2003 Major League Soccer season

The 2003 Major League Soccer season was the eighth season of Major League Soccer. It was also the 91st season of FIFA-sanctioned soccer in the United States, and the 25th with a national first-division league.

2003 Major League Soccer season

Season	2003
MLS Cup	San Jose Earthquakes (2nd title)
Supporters' Shield	Chicago Fire (1st shield)
2004 CONCACAF Champions' Cup	San Jose Earthquakes Chicago Fire
Matches played	150
Goals scored	433 (2.89 per match)
Top goalscorer	Carlos Ruiz Los Angeles Galaxy Goals: 15 Taylor Twellman N.E. Revolution Goals: 15
Biggest home win	CHI 4–0 COL CLB 6–2 CHI
Biggest away win	SJ 1–4 CHI DAL 0–3 SJ
Highest scoring	NY 4–4 SJ CLB 6–2 CHI
Longest winning run	Colorado Rapids Games: 5 (07/04 – 08/09) MetroStars Games: 5 (04/26 – 05/24)
Longest unbeaten run	Chicago Fire Games: 7 (07/19 – 08/24) Colorado Rapids Games: 7 (08/16 – 10/01)
Longest losing run	Colorado Rapids Games: 4 (05/03 – 05/25) Dallas Burn Games: 4 (07/19 -08/13)
Highest attendance	Los Angeles Galaxy Season: 329,752 Game Avg.: 21,983
Lowest attendance	Dallas Burn Season: 118,585 Game Avg.: 7,906
Total attendance	2,234,747
Average attendance	14,898
← 2002 2004 →

D.C. United

MetroStars

Columbus

Chicago

New England

Colorado

Dallas

Los Angeles

Kansas City

San Jose

Locations of teams for the 2003 Major League Soccer season
Western Conference   Eastern Conference

The Los Angeles Galaxy moved into the league's second soccer-specific stadium when the Home Depot Center opened on June 1, 2003. The Chicago Fire continued to play at Cardinal Stadium in Naperville but returned to the newly renovated Soldier Field for their final regular season game.

The number of games was increased to 30 after a reduction to 28 for the 2002 season. Instead of a best-of-three series, the playoffs were tweaked so that the conference semifinals would be determined by a home-and-away aggregate score over two matches. Additionally, the two conference finals became one match fixtures instead of two legs.

The regular season began on April 5, and concluded on October 26. The 2003 MLS Cup Playoffs began on November 1, and concluded with MLS Cup 2003 on November 23. The San Jose Earthquakes won their second MLS Cup in three years with a victory over Chicago.

Overview

Season format

The season began on April 5 and concluded with MLS Cup on November 23. The 10 teams were split evenly into two conferences. Each team played 30 games that were evenly divided between home and away. Each team played every other team in their conference, and two designated opponents from the opposite conference, four times, and the remaining teams in the opposite conference twice.

The top four teams from each conference qualified for the MLS Cup Playoffs. 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. Additionally, the winner of MLS Cup and the runner-up qualified for the CONCACAF Champions' Cup.

Stadiums and locations

Main article: List of Major League Soccer stadiums

Team	Stadium	Capacity
Chicago Fire	Cardinal Stadium Soldier Field	15,000 61,500
Colorado Rapids	Invesco Field at Mile High	76,125
Columbus Crew	Columbus Crew Stadium	22,555
D.C. United	RFK Stadium	46,000
Dallas Burn	Dragon Stadium	11,000
Kansas City Wizards	Arrowhead Stadium	81,425
Los Angeles Galaxy	Home Depot Center	27,000
MetroStars	Giants Stadium	80,200
New England Revolution	Gillette Stadium	68,756
San Jose Earthquakes	Spartan Stadium	30,456

Personnel and sponsorships

Team	Head coach	Captain	Shirt sponsor
Chicago Fire	Dave Sarachan		—
Colorado Rapids	Tim Hankinson
Columbus Crew	Greg Andrulis		Pepsi
D.C. United	Ray Hudson		—
Dallas Burn	Colin Clarke
Kansas City Wizards	Bob Gansler		—
Los Angeles Galaxy	Sigi Schmid		Budweiser
MetroStars	Bob Bradley	Eddie Pope
New England Revolution	Steve Nicol		—
San Jose Earthquakes	Frank Yallop	Jeff Agoos	Yahoo! en Español

