897 14,312 1997 1999 United States 525 right Locations of teams for the 1998 Major League Soccer season8px Western Conference   8px Eastern Conference United States 38.889722 -76.971667 D.C. United bottom ButtonBlue.svg United States 40.737411 -74.153763 MetroStars left ButtonBlue.svg United States 26.193056 -80.161111 Miami right ButtonBlue.svg United States 27.978889 -82.503611 Tampa Bay top ButtonBlue.svg United States 40.009444 -82.991111 Columbus left ButtonBlue.svg United States 42.090833 -71.264444 New England top ButtonBlue.svg United States 39.35 -104.8918 Colorado top ButtonRed.svg United States 33.154444 -96.835278 Dallas right ButtonRed.svg United States 33.864444 -118.261111 Los Angeles bottom ButtonRed.svg United States 39.1218 -94.8237 Kansas City bottom ButtonRed.svg United States 37.350556 -121.936667 San Jose top ButtonRed.svg United States 41.742432 -87.806789 Chicago top ButtonRed.svg The 1998 Major League Soccer season was the third season of Major League Soccer. It was also the 86th season of FIFA-sanctioned soccer in the United States, and the 20th with a national first-division league. The Chicago Fire and Miami Fusion played their inaugural seasons as the league's first two expansion teams. The NY/NJ MetroStars dropped the New York/New Jersey from their name and rebranded as just MetroStars, with no city, state or regional name attached to it. The regular season began on March 15, and concluded on September 27. The MLS Cup Playoffs began on September 30, and concluded with MLS Cup on October 25. Chicago became the first expansion team to win MLS Cup and the first to win it in its inaugural season. Overview Season format The season began on March 15 and concluded with MLS Cup on October 25. 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, for a total of 20 games. The remaining schedule consisted of two games against each team from the opposite conference. The top four teams from each conference qualified for the MLS Cup Playoffs. The conference semifinals and finals were played as a best-of-three series, and the winners advanced to MLS Cup. In all rounds, draws were broken by penalty shootout 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 automatically for the CONCACAF Champions' Cup. Additionally, the winner of MLS Cup, and the runner-up, also qualified for the Champions' Cup. Stadiums and locations List of Major League Soccer stadiums Team Stadium Capacity Chicago Fire Soldier Field 66,944 Colorado Rapids Mile High Stadium 76,273 Columbus Crew Ohio Stadium 102,329 D.C. United RFK Stadium 46,000 Dallas Burn Cotton Bowl 92,100 Kansas City Wizards Arrowhead Stadium 81,425 Los Angeles Galaxy Rose Bowl 92,542 MetroStars Giants Stadium 80,200 Miami Fusion Lockhart Stadium 20,450 New England Revolution Foxboro Stadium 60,292 San Jose Clash Spartan Stadium 30,456 Tampa Bay Mutiny Houlihan's Stadium 74,301 Personnel and sponsorships Team Head coach Captain Shirt sponsor Chicago Fire USA Bob Bradley — Colorado Rapids USA Glenn Myernick Columbus Crew USA Tom Fitzgerald Snickers D.C. United USA Bruce Arena MasterCard Dallas Burn USA Dave Dir Kansas City Wizards ENG Ron Newman — Los Angeles Galaxy ECU Octavio Zambrano — MetroStars FRY Bora Milutinović USA Tony Meola Fujifilm Miami Fusion BRA Ivo Wortmann — New England Revolution ITA