2012 Major League Soccer season

Major League Soccer

Season	2012
MLS Cup	Los Angeles Galaxy (4th title)
Supporters' Shield	San Jose Earthquakes (2nd shield)
Champions League (U.S.)	San Jose Earthquakes Los Angeles Galaxy Houston Dynamo Sporting Kansas City (via U.S. Open Cup)
Champions League (Canada)	Toronto FC (via Canadian Championship)
Matches played	323
Goals scored	854 (2.64 per match)
Top goalscorer	Chris Wondolowski (27 goals)
Biggest home win	SJ 5–0 RSL (July 14) DAL 5–0 POR (July 21)
Biggest away win	CHV 0–4 LA (August 12) CHV 2–6 SEA (August 25) CHV 0-4 RSL (September 29)
Highest scoring	8 goals: SJ 5–3 DC (May 2) POR 3–5 LA (July 14) CHV 2–6 SEA (August 25)
Longest winning run	7 matches: Sporting KC (March 10 – April 18)
Longest unbeaten run	11 matches: Sporting KC (August 4 – October 24)
Longest winless run	14 matches: Toronto FC (July 28 – October 28)
Longest losing run	9 matches: Toronto FC (March 17 – May 19)
Highest attendance	66,452 POR @ SEA (October 7)
Lowest attendance	6,149 COL @ NE (May 2)
Average attendance	18,807
← 2011 2013 →

D.C.United

D.C.
United

New YorkRed Bulls

New York
Red Bulls

Columbus Crew

Columbus Crew

New England Revolution

New England Revolution

ChicagoFire

Chicago
Fire

Sporting Kansas City

Sporting Kansas City

Toronto FC

Toronto FC

Philadelphia Union

Philadelphia Union

Montreal Impact

Montreal Impact

Houston Dynamo

Houston Dynamo

Colorado Rapids

FC Dallas

Chivas USA

Los Angeles Galaxy

Portland Timbers

Real
Salt Lake

San Jose Earthquakes

Seattle
Sounders FC

Vancouver
Whitecaps FC

Locations of teams for the 2012 Major League Soccer season
Western Conference   8px Eastern Conference

The 2012 Major League Soccer season was the 100th season of FIFA-sanctioned soccer in the United States and Canada, the 34th with a national first-division league, and the 17th season of Major League Soccer.

The regular season began on March 10, when the Vancouver Whitecaps FC defeated the expansion team Montreal Impact 2–0 at BC Place, and concluded with the host Los Angeles Galaxy defeating the Seattle Sounders FC 1–0 on October 28 at The Home Depot Center. The season also featured the 2012 MLS All-Star Game on July 28, when MLS All-Stars defeated the Chelsea 3–2 at PPL Park (hosted by the Philadelphia Union). The San Jose Earthquakes would go on to become the Supporters' Shield champions by earning the most points of any team throughout the regular season. The 2012 MLS Cup Playoffs ran from October 31 until December 1, when the Los Angeles Galaxy claimed their fourth MLS Cup title by defeating Houston Dynamo 3–1 in MLS Cup 2012 at Home Depot Center in Carson, CA.

Changes from 2011

The 2012 MLS season features several significant on- and off-field changes from 2011:

