Sounders FC maintained the top spot in the Supporters’ Shield standings, but the field grew nearer as Seattle fell to the New York Red Bulls on Saturday.
The LA Galaxy joined Seattle as the only two teams to clinch a playoff berth after LA beat FC Dallas 2-1 on Saturday. Meanwhile, Real Salt Lake crept closer to the top spot with an emphatic 5-1 win on Friday and the Portland Timbers continued to trade the fifth spot with Vancouver Whitecaps FC after a 3-0 win over their Cascadia Cup rivals on Saturday.
For the rest of the season, Seattle will be playing six-point games against Western Conference opponents and the standings could take dramatic shifts from one week to the next. However, here is how the playoff picture would look if the season ended today.
Seattle (17-8-3) is now tied with the LA Galaxy (15-5-9) with 54 points, however, Sounders FC holds the first tie-breaker due to its 17 wins to 15 for LA. With its edge in the tie-breaker, Seattle would await the winner of the Knockout Round match between Dallas and Portland. The first match would be played at the home stadium of the winner of that playoff match, with the second coming at CenturyLink Field.
Seattle is 4-0-1 against Portland and Dallas this season, with the final match of the season against those opponents on Wednesday at Toyota Stadium, as Seattle plays its game in hand against FC Dallas.
READ: Loss to Red Bulls won't deter Sounders from end of season goals
The other Western Conference matchup would put No. 2 LA against No. 3 Salt Lake, who is five points behind Seattle and LA, but could benefit from a pair of matches between the Sounders and Galaxy to close out the season.
Vancouver is just two points behind the Timbers for the fifth and final playoff spot.
In the East, the New York Red Bulls pulled closer to the top clubs in the East, but remain in fourth and would face the Columbus Crew in the Knockout Round. The winner would advance to face top-seeded D.C. United. Second-seeded Sporting Kansas City would meet the No. 3 New England Revolution on the other side of the bracket, though New England now holds just a one-point lead on New York for the third position.
The Philadelphia Union and Toronto FC are both within shouting distance of the fifth playoff spot, Philadelphia sitting one point back with five matches left to play and Toronto three points back with six matches left on the schedule.