Coaching changes

Team	Outgoing coach	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Incoming coach	Date of appointment
Dallas Burn	Mike Jeffries	Fired	September 15, 2003	Colin Clarke	September 15, 2003

Standings

Eastern Conference

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Chicago Fire	30	15	7	8	53	43	+10	53	MLS Cup Playoffs
2	New England Revolution	30	12	9	9	55	47	+8	45
3	MetroStars	30	11	10	9	40	40	0	42
4	D.C. United	30	10	11	9	38	36	+2	39
5	Columbus Crew	30	10	12	8	44	44	0	38

Source: MLS

Western Conference

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	San Jose Earthquakes	30	14	7	9	45	35	+10	51	MLS Cup Playoffs
2	Kansas City Wizards	30	11	10	9	48	44	+4	42
3	Colorado Rapids	30	11	12	7	40	45	−5	40
4	Los Angeles Galaxy	30	9	12	9	35	35	0	36
5	Dallas Burn	30	6	19	5	35	64	−29	23

Source: MLS

Overall standings

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Chicago Fire (S)	30	15	7	8	53	43	+10	53	CONCACAF Champions' Cup
2	San Jose Earthquakes (C)	30	14	7	9	45	35	+10	51
3	New England Revolution	30	12	9	9	55	47	+8	45
4	Kansas City Wizards	30	11	10	9	48	44	+4	42
5	MetroStars	30	11	10	9	40	40	0	42
6	Colorado Rapids	30	11	12	7	40	45	−5	40
7	D.C. United	30	10	11	9	38	36	+2	39
8	Columbus Crew	30	10	12	8	44	44	0	38
9	Los Angeles Galaxy	30	9	12	9	35	35	0	36
10	Dallas Burn	30	6	19	5	35	64	−29	23

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

Bracket

Conference semifinals

Conference finals

MLS Cup

E1

Chicago (wins 4–0 agg.)

2

2

E4

D.C. United

0

0

E1

Chicago

1

Eastern Conference

E3

New England

0

E2

New England (wins 3–1 agg.)

2

1

E3

MetroStars

0

1

E1

Chicago

2

W1

San Jose

4

W1

San Jose (wins 5–4 agg.)

0

5*

W4

Los Angeles

2

2

W1

San Jose

3

Western Conference

W3

Kansas City

2

W3

Kansas City (wins 3–1 agg.)

1

2

W2

Colorado

1

0

Eastern Conference semifinals

November 1, 2003

Chicago Fire	2–0	D.C. United
Williams 4' Razov 94'

RFK Stadium
Washington, D.C.

Attendance: 15,202

November 9, 2003

D.C. United	0–2	Chicago Fire
		Ralph 17' Razov 55'

Soldier Field
Chicago, Illinois

Attendance: 15,312

Chicago Fire won 4–0 on aggregate.

---

November 1, 2003

New England Revolution	2–0	MetroStars
Fabbro 17' Noonan 65'

Giants Stadium
East Rutherford, New Jersey

Attendance: 10,211

November 9, 2003

MetroStars	1–1	New England Revolution
Guevara 45' (pen.)		Noonan 21'

Gillette Stadium
Foxborough, Massachusetts

Attendance: 14,823

New England Revolution won 3–1 on aggregate.

Western Conference semifinals

November 1, 2003

San Jose Earthquakes	0–2	Los Angeles Galaxy
		Victorine 59' Ruiz 62'

Home Depot Center
Carson, California

Attendance: 20,201

November 9, 2003

Los Angeles Galaxy	2–5 (a.e.t.)	San Jose Earthquakes
Ruiz 7' Vagenas 13'		Agoos 21' Donovan 35' Walker 50' Roner 90' Faria 96'

Spartan Stadium
San Jose, California

Attendance: 14,145

San Jose Earthquakes won 5–4 on aggregate after golden goal extra time.

---

November 4, 2003

Kansas City Wizards	1–1	Colorado Rapids
Harris 3'		Borchers 53'

INVESCO Field at Mile High
Denver, Colorado

Attendance: 6,434

November 8, 2003

Colorado Rapids	0–2	Kansas City Wizards
		Simutenkov 45' Klein 63'

Arrowhead Stadium
Kansas City, Missouri

Attendance: 10,712

Kansas City Wizards won 3–1 on aggregate.