• The Montreal Impact became the 19th MLS franchise, replacing a same-named Montreal club that previously played in the North American Soccer League in 2011 and in the USL First Division before that. The Impact made their on-field debut on March 10 in a 2–0 loss at Vancouver. The Impact's home debut, a 1–1 draw with the Chicago Fire on March 17, attracted 58,912 to Olympic Stadium, setting the all-time record crowd for professional soccer in Montreal. A 1–1 draw with the Los Angeles Galaxy on May 12 attracted 60,860, setting the all-time attendance record for professional soccer in Canada.
• The Impact joined MLS as the 10th team in the Eastern Conference; the Western Conference remains at 9 teams.
• Each of the 19 teams plays a 34-game regular season schedule, one that employs a new unbalanced format that gives greater emphasis on in-conference matchups.
  • Western Conference clubs will play each conference rival three times, and play once against each Eastern Conference club.
  • Eastern Conference clubs will play seven of their conference rivals three times, the remaining two conference rivals twice, and each Western Conference club once.
  • The span of the regular season will be the longest in MLS history, beginning with 5 matches on March 10 and ending with 3 matches on October 28.
• A change to the Designated Player Rule regarding international players took effect with the start of the 2012 season. The salary cap charge for international designated players (i.e., players not from the U.S. or Canada) will depend on the players' ages:
  • age 20 and younger: $150,000
  • ages 21 to 23: $200,000
  • over 23 years of age: $350,000
• The league gained a new U.S. TV partner in NBC Sports, whose 3-year deal was announced in August 2011 (replacing expired deals with Fox Soccer and Fox Deportes) and began on March 11 with an NBC Sports Network broadcast of the New York Red Bulls/FC Dallas match. As part of the deal, NBC Sports Network will air 38 regular season and 3 playoff matches, while the main NBC network will air 3 regular season and 2 playoff matches (the first time since 2002 that that many MLS games will be broadcast on English-language network television). NBC and NBCSN will also air United States men's national soccer team matches (2 on each network). Previous deals with U.S. partners ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN Deportes, and Galavisión continue in 2012, as do deals with Canadian partners TSN, TSN2, and GolTV.
• The MLS Cup Playoffs setup will undergo several changes, as will the Championship Game, which will be played on its latest date ever, December 1. (see MLS Cup below)

Teams, stadiums, and personnel

Stadiums and locations

Main article: List of Major League Soccer stadiums

Chicago Fire	Chivas USA/ Los Angeles Galaxy	Colorado Rapids	Columbus Crew	D.C. United	FC Dallas
Toyota Park	The Home Depot Center	Dick's Sporting Goods Park	Crew Stadium	RFK Memorial Stadium	FC Dallas Stadium
Capacity: 20,000	Capacity: 27,000	Capacity: 19,680	Capacity: 20,145	Capacity: 19,467	Capacity: 21,193

Houston Dynamo	Montreal Impact	New England Revolution	New York Red Bulls	Philadelphia Union	Portland Timbers
BBVA Compass Stadium	Saputo Stadium	Gillette Stadium	Red Bull Arena	PPL Park	Jeld-Wen Field
Capacity: 22,000	Capacity: 20,801	Capacity: 22,385	Capacity: 25,189	Capacity: 18,500	Capacity: 20,323

Real Salt Lake	San Jose Earthquakes	Seattle Sounders FC	Sporting Kansas City	Toronto FC	Vancouver Whitecaps FC
Rio Tinto Stadium	Buck Shaw Stadium	CenturyLink Field	Livestrong Sporting Park	BMO Field	BC Place
Capacity: 20,213	Capacity: 10,525	Capacity: 38,500	Capacity: 18,467	Capacity: 21,859	Capacity: 21,000

Personnel and sponsorship

Five MLS teams saw changes in jersey sponsorship for the 2012 season:

• Bank of Montreal became the first shirt sponsor for the Montreal Impact.
• The Chicago Fire, who went without a jersey sponsor in 2011, gained one in Quaker Oats Company.
• The Columbus Crew, who also did not have a 2011 jersey sponsor, gained sponsorship from Barbasol.
• Amway Global declined to renew its sponsorship of the San Jose Earthquakes, which has yet to find a replacement.
• On June 27, it was announced that AdvoCare had reached an agreement with FC Dallas to become the first shirt sponsor in club history.

Note: All teams use Adidas as kit manufacturer.

Team	Head coach	Captain	Shirt sponsor
Chicago Fire	Frank Klopas	Logan Pause	Quaker
Chivas USA	Robin Fraser	Alejandro Moreno	Corona
Colorado Rapids	Óscar Pareja	Pablo Mastroeni	—
Columbus Crew	Robert Warzycha	Chad Marshall	Barbasol
D.C. United	Ben Olsen	Dwayne De Rosario	Volkswagen
FC Dallas	Schellas Hyndman	Ugo Ihemelu	AdvoCare
Houston Dynamo	Dominic Kinnear	Brian Ching	Greenstar
Los Angeles Galaxy	Bruce Arena	Landon Donovan	Herbalife
Montreal Impact	Jesse Marsch	Davy Arnaud	Bank of Montreal
New England Revolution	Jay Heaps	Matt Reis	UnitedHealthcare
New York Red Bulls	Hans Backe	Thierry Henry	Red Bull
Philadelphia Union	John Hackworth	Carlos Valdés	Bimbo
Portland Timbers	Gavin Wilkinson	Jack Jewsbury	Alaska Airlines
Real Salt Lake	Jason Kreis	Kyle Beckerman	XanGo
San Jose Earthquakes	Frank Yallop	Ramiro Corrales	—
Seattle Sounders FC	Sigi Schmid	Mauro Rosales	Xbox
Sporting Kansas City	Peter Vermes	Jimmy Nielsen	—
Toronto FC	Paul Mariner	Torsten Frings	Bank of Montreal
Vancouver Whitecaps FC	Martin Rennie	Jay DeMerit	Bell Canada

