Red Bulls Win Supporters' Shield, Galaxy Blow Chance at Playoffs, More From a Wild Decision Day

The Red Bulls secured (another) Supporters' Shield, Houston scored three unanswered second-half goals to knock the Galaxy out of the playoffs and the Crew and Real Salt Lake clinched postseason berths in a wild MLS Decision Day.

Nov 3, 2024; Harrison, New Jersey, USA; The New York Red Bulls react after defeating Columbus Crew on penalty kicks in a 2024 MLS Cup Playoffs Round One matchat Red Bull Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark Smith-Imagn Images / Mark Smith-Imagn Images

This article is part of the Sports Illustrated archive. The date on this page does not represent the date when the original article was published (Oct 28, 2018).

HARRISON, N.J. — Derrick Etienne scored a slick goal in the 53rd minute to give the New York Red Bulls a 1-0 victory over Orlando City and the Supporter's Shield for the best record as the Major League Soccer regular-season ended Sunday.

Driving left in the box, Etienne atoned for a missed penalty kick in the first half by drawing the ball back to his right, leaving him room to go far corner for his fifth goal of the season.

The Red Bulls (22-7-5) won their fifth straight to reach 71 points, the first team to ever crack 70 points in the regular season. Atlanta entered Decision Day with 69 points, tied with last year's Toronto team for the most in the regular season, but lost at Toronto 4-1.

The Red Bulls, who earned the Supporter's Shield for the third time in six seasons, are the sixth team in league history to average at least two points a game.

Luis Robles only had to make one save to give him his league-leading 14th shutout.

Orlando City (8-22-4), which beat the Red Bulls 4-3 in their first meeting, lost their 14th straight on the road, tying the 2005 DC United for the second-longest streak of futility away from home.

Houston Dynamo 3, LA Galaxy 2

CARSON, Calif. — Mauro Manotas scored two second-half goals and the Houston Dynamo rallied past Los Angeles 3-2 on Sunday to deny the Galaxy a playoff spot.

Los Angeles (13-12-9), which controlled its own playoff destiny, missed the postseason for the second straight season after its first home loss since May 30. Atlanta is the only team without a home defeat in that time span.

Houston (10-16-8) hadn't won on the road in 11 games - with nine losses. It was the Dynamo's third straight season with a double-digit road winless streak.

Ola Kamara scored twice in three minutes to give Los Angeles a 2-0 lead in the 30th. But Houston rallied in the second half.

Romell Quioto pulled Houston to 2-1 in the 57th by cutting back two defenders and sliding it inside the near post. Manotas tied it on a penalty kick in the 73rd and added another goal five minutes later on a sliding redirection.

Sporting KC 2, LAFC 1

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Daniel Salloi scored the go-ahead goal for the third straight game and 10-man Sporting Kansas City beat Los Angeles FC 2-1 on Sunday for its first conference title since 2012.

Sporting KC (18-8-8) will get a Knockout Round bye, hosting its first home playoff game since 2015. LAFC (16-9-9) was trying to become the first expansion team to finish atop its conference in its inaugural season.

Six of Salloi's 11 goals this season have been game-winners, helping Kansas City extend its undefeated streak to five games.

Roger Espinoza gave Sporting KC a 1-0 lead at halftime after a shot from distance in the 37th. But Sporting KC was reduced to 10 men in the 62nd for denying an obvious scoring opportunity.

Carlos Vela, who has 15 combined goals and assists on the road this season, converted the penalty kick to tie it.

Toronto FC 4, Atlanta United 1

TORONTO — Lucas Jansson scored twice and Toronto FC spoiled Atlanta United's Supporters' Shield bid, winning 4-1 on Sunday in the regular-season finale.

Atlanta (21-7-6) arrived at BMO Field with a one-point edge over New York in the MLS overall standings, but the Red Bulls beat visiting Orlando City on Sunday to top spot in the standings. The Red Bulls finished with 71 points, erasing the single-season mark of 69 that Toronto set last year in its championship campaign. Atlanta finished with 69.

Josef Martinez scored his MLS-record 31st goal for Atlanta, converting a penalty kick in the 76th minute.

Sebastian Giovinco and Marky Delgado also scored for Toronto (10-18-6).

Columbus Crew SC 3, Minnesota United 2

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Gyasi Zardes completed a hat trick in the 83rd minute to give the Columbus Crew a 3-2 victory over Minnesota United on Sunday and a fifth seed in the playoffs as the Major League Soccer regular season concluded.

The Crew (14-11-9) were assured of a playoff spot with a win but had secured the berth earlier when Montreal lost. All season finales started at the same time, but there was a long weather delay in Columbus.

Columbus will play at fourth-seeded D.C. United in a knockout round game on Wednesday or Thursday.

Zardes scored in the 11th minute, just after play resumed and scored again in the 49th minute. But Minnesota rallied as Francisco Calvo scored his first goal of the season in the 68th minute and added his second 11 minutes later, cleaning up a loose ball from close range in the box. But Zardes picked up his first career hat trick when Harrison Afful played the ball ahead to Niko Hansen at the end line and he quickly centered a pass to Zardes for a point-blank score. He finished the season with 19 goals.

