SANDY, UTAH – On decision day, all Sporting KC had to do was get a win in order to land their second Western Conference Regular-Season crown in the last three years. Ankle deep snow and their biggest rival in recent years stood in front of them. They dispatched them with ease as they won 2-0.
Sporting Kansas City top Western Conference, last-minute flurry drops LAFC to seventh
A 2-0 win was the single result that could clinch Sporting KC the first seed in the West. While that was taken care of, any other result would’ve relied on both Portland or Seattle dropping points for the same result to happen. But those scenarios were not necessary.
Khiry Shelton deflected Ilie’s shot home for the lead in the first half. And in the second half, Erik Hurtado rounded the keeper and finished from a tight angle to make it 2-0.
Seattle takes second
The Seattle Sounders started the day in third, but were able to leap-frog their Cascadia counter-parts thanks to a strong second half from Jordan Morris and Raul Ruidiaz. Locked at 0-0 at the half, the Sounders jumped out to a 2-0 lead very quickly. A Marcos Lopez stunner of a free-kick made it 2-1, but the Sounders got it to 4-1 and clinched second in the west.
Portland lands third
Down 1-0 for a significant part of the match, the Timbers were going to need a multi-goal comeback on the road at LAFC to overtake Seattle. Their late goal to equalize at one all sent LAFC all the way to seventh place, catapulting Colorado and FC Dallas ahead of them. LAFC will likely have to spend its entire postseason on the road, unless they manage to face the San Jose Earthquakes in Conference Finals.
Your Quarterfinal Matchups
The Western Conference Seeding goes a little like this:
- Sporting KC
- Seattle Sounders
- Portland Timbers
- Minnesota United
- Colorado Rapids
- FC Dallas
- LAFC
- San Jose Earthquakes
This means, yes, we get Seattle vs. LAFC in the first round, to precede a potential Cascadia Cup Conference Semi-Final. For Sporting KC, they can potentially avoid the entirety of LAFC, Seattle, and Portland until the Conference Finals, or entirely if FC Dallas manages to get there themselves. Ultimately, the road through the west is made of yellow bricks and leads to Kansas (yes, Children’s Mercy Park sits on the Kansas side of Kansas City).