Player transfers

Main article: List of Major League Soccer transfers 2012

Major League Soccer employs no fewer than 12 methods to acquire players. These include: signing players on transfers/free transfers as is done in most of the world; via trades; drafting players through mechanisms such as the MLS SuperDraft, MLS Supplemental Draft, or MLS Re-Entry Draft; rarely used methods which cover extreme hardship and injury replacement; signing players as Designated Players or Homegrown Players; placing a discovery claim on players; waivers; and methods peculiar to MLS such as through allocation or a weighted lottery.

Allocation ranking

The allocation ranking is the mechanism used to determine which MLS club has first priority to acquire a U.S. National Team player who signs with MLS after playing abroad, or a former MLS player who returns to the League after having gone to a club abroad for a transfer fee. The allocation rankings may also be used in the event two or more clubs file a request for the same player on the same day. The allocations will be ranked in reverse order of finish for the 2011 season, taking playoff performance into account.

Once the club uses its allocation ranking to acquire a player, it drops to the bottom of the list. A ranking can be traded, provided that part of the compensation received in return is another club's ranking. At all times, each club is assigned one ranking. The rankings reset at the end of each MLS League season.

Original Ranking	Club	Date Allocation Used	Player Signed	Player Nation	Previous Club	Club Nation	Ref
1	Montreal Impact	February 17, 2012	Eddie Johnson	United States	Fulham	England
2	Philadelphia Union	June 26, 2012	Bakary Soumaré	Mali	US Boulogne	France
3	New England Revolution	August 27, 2012	Juan Toja	Colombia	Aris	Greece
4	Seattle Sounders FC∞	September 14, 2012	Marcus Hahnemann	United States	Everton	England
5	Chivas USA
6	San Jose Earthquakes
7	D.C. United
8	Portland Timbers
9	Chicago Fire
10	Columbus Crew
11	Colorado Rapids	March 28, 2012	Kamani Hill	United States	Vitória	Portugal
12	FC Dallas
13	New York Red Bulls	August 8, 2012	Luis Robles	United States	Karlsruher SC	Germany

Montreal immediately traded Johnson to Seattle in exchange for Mike Fucito and Lamar Neagle.

Vancouver originally had the No. 2 ranking, but traded it to Philadelphia on June 26.

∞Toronto originally had the No. 4 ranking, but traded it to Seattle on September 14.

The remaining order after FC Dallas is: Vancouver Whitecaps FC (from Philadelphia), Toronto FC (from Seattle), Sporting Kansas City, Real Salt Lake, Houston Dynamo and Los Angeles Galaxy. In the unlikely event that all clubs use an allocation, the order begins anew with Montreal Impact, Colorado Rapids, Philadelphia Union, New York Red Bulls New England Revolution and Seattle Sounders FC.

Weighted lottery

Some players are assigned to MLS teams via a weighted lottery process. A team can only acquire one player per year through a weighted lottery. The players made available through lotteries include: (i) Generation adidas players signed after the MLS SuperDraft; and (ii) Draft eligible players to whom an MLS contract was offered but who failed to sign with the League prior to the SuperDraft.

The team with the worst record over its last 30 regular season games (dating back to previous season if necessary and taking playoff performance into account) will have the greatest probability of winning the lottery. Teams are not required to participate in a lottery. Players are assigned via the lottery system in order to prevent a player from potentially influencing his destination club with a strategic holdout.