Minnesota (11-20-3) finished 1-14-2 on the road for five points and only five teams have gone a full season with fewer.

NYCFC 3, Philadelphia Union 1

NEW YORK — David Villa scored his 14th goal of the season and New York City FC beat the Philadelphia Union 3-1 on Sunday to clinch the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference.

NYCFC (16-10-8) won for just the second time in its last 10 matches, with five loses, averaging just 0.9 goals per game. Philadelphia (15-14-5) has lost five of its nine matches against NYCFC.

Either team could have secured the top-three seed with a victory.

NYCFC had a 2-0 lead in the opening 10 minutes on Maxime Chanot's first goal of the season and Auston Trusty's own goal. Villa made it 3-1 in the 34th.

Cory Burke pulled Philadelphia within 2-1 in the 14th. C.J. Sapong was fouled inside the penalty area in the 59th, but NYCFC goalkeeper Sean Johnson denied Fafa Picault's penalty shot, diving to his right to block the low attempt.

Vancouver Whitecaps 2, Portland Timbers 1

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Alphonso Davies put on one last show for Vancouver fans, scoring twice in the Whitecaps' 2-1 victory over the Portland Timbers on Sunday in the regular-season finale.

Davies is headed to Germany after the Whitecaps (13-13-8) reached a record-breaking $22 million transfer deal with soccer giant Bayern Munich in July. He finished the season with eighth goals and 11 assists.

Andres Flores scored for the Timbers (15-10-9).

Davies opened the scoring in the 28th minute, getting off a left-footed shot from the top of the box. The ball sailed past diving goalkeeper Jeff Attinella. Three minutes later, Davies stole the ball off the feet of a Timbers player right outside the Portland net, then popped it into the back left corner. The teen celebrated with a choreographed dance with striker Kei Kamara.

Seattle Sounder 2, San Jose Earthquakes 1

SEATTLE — Raul Ruidiaz scored two second-half goals and the Seattle Sounders rallied to beat the San Jose Earthquakes 2-1 on Sunday in the regular-season finale to grab second place in the Western Conference and avoid the knockout round of the MLS playoffs.

The Sounders (18-11-5) vaulted past Los Angeles FC and FC Dallas, both losers on MLS Decision Day.

After the Earthquakes (4-21-9) went in front on an own goal in the 64th minute, Ruidiaz tied it in the 79th when he ran onto a crossing pass from Cristian Roldan and tapped it in from two yards straight in front.

Ruidiaz then scored from the top of the box in the second minute of stoppage time to put the Sounders ahead.

San Jose opened the scoring when a shallow shot by Danny Hoesen from the right side of the box nicked off of Sounders defender Chad Marshall and into the back left corner of the net.

New England Revolution 1, Montreal Impact 0

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Diego Fagundez scored a milestone goal in the 74th minute to give the New England Revolution a 1-0 victory over Montreal, keeping the Impact out of the playoffs on the last day of the Major League Soccer season Sunday.

The 23-year-old Fagundez got the ball just inside the 18 on the right, turned and sent a hard, low shot past diving goalkeeper Evan Bush and just inside the far post for his ninth goal of the season. That made him the youngest player in MLS history to reach 50 career goals.

Matt Turner had four saves to get his fifth shutout for New England (10-13-11).

New England and Montreal split a pair of games earlier in the season with the winning team scoring four goals in each game.

Chicago Fire 0, D.C. United 0

BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. — D.C. United ran its unbeaten streak to nine games with a 0-0 tie with the Chicago Fire on Sunday and goalkeeper Bill Hamid finished one of the strongest seasons as the Major League Soccer regular season ended.

Hamid had two saves in his fifth shutout of the season and his save percentage of 80.9 is the fourth best in league history for anyone with at least 40 saves.

United (14-11-9) had its five-game winning streak ended but still earned the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference and is home against fifth-seeded Columbus for the Knockout Round on Wednesday or Thursday.

Keeper Patrick McLain, in his fifth start of the season for the Fire (8-18-8), picked up his first clean sheet by making one save.

Chicago forward Alan Gordon announced earlier Sunday that he would retire following the game. The two-time MLS Cup champion played for six different clubs during his 15 seasons in the league, and had 59 goals and 32 assists in regular-season play.

Colorado Rapids 2, FC Dallas 1

COMMERCE CITY, Colo. — Cole Bassett and Tommy Smith scored four minutes apart late in the second half and the 11th-place Colorado Rapids spoiled FC Dallas' shot at a first-round bye, winning 2-1 on Sunday.

Dallas (16-9-9), which was atop the Western Conference before a home loss last week, needed a win to avoid a Knockout Round game. Colorado (8-19-7) had won just one of its last eight home games against FC Dallas.

Bassett, a 17-year-old in his first start at home, tied it in the 80th to become the youngest player to score in club history. Smith headed in Kellyn Acosta's corner kick at the far post.

Maximiliano Urruti opened the scoring for FC Dallas in the 18th minute with an easy redirection of Dominique Badji's cross. It ended Colorado's two-game shutout streak.

The teams had played four consecutive 1-1 draws in Colorado over the last three seasons.

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