1997 Major League Soccer season

The 1997 Major League Soccer season was the second season of Major League Soccer. It was also the 85th season of FIFA-sanctioned soccer in the United States, and the 19th with a national first-division league.

Following the 1996 season, the Wiz changed names, becoming the Wizards, following legal action from electronics retailer The Wiz.

The regular season began on March 29, and concluded on September 28. The 1997 MLS Cup Playoffs began on October 4, and concluded with MLS Cup 1997 on October 26. D.C. United won their first Supporters' Shield and defended their MLS Cup championship becoming the first team to win back-to-back cups.

Overview

Season format

The season began on March 22 and concluded with MLS Cup on October 26. The 10 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 16 games. The rest of the schedule consisted of three games against each team from the opposite conference, with four games against one designated team.

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. The winner of MLS Cup, and the runner-up, qualified for the CONCACAF Champions' Cup.

Stadiums and locations

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Team	Stadium	Capacity
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
New England Revolution	Foxboro Stadium	60,292
NY/NJ MetroStars	Giants Stadium	80,200
San Jose Clash	Spartan Stadium	30,456
Tampa Bay Mutiny	Houlihan's Stadium	74,301

Personnel and sponsorships

Team	Head coach	Captain	Shirt sponsor
Colorado Rapids	Template:Flagicon Glenn Myernick
Columbus Crew	Template:Flagicon Tom Fitzgerald	Template:Flagicon Marcelo Carrera	Snickers
D.C. United	Template:Flagicon Bruce Arena		MasterCard
Dallas Burn	Template:Flagicon Dave Dir
Kansas City Wizards	Template:Flagicon Ron Newman		—
Los Angeles Galaxy	Template:Flagicon Octavio Zambrano		—
New England Revolution	Template:Flagicon Thomas Rongen		—
NY/NJ MetroStars	Template:Flagicon Carlos Alberto Parreira	Template:Flagicon Tony Meola	Fujifilm
San Jose Clash	Template:Flagicon Brian Quinn	Template:Flagicon John Doyle	Honda
Tampa Bay Mutiny	Template:Flagicon John Kowalski

Coaching changes

Team	Outgoing coach	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Incoming coach	Date of appointment
Los Angeles Galaxy	Template:Flagicon Lothar Osiander	Fired	June 10, 1997<ref name="dumps">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="pilot">Template:Cite news</ref>	Template:Flagicon Octavio Zambrano	June 10, 1997<ref name=dumps/><ref name=pilot/>
San Jose Clash	Template:Flagicon Laurie Calloway	Fired	June 25, 1997	Template:Flagicon Brian Quinn	June 25, 1997

MLS Cup Playoffs

Bracket

• The ties were a best-of-three series.

Conference semifinals

Eastern Conference

• D.C. United advance to the Conference Finals.

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• Columbus Crew advance to the Conference Finals.

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Western Conference

• Dallas Burn advance to the Conference Finals.

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• Colorado Rapids advance to the Conference Finals.

Conference finals

Western Conference

• Colorado Rapids advance to MLS Cup.

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Eastern Conference

• D.C. United advance to MLS Cup.

MLS Cup

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Player statistics

Goals

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Template:Flagicon Jaime Moreno	D.C. United	16
2	Template:Flagicon Raúl Díaz Arce	D.C. United	15
3	Template:Flagicon Giovanni Savarese	NY/NJ MetroStars	14
4	Template:Flagicon Preki	Kansas City Wizards	12
	Template:Flagicon Ronald Cerritos	San Jose Clash
	Template:Flagicon Dante Washington	Dallas Burn
7	Template:Flagicon Damián Álvarez	Dallas Burn	11
	Template:Flagicon Wélton	Los Angeles Galaxy
9	Template:Flagicon Jeff Baicher	San Jose Clash	10
	Template:Flagicon Mark Chung	Kansas City Wizards
	Template:Flagicon Roy Lassiter	Tampa Bay Mutiny
	Template:Flagicon Lawrence Lozzano	San Jose Clash

Hat-tricks

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Player	Club	Against	Result	Date
Template:Flagicon Raúl Díaz Arce4	D.C. United	Colorado Rapids	5–2	Template:Dts
Template:Flagicon Alberto Naveda	New England Revolution	NY/NJ MetroStars	3–1	Template:Dts
Template:Flagicon Dante Washington	Dallas Burn	San Jose Clash	3–1	Template:Dts
Template:Flagicon Eduardo Hurtado	Los Angeles Galaxy	Tampa Bay Mutiny	6–1	Template:Dts
Template:Flagicon Jose Vasquez	Los Angeles Galaxy	San Jose Clash	3–2	Template:Dts