The results of 2012 weighted lotteries thus far:

Lottery Date	Player	Player Nation	Position	Winning Club	Other Clubs Participating	Ref
December 15, 2011	Lee Nguyen	USA	MF	Vancouver Whitecaps FC	Toronto FC, FC Dallas, Houston Dynamo, Real Salt Lake, Los Angeles Galaxy
September 13, 2012	Marcus Tracy	USA	FW	San Jose Earthquakes	New England Revolution, FC Dallas, Philadelphia Union, Real Salt Lake, Chicago Fire, New York Red Bulls, Seattle Sounders FC

Ownership changes

Club	New owner	Previous owner	Date
DC United	Erick Thohir and Jason Levien	D.C. United Holdings	July 10, 2012

Regular season standings

Conferences

Eastern Conference

Pos	Team	Pts	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Qualification or relegation
1	Sporting Kansas City (E1)	63	34	18	7	9	42	27	+15	2012 MLS Cup Conference Semifinals
2	D.C. United	58	34	17	10	7	53	43	+10
3	New York Red Bulls	57	34	16	9	9	57	46	+11
4	Chicago Fire	57	34	17	11	6	46	41	+5	2012 MLS Cup Knockout Round
5	Houston Dynamo	53	34	14	9	11	48	41	+7
6	Columbus Crew	52	34	15	12	7	44	44	0
7	Montreal Impact	42	34	12	16	6	45	51	−6
8	Philadelphia Union	36	34	10	18	6	37	45	−8
9	New England Revolution	35	34	9	17	8	39	44	−5
10	Toronto FC	23	34	5	21	8	36	62	−26

Updated to matches played on 18:04 EDT October 28, 2012. Source: MLSSoccer.com
Notation Key:

(E1) = Eastern Conference champion

Western Conference

Pos	Team	Pts	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Qualification or relegation
1	San Jose Earthquakes (SS) (W1)	66	34	19	6	9	72	43	+29	2012 MLS Cup Conference Semifinals
2	Real Salt Lake	57	34	17	11	6	46	35	+11
3	Seattle Sounders FC	56	34	15	8	11	51	33	+18
4	LA Galaxy	54	34	16	12	6	59	47	+12	2012 MLS Cup Knockout Round
5	Vancouver Whitecaps FC	43	34	11	13	10	35	41	−6
6	FC Dallas	39	34	9	13	12	42	47	−5
7	Colorado Rapids	37	34	11	19	4	44	50	−6
8	Portland Timbers	34	34	8	16	10	34	56	−22
9	Chivas USA	30	34	7	18	9	24	58	−34

Updated to matches played on October 28, 2012. Source: MLSSoccer.com
Notation Key:

(SS) = Supporters Shield winner

(W1) = Western Conference champion

Overall table

Note: the table below has no impact on playoff qualification and is used solely for determining host of the MLS Cup, certain CCL spots, seeding in the 2013 Canadian Championship, and 2013 MLS draft. The conference tables are the sole determinant for teams qualifying for the playoffs.

Pos	Team	Pts	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Qualification or relegation
1	San Jose Earthquakes (SS)	66	34	19	6	9	72	43	+29	2013–14 CONCACAF Champions League 1
2	Sporting Kansas City	63	34	18	7	9	42	27	+15
3	D.C. United	58	34	17	10	7	53	43	+10
4	New York Red Bulls	57	34	16	9	9	57	46	+11
5	Real Salt Lake	57	34	17	11	6	46	35	+11
6	Chicago Fire	57	34	17	11	6	46	41	+5
7	Seattle Sounders FC	56	34	15	8	11	51	33	+18
8	LA Galaxy	54	34	16	12	6	59	47	+12	2013–14 CONCACAF Champions League 1
9	Houston Dynamo	53	34	14	9	11	48	41	+7
10	Columbus Crew	52	34	15	12	7	44	44	0
11	Vancouver Whitecaps FC	43	34	11	13	10	35	41	−6
12	Montreal Impact	42	34	12	16	6	45	51	−6
13	FC Dallas	39	34	9	13	12	42	47	−5
14	Colorado Rapids	37	34	11	19	4	44	50	−6
15	Philadelphia Union	36	34	10	18	6	37	45	−8
16	New England Revolution	35	34	9	17	8	39	44	−5
17	Portland Timbers	34	34	8	16	10	34	56	−22
18	Chivas USA	30	34	7	18	9	24	58	−34
19	Toronto FC	23	34	5	21	8	36	62	−26	2012–13 CONCACAF Champions League 2