Walter Zenga — San Jose Clash IRL Brian Quinn USA John Doyle Honda Tampa Bay Mutiny USA Tim Hankinson Coaching changes Team Outgoing coach Manner of departure Date of vacancy Incoming coach Date of appointment Tampa Bay Mutiny POL John Kowalski Resigned June 6, 1998 USA Tim Hankinson June 8, 1998 Miami Fusion ARG Carlos Cordoba Fired July 24, 1998 BRA Ivo Wortmann July 25, 1998 New England Revolution NED Thomas Rongen Fired August 24, 1998 ITA Walter Zenga August 24, 1998 MetroStars SPA Alfonso Mondelo Fired September 21, 1998 FRY Bora Milutinović September 21, 1998 Standings Eastern Conference Western Conference Overall standings MLS Cup playoffs Bracket The ties were a best of three series. 3/3/1 Conference semifinals Conference finals MLS Cup Eastern Conference Western Conference 35px 150px E1 D.C. United 2 0 (3) x E4 Miami 1 0 (2) x E2 Columbus 5 1 (3) x E3 MetroStars 3 1 (2) x W1 Los Angeles 6 3 x W4 Dallas 1 2 x W2 Chicago 1 (3) 1 x W3 Colorado 1 (2) 0 x E1 D.C. United 2 2 3 E2 Columbus 0 4 0 W1 Los Angeles 0 1 (1) x W2 Chicago 1 1 (2) x E1 D.C. United 0 W2 Chicago 2 Conference semifinals Eastern Conference September 30, 1998 Game 1 D.C. United 2 Miami Fusion 1 https://fbref.com/en/matches/04bb8942/DC-United-Miami-Fusion-September-30-1998-Major-League-Soccer Lassiter 28 Moreno 38 McLaren 69 RFK Stadium Washington, D.C. 15,187 Brian Hall October 4, 1998 Game 2 Miami Fusion 0 D.C. United 0 https://fbref.com/en/matches/9322ea60/Miami-Fusion-DC-United-October-4-1998-Major-League-Soccer Gutierrez Maessner Vargas Cullen Serna Boyce 2–3 Wood Etcheverry Moreno Aunger Harkes Agoos Lockhart Stadium Fort Lauderdale, Florida 13,128 Tim Weyland D.C. United advance 2–0, to the Conference Finals. September 30, 1998 Game 1 Columbus Crew 5 MetroStars 3 https://fbref.com/en/matches/5d0ff53e/Columbus-Crew-MetroStars-September-30-1998-Major-League-Soccer McBride 9 12 Smith 33 Farrell 38 John 58 Hurtado 53 Sorber 60 pen. Joseph 80 Ohio Stadium Columbus, Ohio 10,996 Ali Saheli October 3, 1998 Game 2 MetroStars 1 Columbus Crew 1 https://fbref.com/en/matches/beff4a0b/MetroStars-Columbus-Crew-October-3-1998-Major-League-Soccer Ramos 13 John 22 Ramos Savarese Duhaney Sorber Petke 2–3 Thompson Yeagley Dooley John Williams Giants Stadium East Rutherford, New Jersey 11,686 Michael Kennedy Columbus Crew advance 2–0, to the Conference Finals. Western Conference October 1, 1998 Game 1 Los Angeles Galaxy 6 Dallas Burn 1 https://fbref.com/en/matches/ab118f43/LA-Galaxy-Dallas-Burn-October-1-1998-Major-League-Soccer Pena 10 69 Hermosillo 16 32 Cienfuegos 20 Wélton 41 Washington 47 Rose Bowl Pasadena, California 10,047 Ted Covaciu October 4, 1998 Game 2 Dallas Burn 2 Los Angeles Galaxy 3 https://fbref.com/en/matches/27825f56/Dallas-Burn-LA-Galaxy-October-4-1998-Major-League-Soccer Haynes 44 Kreis 48 Hendrickson 80 Caligiuri 85 Mathis 88 Cotton Bowl Dallas, Texas 8,130 Brian Hall Los Angeles Galaxy advance 2–0, to the Conference Finals. October 1, 1998 Game 1 Chicago Fire 1 Colorado Rapids 1 https://fbref.com/en/matches/3634464b/Chicago-Fire-Colorado-Rapids-October-1-1998-Major-League-Soccer Kubík 50 pen. Sáenz 79 Kubík Soehn Klopas Wolff Kuhn Marsch 3–2 Bravo Sáenz Henderson Vaudreuil Harris Vermes Soldier Field Chicago, Illinois 12,610 Kevin Terry October 5, 1998 Game 2 Colorado Rapids 0 