2001 Major League Soccer season

This is a summary of the 2001 Major League Soccer season. The MLS season was shortened due to the September 11 attacks, with the final weeks' regular season's matches canceled.

The playoffs, however, would still be played, and the San Jose Earthquakes would win their first MLS Cup.

Final standings

• Top eight teams with the highest points clinch play-off berth, regardless of division.
  s = Supporters Shield
  x = Clinched playoff berth

• Miami Fusion F.C. wins first tiebreaker with Chicago Fire (2-0 in head-to-head competition)

• Columbus Crew wins first tiebreaker with San Jose Earthquakes (1-0-1 in head-to-head competition)

• GP* (Games Played) = Season shorten due to 9/11 attacks.

MLS Cup Playoffs

Playoff Bracket

• Points system
  Win = 3 Pts.
  Loss = 0 Pts.
  Draw = 1 Pts.

• ASDET*=Added Sudden Death Extra Time (Game tie breaker)
  SDET**=Sudden Death Extra Time (Series tie breaker)
  Teams will advance at 5 points.

Quarterfinals

September 20, 2001	Dallas Burn	0 – 2	Chicago Fire	Soldier Field Chicago, Illinois Attendance: 8,314
			Bocanegra  40' Whitfield  90'+

September 23, 2001	Chicago Fire	1 – 1	Dallas Burn	Cotton Bowl Dallas, Texas Attendance:: 17,149
	J. Beasley  84'		Deering  27'

September 29, 2001	Dallas Burn	0 – 2	Chicago Fire	Soldier Field Chicago, Illinois Attendance: 12,811
			Kovalenko  17' Armas  55'

Chicago Fire advance 7-1 on points.

September 22, 2001	Kansas City Wizards	0 – 2	Miami Fusion F.C.	Lockhart Stadium Fort Lauderdale, Florida Attendance: 6,281
			Serna  28' Pineda Chacon  53'

September 26, 2001	Miami Fusion F.C.	0 – 3	Kansas City Wizards	Arrowhead Stadium Kansas City, Missouri Attendance: 5,803
			Lowe  24' McKeon  31' (Pen) Gomez  45'+

September 29, 2001	Kansas City Wizards	1 – 2	Miami Fusion F.C.	Lockhart Stadium Fort Lauderdale, Florida Attendance: 8,119
	Lowe  13'		Preki  14' Henderson  71'

Miami Fusion advance 6-3 on points.

September 23, 2001	MetroStars	1 – 1	Los Angeles Galaxy	Rose Bowl Pasadena, California Attendance: 11,580
	Faria  29'		Caligiuri  63'

September 26, 2001	Los Angeles Galaxy	1 – 4	MetroStars	Giants Stadium East Rutherford, New Jersey Attendance: 12,817
	Victorine  4'		Faria  72',  80' Chung  75' Valencia  83'

September 29, 2001	MetroStars	2 – 3	Los Angeles Galaxy	Rose Bowl Pasadena, California Attendance: 6,154
	Villegas  49',  60'		Victorine  21',  33' Frye  56'

		0 – 1 series (SDET)
			Cienfuegos  8'

Los Angeles Galaxy advance 1-0 in series overtime (SDET) after 4-4 tie on points.

September 22, 2001	San Jose Earthquakes	3 – 1	Columbus Crew	Columbus Crew Stadium Columbus, Ohio Attendance: 20,883
	Donovan  5'  45'+ Lagos  31'		Warzycha pen  54'

September 26, 2001	Columbus Crew	0 – 3	San Jose Earthquakes	Spartan Stadium San Jose, California Attendance: 10,419
			Lagos  9' Cerritos  68' Donovan  76'

San Jose Earthquakes advance 6-0 on points.

Semifinals

October 10, 2001	Los Angeles Galaxy	1 – 1	Chicago Fire	Soldier Field Chicago, Illinois Attendance: 10,388
	Hernández  44'		Wynalda  32'

October 13, 2001	Chicago Fire	0 – 1 (AET)	Los Angeles Galaxy	Rose Bowl Pasadena, California Attendance: 10,100
			Vagenas  94'

October 17, 2001	Los Angeles Galaxy	2 – 1 (AET)	Chicago Fire	Soldier Field Chicago, Illinois Attendance: 13,444
	Califf  44' Cienfuegos  98'		D. Beasley  30'

Los Angeles Galaxy advance 7-1 on points.

October 10, 2001	San Jose Earthquakes	0 – 1	Miami Fusion F.C.	Lockhart Stadium Fort Lauderdale, Florida Attendance: 9,236
			Preki  53'

October 14, 2001	Miami Fusion F.C.	0 – 4	San Jose Earthquakes	Spartan Stadium San Jose, California Attendance: 16,119
			Donovan  16' Russell  57' Lagos  69' De Rosario  89'

October 17, 2001	San Jose Earthquakes	1 – 0 (AET)	Miami Fusion F.C.	Lockhart Stadium Fort Lauderdale, Florida Attendance: 11,242
	Dayak  94'

San Jose Earthquakes advance 6-3 on points.