Updated to matches played on October 28, 2012. Source: MLSSoccer.com
Notation Key:

(SS) = Supporters Shield winner

¹The highest ranked U.S.-based MLS club qualifies to the 2013–14 CONCACAF Champions League (placed in Pot A). The other U.S. representatives in the 2013–14 CONCACAF Champions League are:

• Winner of the 2012 MLS Cup (Pot A)
• Runner-up of the 2012 MLS Cup (Pot B)
• Winner of the 2012 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup (Pot B)

²Toronto FC qualified for the 2012–13 CONCACAF Champions League as winners of the 2012 Canadian Championship.

Tiebreak rules

When two or more teams are tied in standings on points the following tiebreak rules apply:

1. Goals for
2. Goal differential
3. Fewest disciplinary points in the official points table Archived August 10, 2012, at the Wayback Machine (foul - 1 pt, first yellow - 3 pts, second yellow - 5 pts, straight red - 6 pts, disciplinary commission suspension - 6 pts, etc.)
4. Road goals
5. Road goal differential
6. Coin toss (2 teams) or drawing of lots (3 or more teams)

Playoff bracket

Main article: 2012 MLS Cup Playoffs

Statistical leaders

Full article: MLS Golden Boot

Top scorers

Rank	Player	Nation	Club	Goals
1	Chris Wondolowski	USA	San Jose Earthquakes	27
2	Kenny Cooper	USA	New York Red Bulls	18
3	Álvaro Saborío	CRC	Real Salt Lake	17
4	Robbie Keane	IRE	Los Angeles Galaxy	16
5	Thierry Henry	FRA	New York Red Bulls	15
6	Eddie Johnson	USA	Seattle Sounders FC	14
7	Alan Gordon	USA	San Jose Earthquakes	13
	Fredy Montero	COL	Seattle Sounders FC	13
9	Will Bruin	USA	Houston Dynamo	12
	Chris Pontius	USA	D.C. United	12
11	Kei Kamara	SLE	Sporting Kansas City	11
	Saër Sène	FRA	New England Revolution	11

Source:

Top assists

Rank	Player	Nation	Club	Assists
1	Graham Zusi	USA	Sporting Kansas City	15
2	Landon Donovan	USA	Los Angeles Galaxy	14
3	Marvin Chávez	HON	San Jose Earthquakes	13
	Mauro Rosales	ARG	Seattle Sounders FC	13
5	Brad Davis	USA	Houston Dynamo	12
	Dwayne De Rosario	CAN	D.C. United	12
	Thierry Henry	FRA	New York Red Bulls	12
8	Felipe Martins	BRA	Montreal Impact	10
9	David Beckham	ENG	Los Angeles Galaxy	9
	David Ferreira	COL	FC Dallas	9
	Robbie Keane	IRE	Los Angeles Galaxy	9
	Javier Morales	ARG	Real Salt Lake	9

Source:

Top goalkeepers

(Minimum of 1,500 minutes played)

Rank	Goalkeeper	Nation	Club	GAA	SV	GA	Mins	GP	ShO
1	Michael Gspurning	AUT	Seattle Sounders FC	0.70	63	15	1935	22	9
2	Jimmy Nielsen	DEN	Sporting Kansas City	0.79	77	27	3060	34	15
3	Bill Hamid	USA	D.C. United	1.03	90	25	2177	25	8
	Nick Rimando	USA	Real Salt Lake	1.03	88	33	2880	32	13
5	Tally Hall	USA	Houston Dynamo	1.19	88	39	2946	33	12
6	Sean Johnson	USA	Chicago Fire	1.24	108	38	2766	31	5
7	Andy Gruenebaum	USA	Columbus Crew	1.26	124	41	2920	33	8
8	Josh Saunders	PRI	Los Angeles Galaxy	1.33	80	36	2430	27	9
9	Joe Cannon	USA	Vancouver Whitecaps FC	1.34	73	34	2277	26	8
	Zac MacMath	USA	Philadelphia Union	1.34	93	43	2880	32	8