Chicago Fire 1 https://fbref.com/en/matches/23392e00/Colorado-Rapids-Chicago-Fire-October-5-1998-Major-League-Soccer Kubík 24 pen. Mile High Stadium Denver, Colorado 6,582 Noel Kenny Chicago Fire advance 2–0, to the Conference Finals. Conference finals Eastern Conference October 11, 1998 Game 1 D.C. United 2 Columbus Crew 0 https://fbref.com/en/matches/2564c85a/DC-United-Columbus-Crew-October-11-1998-Major-League-Soccer Sanneh 68 Etcheverry 78 RFK Stadium Washington, D.C. 17,755 Kevin Stott October 18, 1998 Game 2 Columbus Crew 4 D.C. United 2 https://fbref.com/en/matches/5807f815/Columbus-Crew-DC-United-October-18-1998-Major-League-Soccer McBride 8 47 Dooley 37 John 81 Sanneh 65 Lassiter 77 Ohio Stadium Columbus, Ohio 13,193 Rich Grady October 21, 1998 Game 3 D.C. United 3 Columbus Crew 0 https://fbref.com/en/matches/0bfd1c2c/DC-United-Columbus-Crew-October-21-1998-Major-League-Soccer Agoos 12 Lassiter 44 79 RFK Stadium Washington, D.C. 21,453 Noel Kenny D.C. United advance 2–1, to MLS Cup Western Conference October 10, 1998 Game 1 Los Angeles Galaxy 0 Chicago Fire 1 https://fbref.com/en/matches/c49915e0/LA-Galaxy-Chicago-Fire-October-10-1998-Major-League-Soccer Marsch 86 Rose Bowl Pasadena, California 25,107 Kevin Terry October 16, 1998 Game 2 Chicago Fire 1 Los Angeles Galaxy 1 https://fbref.com/en/matches/4ddadace/Chicago-Fire-LA-Galaxy-October-16-1998-Major-League-Soccer Nowak 31 Pena 37 Nowak Razov Soehn Marsch Podbrożny 2–1 Jones Wélton Machón Cienfuegos Vanney Soldier Field Chicago, Illinois 32,744 Paul Tamberino Chicago Fire advance 2–0, to MLS Cup MLS Cup MLS Cup 1998 October 25, 1998 Chicago Fire 2 D.C. United 0 https://fbref.com/en/matches/0540ce4f/Chicago-Fire-DC-United-October-25-1998-Major-League-Soccer Podbrożny 29 Gutiérrez 45 Rose Bowl Pasadena, California 51,350 Kevin Terry Player statistics Goals RankPlayerClubGoals1TRI Stern JohnColumbus Crew262USA Cobi JonesLos Angeles Galaxy193USA Roy LassiterD.C. United18 SLV Raúl Díaz ArceNew England Revolution5BRA WéltonLos Angeles Galaxy176BOL Jaime MorenoD.C. United167VEN Giovanni SavareseMetroStars148JAM Wolde HarrisColorado Rapids13SLV Mauricio CienfuegosLos Angeles GalaxySLV Ronald CerritosSan Jose Clash Hat-tricks List of Major League Soccer hat-tricks Player Club Against Result DateTRI Stern John Columbus Crew Miami Fusion 5–1 md 1998 4 18USA Cobi Jones Los Angeles Galaxy Colorado Rapids 7–4 md 1998 5 6LBR Musa Shannon Tampa Bay Mutiny New England Revolution 3–4 md 1998 5 10ZIM Vitalis Takawira Kansas City Wizards New England Revolution 3–1 md 1998 5 16GUA Martín Machón Los Angeles Galaxy Columbus Crew 3–1 md 1998 5 17TRI Stern John Columbus Crew Chicago Fire 5–1 md 1998 5 30ARM Harut Karapetyan Los Angeles Galaxy Dallas Burn 8–1 md 1998 6 4USA Roy Lassiter D.C. United Chicago Fire 4–1 md 1998 7 18USA Cobi Jones Los Angeles Galaxy Colorado Rapids 6–1 md 1998 8 5TRI Stern John Columbus Crew Kansas City Wizards 5–3 md 1998 8 16USA Cobi Jones Los Angeles Galaxy New England Revolution 5–1 md 1998 8 22COL Diego Serna Miami Fusion New England Revolution 3–2 md 1998 8 30USA Preki Kansas City Wizards San Jose Clash 5–1 md 1998 9 5 Assists RankPlayerClubAssists1ECU Eduardo HurtadoMetroStars142USA Marco EtcheverryD.C. United133POL Jerzy PodbrożnyChicago Fire124 USA Joe-Max MooreNew England Revolution115URU