The loss hurt. But in the moments after St. Louis CITY SC’s 2-0 Decision Day defeat against the Seattle Sounders, head coach Bradley Carnell was ready to move on. The postseason awaits for CITY, which ended its first regular season in Major League Soccer with the most wins (17) by an expansion club in the post-shootout era and the second-most points (56) ever by an MLS newcomer.
Now, CITY will look to add to its list of inaugural season achievements as it navigates its first trip to the MLS Cup Playoffs. Here’s what you need to know as the playoffs kick off.
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The top seven teams in the Eastern and Western Conference automatically qualified for the first round of the playoffs. The eighth- and ninth-best teams in both conferences also received postseason berths, and will compete in single-elimination wild card matches tonight to earn the right to advance to a best-of-3 series in the first round.
Each of the 16 teams competing in the first round will play at least one home game during the postseason. The higher-seeded teams host the opening match of the series, and the lower-seeded squads host the second game. If a third match is necessary, it will be played at the higher seed’s stadium.
In round one, every game will have a winner. Any match that’s deadlocked at the end of regulation will go to a penalty shootout to determine victory.
In the conference semifinals and conference finals, teams will play in single-elimination matches that are hosted by the higher-seeded squad. If a conference semifinal is tied at the end of regulation, teams will play two, 15-minute periods in their entirety. A shootout will follow if the score remains tied following the extra time.
The MLS Cup match will consist of one game hosted by the team with the best regular-season record. In the event of a tie after 90 minutes, the winning team will be determined by the same extra time/shootout process as the previous round.
FIRST ROUND (best-of-3 series)
Eastern Conference
No. 1 FC Cincinnati vs. Wild Card Winner (No. 8 New York Red Bulls or No. 9 Charlotte FC)
Sun., Oct. 29 (7 p.m. CT, TQL Stadium); Sat., Nov. 4 (6 p.m., TBD); Sat., Nov. 11 (1 p.m., TQL Stadium, if necessary)
No. 2 Orlando City SC vs. No. 7 Nashville SC
Mon., Oct. 30 (6 p.m., Exploria Stadium); Tues., Nov. 7 (8 p.m., GEODIS Park); Sun., Nov. 12 (4 p.m., Exploria Stadium, if necessary)
No. 3 Columbus Crew vs. No. 6 Atlanta United
Wed., Nov. 1 (6:30 p.m., Lower.com Field); Tues., Nov. 7 (6 p.m., Mercedes-Benz Stadium); Sun., Nov. 12 (6 p.m., Lower.com Field, if necessary)
No. 4 Philadelphia Union vs. No. 5 New England Revolution
Sat., Oct. 28 (4 p.m., Subaru Park); Wed., Nov. 8 (6 p.m., Gillette Stadium); Sun., Nov. 12 (2 p.m., Subaru Park, if necessary)
Western Conference
No. 1 St. Louis CITY SC vs. Wild Card Winner (No. 8 Sporting Kansas City)
Sun., Oct. 29 (9 p.m. CT, CITYPARK); Sun., Nov. 5 (4 p.m., at Kansas City); Sat., Nov. 11 (5 p.m., CITYPARK, if necessary)
No. 2 Seattle Sounders vs. No. 7 FC Dallas
Mon., Oct. 30 (8 p.m., Lumen Field); Sat., Nov. 4 (8 p.m., Toyota Stadium); Fri., Nov. 10 (9 p.m., Lumen Field, if necessary)
No. 3 LAFC vs. No. 6 Vancouver Whitecaps
Sat., Oct. 28 (7 p.m., BMO Stadium); Sun., Nov. 5 (6:30 p.m., BC Place); Thurs., Nov. 9 (9 p.m., BMO Stadium, if necessary)
No. 4 Houston Dynamo vs. No. 5 Real Salt Lake
Sun., Oct. 29 (5 p.m., Shell Energy Stadium); Mon., Nov. 6 (8 p.m., America First Field); Sat., Nov. 11 (3 p.m., Shell Energy Stadium, if necessary)
CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS
Eastern Conference
FC Cincinnati or New York Red Bulls/Charlotte FC vs. Philadelphia Union or New England Revolution (Nov. 25–26; hosted by club with best regular season record)
Orlando City SC or Nashville SC vs. Columbus Crew or Atlanta United (Nov. 25–26; hosted by club with best regular season record)
Western Conference
St. Louis CITY SC or Sporting Kansas City vs. Houston Dynamo or Real Salt Lake (Nov. 25–26; hosted by club with best regular season record)
Seattle Sounders or FC Dallas vs. LAFC or Vancouver Whitecaps (Nov. 25–26; hosted by club with best regular season record)
CONFERENCE FINALS
Dec. 2–3, Time TBA
MLS CUP
Sat., Dec. 9, 4 p.m. (determined by Supporters’ Shield standings)
The league leans on the Supporters’ Shield standings—the points accumulated during the regular season—to determine which team will host the MLS Cup final match. That means if FC Cincinnati can stay alive, the game will be played at TQL Stadium.