Source:

Individual awards

Monthly awards

Month	MLS Player of the Month
	Player	Nation	Club	Link
March	Thierry Henry	FRA	New York Red Bulls	5G 3A Archived November 1, 2014, at the Wayback Machine
April	Chris Wondolowski	USA	San Jose Earthquakes	4G 2A Archived July 23, 2014, at the Wayback Machine
May	Dwayne De Rosario	CAN	D.C. United	4G 3A Archived May 17, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
June	Chris Wondolowski	USA	San Jose Earthquakes	3G 0A
July	Robbie Keane	IRL	Los Angeles Galaxy	5G 4A
August	Patrice Bernier	CAN	Montreal Impact	3G 3A
September	Chris Wondolowski	USA	San Jose Earthquakes	4G 2A Archived August 30, 2014, at the Wayback Machine
October	Chris Wondolowski	USA	San Jose Earthquakes	5G 0A Archived June 29, 2015, at the Wayback Machine

Weekly awards

Week	Player of the Week			AT&T Goal of the Week			MLS Save of the Week
	Player	Nat	Club	Player	Nat	Club	Player	Nat	Club
Week 1	Kalif Alhassan	GHA	Portland Timbers	Kris Boyd	SCO	Portland Timbers	Nick Rimando	USA	Real Salt Lake
Week 2	David Estrada	USA	Seattle Sounders FC	Ryan Johnson	JAM	Toronto FC	Joe Cannon	USA	Vancouver Whitecaps FC
Week 3	Thierry Henry	FRA	New York Red Bulls	Thierry Henry	FRA	New York Red Bulls	Joe Cannon	USA	Vancouver Whitecaps FC
Week 4	Thierry Henry	FRA	New York Red Bulls	Darlington Nagbe	LBR	Portland Timbers	Paolo Tornaghi	ITA	Chicago Fire
Week 5	Thierry Henry	FRA	New York Red Bulls	Álvaro Saborío	CRC	Real Salt Lake	Donovan Ricketts	JAM	Montreal Impact
Week 6	Dan Kennedy	USA	Chivas USA	David Beckham	ENG	Los Angeles Galaxy	Nick Rimando	USA	Real Salt Lake
Week 7	Chris Pontius	USA	D.C. United	Kyle Beckerman	USA	Real Salt Lake	Jimmy Nielsen	DEN	Sporting Kansas City
Week 8	Steven Lenhart	USA	San Jose Earthquakes	Marco Pappa	GUA	Chicago Fire	Nick Rimando	USA	Real Salt Lake
Week 9	Chris Wondolowski	USA	San Jose Earthquakes	Fredy Montero	COL	Seattle Sounders FC	Nick Rimando	USA	Real Salt Lake
Week 10	Lee Nguyen	USA	New England Revolution	David Beckham	ENG	Los Angeles Galaxy	Sean Johnson	USA	Chicago Fire
Week 11	Dwayne De Rosario	CAN	D.C. United	Fredy Montero	COL	Seattle Sounders FC	Andy Gruenebaum	USA	Columbus Crew
Week 12	Emilio Rentería	VEN	Columbus Crew	C. J. Sapong	USA	Sporting Kansas City	Troy Perkins	USA	Portland Timbers
Week 13–15	Patrice Bernier	CAN	Montreal Impact	Júlio César	BRA	Sporting Kansas City	Jimmy Nielsen	DEN	Sporting Kansas City
Week 16	Landon Donovan	USA	Los Angeles Galaxy	Patrick Ianni	USA	Seattle Sounders FC	Jason Hernandez	USA	San Jose Earthquakes
Week 17	Danny Koevermans	NED	Toronto FC	Chris Wondolowski	USA	San Jose Earthquakes	Josh Saunders	PUR	Los Angeles Galaxy
Week 18	Álvaro Saborío	CRC	Real Salt Lake	Jack McInerney	USA	Philadelphia Union	Jimmy Nielsen	DEN	Sporting Kansas City
Week 19	Chris Wondolowski	USA	San Jose Earthquakes	David Beckham	ENG	Los Angeles Galaxy	Jimmy Nielsen	DEN	Sporting Kansas City
Week 20	Calen Carr	USA	Houston Dynamo	Jose Villarreal	USA	Los Angeles Galaxy	Matt Reis	USA	New England Revolution
Week 21	Jairo Arrieta	CRC	Columbus Crew	Saër Sène	FRA	New England Revolution	Sean Johnson	USA	Chicago Fire
Week 22	Eddie Johnson	USA	Seattle Sounders FC	Felipe Martins	BRA	Montreal Impact	Kevin Hartman	USA	FC Dallas
Week 23	Landon Donovan	USA	Los Angeles Galaxy	Sanna Nyassi	GAM	Montreal Impact	Troy Perkins	USA	Montreal Impact
Week 24	David Ferreira	COL	FC Dallas	Lamar Neagle	USA	Montreal Impact	Donovan Ricketts	JAM	Portland Timbers
Week 25	Federico Higuaín	ARG	Columbus Crew	Marco Di Vaio	ITA	Montreal Impact	Steven Smith	SCO	Portland Timbers
Week 26	Federico Higuaín	ARG	Columbus Crew	David Beckham	ENG	Los Angeles Galaxy	Matt Pickens	USA	Colorado Rapids
Week 27	Eddie Johnson	USA	Seattle Sounders FC	Eddie Johnson	USA	Seattle Sounders FC	Nick Rimando	USA	Real Salt Lake
Week 28	Sean Johnson	USA	Chicago Fire	Fredy Montero	COL	Seattle Sounders FC	Marcelo Sarvas	BRA	Los Angeles Galaxy
Week 29	Thierry Henry	FRA	New York Red Bulls	Javier Morales	ARG	Real Salt Lake	Nick Rimando	USA	Real Salt Lake
Week 30	Chris Wondolowski	USA	San Jose Earthquakes	Álvaro Saborío	CRC	Real Salt Lake	Nick Rimando	USA	Real Salt Lake
Week 31	Thierry Henry	FRA	New York Red Bulls	Robbie Keane	IRE	Los Angeles Galaxy	Jimmy Nielsen	DEN	Sporting Kansas City
Week 32	Chris Wondolowski	USA	San Jose Earthquakes	Jack Jewsbury	USA	Portland Timbers	Jimmy Nielsen	DEN	Sporting Kansas City
Week 33	Brad Evans	USA	Seattle Sounders FC	Jacob Peterson	USA	Sporting Kansas City
Week 34	Kenny Cooper	USA	New York Red Bulls