Conference finals

Eastern Conference

November 14, 2003

New England Revolution	0–1 (a.e.t.)	Chicago Fire
		Armas 101'

Soldier Field
Chicago, Illinois

Attendance: 14,610

---

Western Conference

November 15, 2003

Kansas City Wizards	2–3 (a.e.t.)	San Jose Earthquakes
Simutenkov 57' Klein 72'		Lagos 61' Mullan 83' Donovan 117'

Spartan Stadium
San Jose, California

Attendance: 16,108

MLS Cup

Main article: MLS Cup 2003

November 23, 2003

Chicago Fire	2–4	San Jose Earthquakes
Beasley 49' Roner 54' (o.g.)		Ekelund 5' Donovan 38', 71' Mulrooney 50'

Home Depot Center
Carson, California

Attendance: 27,000

Player statistics

Goals

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Carlos Ruiz	Los Angeles Galaxy	15
	Taylor Twellman	New England Revolution
3	Ante Razov	Chicago Fire	14
	John Spencer	Colorado Rapids
5	Landon Donovan	San Jose Earthquakes	12
	Brian McBride	Columbus Crew
	Preki	Kansas City Wizards
8	Mark Chung	Colorado Rapids	11
	Damani Ralph	Chicago Fire
10	Edson Buddle	Columbus Crew	10
	Pat Noonan	New England Revolution

Assists

Rank	Player	Club	Assists
1	Preki	Kansas City Wizards	12
2	Amado Guevara	MetroStars	9
3	Mark Lisi	MetroStars	6
	Ross Paule	Columbus Crew
	Steve Ralston	New England Revolution
6	Cobi Jones	Los Angeles Galaxy	5
	Manny Lagos	San Jose Earthquakes
	Brian Mullan	San Jose Earthquakes
	Richard Mulrooney	San Jose Earthquakes
	Pat Noonan	New England Revolution
	Eric Quill	Kansas City Wizards
	Andy Williams	Chicago Fire

Clean sheets

Rank	Player	Club	Clean sheets
1	Scott Garlick	Colorado Rapids	9
	Pat Onstad	San Jose Earthquakes
3	Zach Thornton	Chicago Fire	8
4	Nick Rimando	D.C. United	7
5	Adin Brown	New England Revolution	4
	Jon Busch	Columbus Crew
	Kevin Hartman	LA Galaxy
	Tony Meola	Kansas City Wizards
	Jonny Walker	MetroStars
10	D.J. Countess	Dallas Burn	3
	Tim Howard	MetroStars

Awards

Individual awards

Award	Player	Club
Most Valuable Player	Preki	Kansas City Wizards
Defender of the Year	Carlos Bocanegra	Chicago Fire
Goalkeeper of the Year	Pat Onstad	San Jose Earthquakes
Coach of the Year	Dave Sarachan	Chicago Fire
Rookie of the Year	Damani Ralph	Chicago Fire
Comeback Player of the Year	Chris Armas	Chicago Fire
Scoring Champion	Preki	Kansas City Wizards
Goal of the Year	Damani Ralph	Chicago Fire
Fair Play Award	Brian McBride	Columbus Crew
Humanitarian of the Year	Ben Olsen	D.C. United

Best XI

Goalkeeper	Defenders	Midfielders	Forwards
Tim Howard, MetroStars	Wade Barrett, San Jose Carlos Bocanegra, Chicago Alexi Lalas, LA Galaxy	Mark Chung, Colorado Ronnie Ekelund, San Jose Óscar Pareja, Dallas Steve Ralston, New England	Jeff Cunningham, Columbus Carlos Ruiz, LA Galaxy Taylor Twellman, New England

Attendance

Club	Games	Season	Game Avg.
Los Angeles Galaxy	15	329,752	21,983
Colorado Rapids	15	251,578	16,772
Columbus Crew	15	243,756	16,250
MetroStars	15	237,326	15,822
Kansas City Wizards	15	233,594	15,573
D.C. United	15	233,476	15,565
New England Revolution	15	219,611	14,641
Chicago Fire	15	210,080	14,005
San Jose Earthquakes	15	156,989	10,466
Dallas Burn	15	118,585	7,906
Totals	150	2,234,747	14,898