Assists

Rank	Player	Club	Assists
1	Template:Flagicon Carlos Valderrama	Tampa Bay Mutiny	15
2	Template:Flagicon Preki	Kansas City Wizards	12
	Template:Flagicon Eddie Lewis	San Jose Clash
4	Template:Flagicon Chris Henderson	Colorado Rapids	9
	Template:Flagicon Mauricio Cienfuegos	Los Angeles Galaxy
6	Template:Flagicon Lawrence Lozzano	San Jose Clash	8
	Template:Flagicon Steve Ralston	Tampa Bay Mutiny
	Template:Flagicon Eric Wynalda	San Jose Clash
	Template:Flagicon Adrián Paz	Colorado Rapids
	Template:Flagicon Miles Joseph	NY/NJ MetroStars

Clean sheets

Rank	Player	Club	Clean sheets
1	Template:Flagicon Brad Friedel	Columbus Crew	7
2	Template:Flagicon Walter Zenga	New England Revolution	6
3	Template:Flagicon Mike Ammann	Kansas City Wizards	5
	Template:Flagicon Marcus Hahnemann	Colorado Rapids
	Template:Flagicon Tony Meola	NY/NJ MetroStars
6	Template:Flagicon Jorge Campos	Los Angeles Galaxy	4
7	Template:Flagicon Mark Dodd	Dallas Burn	3
	Template:Flagicon Mark Dougherty	Tampa Bay Mutiny
	Template:Flagicon Kevin Hartman	Los Angeles Galaxy
	Template:Flagicon Mark Simpson	D.C. United

Awards

Individual awards

Award	Player	Club
Most Valuable Player	Template:Flagicon Preki	Kansas City Wizards
Defender of the Year	Template:Flagicon Eddie Pope	D.C. United
Goalkeeper of the Year	Template:Flagicon Brad Friedel	Columbus Crew
Coach of the Year	Template:Flagicon Bruce Arena	D.C. United
Rookie of the Year	Template:Flagicon Mike Duhaney	Tampa Bay Mutiny
Scoring Champion	Template:Flagicon Preki	Kansas City Wizards
Goal of the Year	Template:Flagicon Marco Etcheverry	D.C. United
Fair Play Award	Template:Flagicon Mark Chung	Kansas City Wizards

Best XI

Goalkeeper	Defenders	Midfielders	Forwards
Template:Flagicon Brad Friedel, Columbus	Template:Flagicon Jeff Agoos, D.C. United Template:Flagicon Thomas Dooley, Columbus Template:Flagicon Richard Gough, Kansas City Template:Flagicon Eddie Pope, D.C. United	Template:Flagicon Mark Chung, Kansas City Template:Flagicon Marco Etcheverry, D.C. United Template:Flagicon Preki, Kansas City Template:Flagicon Carlos Valderrama, Tampa Bay	Template:Flagicon Ronald Cerritos, San Jose Template:Flagicon Jaime Moreno, D.C. United

Player of the Month

Month	Player	Club
April	Template:Flagicon Jaime Moreno	D.C. United
May	Template:Flagicon Alain Sutter	Dallas Burn
June	Template:Flagicon John Harkes	D.C. United
July	Template:Flagicon Wélton	Los Angeles Galaxy
August	Template:Flagicon Brad Friedel	Columbus Crew
September	Template:Flagicon Walter Zenga	New England Revolution