Scoring

• First goal of the season: Sébastien Le Toux for Vancouver Whitecaps FC against Montreal Impact, 3 minutes 1 second (March 10, 2012)
• Hat-tricks of the season:
  • David Estrada for Seattle Sounders FC against Toronto FC (March 17, 2012)
  • Thierry Henry for New York Red Bulls against Montreal Impact (March 31, 2012)
  • Chris Pontius for D.C. United against New York Red Bulls (April 22, 2012)
  • Álvaro Saborío for Real Salt Lake against Portland Timbers (July 7, 2012)
  • Chris Wondolowski for San Jose Earthquakes against Real Salt Lake (July 14, 2012)
  • Fredy Montero for Seattle Sounders FC against Chivas USA (August 25, 2012)
  • Álvaro Saborío for Real Salt Lake against Chivas USA (September 29, 2012)
  • Chris Wondolowski for San Jose Earthquakes against Colorado Rapids (October 6, 2012)
• Fastest hat-trick of the season:
  • Álvaro Saborío for Real Salt Lake against Portland Timbers, 16 minutes and 8 seconds (July 7, 2012)

Discipline

• First yellow card of the season: Milovan Mirošević for Columbus Crew against Colorado Rapids, 40 minutes (March 10, 2012)
• First red card of the season: Stephen McCarthy for New England Revolution against Sporting Kansas City, 14 minutes (March 17, 2012)

Related competitions

International competitions and friendlies

CONCACAF Champions League

Main articles: 2011–12 CONCACAF Champions League and 2012–13 CONCACAF Champions League

Prior to the start of the MLS regular season, Toronto FC defeated Los Angeles Galaxy while Mexican side Santos Laguna defeated Seattle Sounders FC in two of the 2011–12 CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinal series. Toronto FC then lost 3–7 on aggregate in the semifinal with Santos Laguna.