Adrián PazColorado Rapids106SLV Ronald CerritosSan Jose Clash9ENG Paul DoughertyMetroStarsUSA Cobi JonesLos Angeles Galaxy910 players8 Clean sheets RankPlayerClubCleansheets1USA Zach ThorntonChicago Fire82USA Scott GarlickD.C. United7USA Kevin HartmanLos Angeles Galaxy4USA Mark DoddDallas Burn65USA Mike AmmannKansas City Wizards5USA Ian FeuerNew England RevolutionUSA David KramerSan Jose Clash8USA Marcus HahnemannColorado Rapids4USA Tony MeolaMetroStarsUSA Juergen SommerColumbus Crew Awards Individual awards AwardPlayerTeamMost Valuable PlayerBOL Marco EtcheverryD.C. UnitedDefender of the YearCZE Luboš KubíkChicago FireGoalkeeper of the YearUSA Zach ThorntonChicago FireCoach of the YearUSA Bob BradleyChicago FireRookie of the YearUSA Ben OlsenD.C. UnitedScoring ChampionTRI Stern JohnColumbus CrewGoal of the YearUSA Brian McBrideColumbus CrewFair Play AwardUSA Thomas DooleyColumbus Crew Best XI GoalkeeperDefendersMidfieldersForwardsUSA Zach Thornton, ChicagoUSA Thomas Dooley, ColumbusUSA Robin Fraser, LA GalaxyCZE Luboš Kubík, ChicagoUSA Eddie Pope, D.C. UnitedUSA Chris Armas, ChicagoSLV Mauricio Cienfuegos, LA GalaxyBOL Marco Etcheverry, D.C. UnitedPOL Piotr Nowak, ChicagoTRI Stern John, ColumbusUSA Cobi Jones, LA Galaxy Player of the Month WeekPlayerClubMarch USA Cobi Jones Los Angeles GalaxyApril USA Juergen Sommer Columbus CrewMay POL Piotr Nowak Chicago FireJune USA Ross Paule Colorado RapidsJuly USA Roy Lassiter D.C. UnitedAugust TRI Stern John Columbus CrewSeptember COL Diego Serna Miami Fusion Weekly awards Player of the WeekWeekPlayerClubWeek 1 USA Cobi Jones Los Angeles GalaxyWeek 2 USA Cobi Jones Los Angeles GalaxyWeek 3 USA Frank Klopas Chicago FireWeek 4 USA Jason Farrell Columbus CrewWeek 5 TRI Stern John Columbus CrewWeek 6 USA Paul Bravo Colorado RapidsWeek 7 USA Tony Meola MetroStarsWeek 8 USA Cobi Jones Los Angeles GalaxyWeek 9 ZIM Vitalis Takawira Kansas City WizardsWeek 10 POL Peter Nowak Chicago FireWeek 11 TRI Stern John Columbus CrewWeek 12 POL Jerzy Podbrożny Chicago FireWeek 13 USA Zach Thornton Chicago FireWeek 14 POL Roman Kosecki Chicago FireWeek 15 CZE Luboš Kubík Chicago FireWeek 16 USA John Harkes D.C. UnitedWeek 17 USA Roy Lassiter D.C. UnitedWeek 18 BOL Marco Etcheverry D.C. UnitedWeek 19 USA Cobi Jones Los Angeles GalaxyWeek 20 TRI Stern John Columbus CrewWeek 21 USA Cobi Jones Los Angeles GalaxyWeek 22 COL Diego Serna Miami FusionWeek 23 MEX Carlos Hermosillo Los Angeles GalaxyWeek 24 USA Josh Wolff Chicago FireWeek 25 COL Diego Serna Miami Fusion Attendance Major League Soccer attendance RankTeamGP Home games playedCumulative Cumulative total of all home games attendanceHigh Highest season attendanceLow Lowest season attendanceMean Statistical mean season attendance 1 Los Angeles Galaxy 16 53,655 9,113 2 New England Revolution 16 35,462 13,074 3 Chicago Fire 16 37,122 7,598 4 MetroStars 16 56,404 8,826 5 D.C. United 16 23,631 9,755 6 Colorado Rapids 16 46,722 5,485 7 San Jose Clash 16 22,694 9,102 8 Columbus Crew 16 15,628 9,166 9 Dallas Burn 16 15,280 9,197 10 Tampa Bay Mutiny 16 22,704 4,473 11 Miami Fusion 16 20,450 6,127 12 Kansas City Wizards 16 13,146 4,130 Total 192 2,747,897 56,404 4,130 References MLS Site https://web.archive.org/web/20100504204242/http://www.mlssoccer.com/stats/1998/reg May 4, 2010 1998 1 United States