MLS Cup 2001

October 21, 2001	Los Angeles Galaxy	1 – 2 (AET)	San Jose Earthquakes	Columbus Crew Stadium Columbus, Ohio Attendance: 21,626
	Hernández  21'		Donovan  43' De Rosario  96'

• San Jose Earthquakes earns MLS berth to CONCACAF Champions' Cup 2002.

• D.C. United, Chicago Fire and Kansas City Wizards qualify for CONCACAF Champions' Cup 2001.

Team Awards

• MLS Cup - San Jose Earthquakes
• U.S. Open Cup - Los Angeles Galaxy
• MLS Supporters' Shield - Miami Fusion

International Competition

CONCACAF Champions' Cup

• Kansas City Wizards
  2001 edition cancelled; Wizards advanced to CONCACAF Champions' Cup 2002.
• Chicago Fire
  2001 edition cancelled; Fire advance to CONCACAF Champions' Cup 2002.

Copa Merconorte

• MetroStars
  Went 3-3-0 in group stage and did not advance.
  Defeated Deportivo Italchacao, 2-0 at home.
  Awarded two forfeit wins against
  Club Deportivo Guadalajara, after the club refused to travel.
  Lost Deportivo Italchacao, 2-1 away.
  Lost Millonarios, 2-1 away and 1-0 at home.
• Kansas City Wizards
  Went 1-4-1 in group stage and did not advance.
  Defeated Barcelona, 3-2 away, Drew 1-1 at home.
  Lost Santos Laguna, 4-2 away and 1-0 at home.
  Lost Sporting Cristal, 2-1 at home and 2-1 away.

CONCACAF Giants Cup

• D.C. United
  Defeated Arnett Gardens, 5-1 on aggregate in quarterfinals.
  Defeated Comunicaciones, 2-1 in semifinals.
  Lost Club América, 2-0 in final.
• Columbus Crew
  Lost Deportivo Saprissa, 3-1 on aggregate in quarterfinals.

Top Goal Scorers

Position	Player	Club	Goals
1	Alex Pineda Chacon	Miami Fusion F.C.	19
2	Diego Serna	Miami Fusion F.C.	15
3	John Spencer	Colorado Rapids	14
	Abdul Thompson Conteh	D.C. United	14
5	Ronald Cerritos	San Jose Earthquakes	11
	Ariel Graziani	Dallas Burn	11
7	Jeff Cunningham	Columbus Crew	10
	Eric Wynalda*	Chicago Fire	10
9	Mamadou Diallo	Tampa Bay Mutiny	9
10	Jaime Moreno	D.C. United	9

Played for more than one team - Most Recent Team Listed*

Individual awards

Award	Player	Club
Most Valuable Player	Alex Pineda Chacon	Miami Fusion F.C.
Scoring Champion	Alex Pineda Chacon (47 Points)	Miami Fusion F.C.
Defender of the Year	Jeff Agoos	San Jose Earthquakes
Goalkeeper of the Year	Tim Howard	MetroStars
Rookie of the Year	Rodrigo Faria	MetroStars
Coach of the Year	Frank Yallop	San Jose Earthquakes
Comeback Player of the Year	Troy Dayak	San Jose Earthquakes
Goal of the Year	Clint Mathis	MetroStars
Fair Play Award	Alex Pineda Chacon	Miami Fusion F.C.
Humanitarian of the Year	Tim Howard	MetroStars

Winningest Coaches (By Wins)

Coach	Club	Win	Loss	Draw	Pct.	Pts.	OT Rec.
Ray Hudson	Miami Fusion F.C.	16	5	5	0.712	53	0-0-5
Bob Bradley	Chicago Fire	16	6	5	0.685	53	1-2-5
Sigi Schmid	Los Angeles Galaxy	14	7	5	0.635	47	3-0-5
Frank Yallop	San Jose Earthquakes	13	7	6	0.615	45	0-0-6
Octavio Zambrano	MetroStars	13	10	3	0.558	42	0-0-3
Greg Andrulis	Columbus Crew	12	4	4	0.700	40	1-0-4
Bob Gansler	Kansas City Wizards	11	13	3	0.463	36	0-2-3
Mike Jeffries	Dallas Burn	10	11	5	0.481	35	2-1-5
Thomas Rongen	D.C. United	8	16	2	0.346	26	0-1-2
Fernando Clavijo	New England Revolution	7	14	6	0.370	27	1-0-6
Tim Hankinson	Colorado Rapids	5	13	8	0.346	23	0-1-8
Alfonso Mondelo	Tampa Bay Mutiny	3	12	1	0.219	10	0-0-1
Tom Fitzgerald	Columbus Crew	1	3	2	0.333	5	0-0-2
Perry Van der Beck	Tampa Bay Mutiny	1	9	1	0.136	4	0-1-1

Team Attendance Totals

References

• MLS Site