In the 2012–13 CCL, Los Angeles Galaxy, Seattle Sounders, Houston Dynamo and Real Salt Lake earned group stage spots (the preliminary round has been eliminated). The Canadian representative, determined by the 2012 Canadian Championship, was Toronto FC.

At the end of the groups stages, the Los Angeles Galaxy, Seattle Sounders, and Houston Dynamo qualified for the quarterfinals, which will be played in March 2013.

MLS All-Star Game

Main article: 2012 MLS All-Star Game

The 2012 MLS All-Star Game was played on July 25 at PPL Park in Chester, Pennsylvania, home stadium of the Philadelphia Union. As has been the format every year since 2005, the MLS All-Stars played an international club; the 2012 opponent was England's Chelsea FC, 2012 champions of both the FA Cup and UEFA Champions League and visiting side in the 2006 MLS All-Star Game (when they lost to the All-Stars, 1–0, at Toyota Park in Bridgeview, Illinois). The MLS All-Stars won the game 3–2.

Domestic competitions

Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup

Main articles: 2012 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup and 2012 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup qualification

For the 2012 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup tournament, U.S. Soccer has increased the size of the main tournament from 40 to 64 clubs, assembling the competition so that all U.S.-based Major League Soccer clubs gain entry. On August 8, 2012, Sporting Kansas City defeated the Seattle Sounders on penalties to win the franchise's second open cup title.

Canadian Championship

Main article: 2012 Canadian Championship

The three Canadian-based MLS clubs, Toronto FC, Montreal Impact and Vancouver Whitecaps FC, along with NASL club FC Edmonton, competed for the Voyageurs Cup, Canada's national championship trophy. The tournament is organized in a knockout format with two-legged ties in both the semifinals and final, with the away goals rule in place. Toronto defeated Vancouver in the finals, their fourth consecutive national championship, and qualified for the 2012–13 CONCACAF Champions League.

League Competitions

MLS Cup

Main article: 2012 MLS Cup Playoffs

The MLS Cup playoffs took place after the conclusion of the regular season. For 2012, the playoff structure underwent several changes:

• The playoffs will no longer feature wild cards and the possibility of "crossovers" (i.e. teams from opposite conferences playing in the early rounds). Instead, the top five clubs in each conference's standings will qualify for the playoffs and will play in the following manner:
  • The 4th place team will host the 5th place team in a single "play-in" match, with the winner advancing to the conference semifinals.
  • The Conference Semifinals will again be a two-game aggregate goal setup as before (with extra time and penalty kicks employed if the aggregate is level after 180 minutes). The 1st place team will play the winner of the 4th/5th game, while the 2nd and 3rd place teams play each other. The lower-seeded team will host the first leg of each semifinal.
  • The semifinal winners will play each other in the Conference Finals, which will be altered to a two-game aggregate series patterned after the semifinal round (before this year, this round was a single-game format).
• The Conference Final winners will advance to the MLS Cup Championship Game, which for the first time will be played at the home stadium of the finalist with the better regular season point total; before this season, the game was played at a predetermined site.

Coaches

Eastern Conference

• Chicago Fire: Frank Klopas
• Columbus Crew: Robert Warzycha
• D.C. United: Ben Olsen
• Houston Dynamo: Dominic Kinnear
• Montreal Impact: Jesse Marsch
• New England Revolution: Jay Heaps
• New York Red Bulls: Hans Backe
• Philadelphia Union: Peter Nowak and John Hackworth
• Sporting Kansas City: Peter Vermes
• Toronto FC: Paul Mariner

Western Conference

• Chivas USA: Robin Fraser
• Colorado Rapids: Óscar Pareja
• FC Dallas: Schellas Hyndman
• Los Angeles Galaxy: Bruce Arena
• Portland Timbers: John Spencer and Gavin Wilkinson
• Real Salt Lake: Jason Kreis
• San Jose Earthquakes: Frank Yallop
• Seattle Sounders FC: Sigi Schmid
• Vancouver Whitecaps FC: Martin Rennie

Notes

References