Attendance

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Rank	Team	Template:Tooltip	Template:Tooltip	Template:Tooltip	Template:Tooltip	Template:Tooltip
1	New England Revolution	16	{{#expr: (+36,273 +21,619 +21,886 +22,673 +19,075 +21,817 +15,819 +26,313 +16,218 +10,242 +15,849 +15,109 +13,168 +15,075 +12,219 +57,407)}}	57,407	10,242	{{#expr: (+36,273 +21,619 +21,886 +22,673 +19,075 +21,817 +15,819 +26,313 +16,218 +10,242 +15,849 +15,109 +13,168 +15,075 +12,219 +57,407)/16 round 0}}
2	Los Angeles Galaxy	16	{{#expr: (+28,912 +19,421 +7,824 +7,482 +7,232 +22,621 +24,344 +21,874 +51,704 +19,232 +17,246 +13,186 +10,338 +15,247 +10,205 +53,147)}}	53,147	7,232	{{#expr: (+28,912 +19,421 +7,824 +7,482 +7,232 +22,621 +24,344 +21,874 +51,704 +19,232 +17,246 +13,186 +10,338 +15,247 +10,205 +53,147)/16 round 0}}
3	NY/NJ MetroStars	16	{{#expr: (+15,570 +11,484 +10,510 +14,511 +15,650 +20,104 +19,624 +14,484 +20,112 +15,610 +12,524 +14,724 +20,624 +18,107 +26,322 +20,328)}}	26,322	10,510	{{#expr: (+15,570 +11,484 +10,510 +14,511 +15,650 +20,104 +19,624 +14,484 +20,112 +15,610 +12,524 +14,724 +20,624 +18,107 +26,322 +20,328)/16 round 0}}
4	D.C. United	16	{{#expr: (+9,686 +14,586 +11,607 +18,123 +9,675 +19,510 +16,769 +11,504 +18,140 +18,126 +16,790 +12,214 +15,493 +21,424 +24,775 +28,749)}}	28,749	9,675	{{#expr: (+9,686 +14,586 +11,607 +18,123 +9,675 +19,510 +16,769 +11,504 +18,140 +18,126 +16,790 +12,214 +15,493 +21,424 +24,775 +28,749)/16 round 0}}
5	Columbus Crew	16	{{#expr: (+22,259 +15,132 +16,167 +15,718 +15,355 +12,340 +14,248 +12,329 +16,713 +17,190 +12,694 +12,299 +14,701 +18,358 +10,662 +14,485)}}	22,259	10,662	{{#expr: (+22,259 +15,132 +16,167 +15,718 +15,355 +12,340 +14,248 +12,329 +16,713 +17,190 +12,694 +12,299 +14,701 +18,358 +10,662 +14,485)/16 round 0}}
6	San Jose Clash	16	{{#expr: (+10,926 +20,117 +7,955 +14,020 +13,605 +11,799 +11,003 +12,771 +11,753 +11,941 +11,629 +14,071 +10,532 +14,295 +17,628 +23,501)}}	23,501	7,955	{{#expr: (+10,926 +20,117 +7,955 +14,020 +13,605 +11,799 +11,003 +12,771 +11,753 +11,941 +11,629 +14,071 +10,532 +14,295 +17,628 +23,501)/16 round 0}}
7	Colorado Rapids	16	{{#expr: (+6,955 +26,599 +7,225 +8,654 +7,809 +8,125 +36,252 +9,850 +13,335 +10,452 +9,452 +10,054 +10,714 +4,120 +4,434 +15,325)}}	36,252	4,120	{{#expr: (+6,955 +26,599 +7,225 +8,654 +7,809 +8,125 +36,252 +9,850 +13,335 +10,452 +9,452 +10,054 +10,714 +4,120 +4,434 +15,325)/16 round 0}}
8	Tampa Bay Mutiny	16	{{#expr: (+16,326 +6,984 +14,062 +9,253 +8,329 +11,296 +8,781 +18,070 +10,111 +9,462 +10,152 +10,112 +13,490 +9,512 +10,143 +15,239)}}	18,070	6,984	{{#expr: (+16,326 +6,984 +14,062 +9,253 +8,329 +11,296 +8,781 +18,070 +10,111 +9,462 +10,152 +10,112 +13,490 +9,512 +10,143 +15,239)/16 round 0}}
9	Dallas Burn	16	{{#expr: (+6,897 +9,032 +10,383 +4,451 +9,092 +7,910 +13,136 +7,371 +16,089 +10,897 +9,014 +15,238 +12,166 +5,911 +6,195 +11,063)}}	16,089	4,451	{{#expr: (+6,897 +9,032 +10,383 +4,451 +9,092 +7,910 +13,136 +7,371 +16,089 +10,897 +9,014 +15,238 +12,166 +5,911 +6,195 +11,063)/16 round 0}}
10	Kansas City Wizards	16	{{#expr: (+12,485 +8,761 +7,619 +9,278 +10,029 +10,149 +9,205 +6,521 +10,124 +7,431 +8,151 +11,152 +9,154 +6,272 +8,406 +10,198)}}	12,485	6,272	{{#expr: (+12,485 +8,761 +7,619 +9,278 +10,029 +10,149 +9,205 +6,521 +10,124 +7,431 +8,151 +11,152 +9,154 +6,272 +8,406 +10,198)/16 round 0}}
Total		160	2,336,889	57,407	4,120	{{#expr: (+2,336,889)/160 round 0}}

External links

• MLS Site

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