Otherwise, a number of scenarios could come into play. Here’s how the Supporters’ Shield standings break down to determine the order of potential MLS Cup final match hosts:
- FC Cincinnati
- Orlando City SC
- Columbus Crew
- St. Louis CITY SC
- Philadelphia Union
- New England Revolution
- Seattle Sounders
- LAFC
- Houston Dynamo
- Atlanta United
- Real Salt Lake
- Nashville SC
- Vancouver Whitecaps
- FC Dallas
- Sporting Kansas City
- San Jose Earthquakes
- New York Red Bulls
- Charlotte FC (Note: as the lowest seed in the tournament, Charlotte cannot host the final.)
Ahead of its first appearance in the MLS Cup Playoffs, St. Louis CITY SC had one final opportunity to learn about playoff intensity in last Saturday’s Decision Day clash with the Seattle Sounders.
St. Louis’ performance showed that there might still be some learning to do.
Seattle, a perennial contender, took the season series against CITY by a combined scored of 5-0. Now, St. Louis heads into this weekend’s first round series opener with losses in two in a row, and an urgent need to create its own momentum as the season enters its do-or-die phase.
“We know our last two performances haven’t been great,” midfielder Eduard Löwen said. “We are obviously not happy. But who knows? Maybe it’s for the best. Obviously, unhappy with both of our last performances against Seattle and Vancouver. It’s not satisfying going into the playoffs with such a feeling.”
St. Louis clearly knows that it must be better than its recent form has shown, scoring zero goals and only generating 0.96 expected goals combined over those final two matches of the regular season.
Of course, there are some asterisks.
The loss in Vancouver came after a 4-1 win over Kansas City that clinched first place in the Western Conference. CITY could have set the expansion team points record with a win against Seattle, but ultimately did not have a ton to play for on the final day of the campaign.
Bradley Carnell knows that his club will need to do more in Sunday’s playoff match. But the head coach was also understanding of his club’s performance. Throughout the season, Carnell has functioned like all good coaches, keeping his focus trained on the bigger picture. “You look at Vancouver and you look at this last game, but if you look at the last 10–12 games, the picture looks a lot more rosy,” Carnell said.
“But again, overthinking things never do good either.” Carnell would go on to say, always seeming to have a good grasp on the larger picture, never being too up or too down with any specific performance, even when it doesn’t come close to meeting his high standards.
The players, too, recognize the need to play tighter and execute more sharply against postseason competition.
“We just have to get ourselves together,” Löwen said. “We just have to stick together as a team now and have to work out this week and focus on the playoffs like the season—like nothing else happened, like we are not first in the Western Conference, like we didn’t lose the last two games. It doesn’t matter. The playoffs start now. And that’s why we’re trying to treat that like a new season.”
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That’s the mentality that St. Louis must adopt: Treat this as a new season, with the intensity and attention to details that they’ve used all season to bring out their best. CITY should feel confident, having only lost once to Sporting Kansas City during the regular season.
Regardless of who wins Wednesday night, Carnell will forget the regular season results and have his club ready to fight for playoff success.
“I don’t think anybody in the locker room is happy now with the last two games, but we are excited to kind of clear the slate and start a playoff run,” Carnell said. “It’s about next weekend, and hopefully we can put our principles and who we are … on display.”
As expected, the first home match of CITY’s first round series is officially sold out. However, there are tickets available via SeatGeek—the cheapest price is $101, as of press time.
Keep in mind that some folks may be more willing to part with their passes, given the later-than-appreciated 9 p.m. kickoff at CITYPARK. So it might be worth refreshing your favorite ticket resale app to see if you can catch a bargain.
