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News, Blog and GuidesLAFC host Houston Dynamo in the Western Conference Final, with Ohio rivals FC Cincinnati and Columbus Crew facing off in the Eastern.
Roddy ConsRoddyConsUpdate: Dec 2nd, 2023 06:41 EST
Kiyoshi MioUSA TODAY Sports via Reuters Con
After nine-and-a-bit long months, the MLS 2023 season is reaching its conclusion, with four teams still in the hunt to be crowned MLS Cup winners: Los Angeles FC, Houston Dynamo, FC Cincinnati and Columbus Crew.
LAFC bidding for back-to-back MLS Cups
The Conference Finals will be played on Saturday, with Carlos Vela’s LAFC hoping to progress to the season’s showpiece game and become the first team since city rivals Los Angeles Galaxy to win back-to-back MLS Cups (2011 and 2012).
Houston Dynamo have also achieved that feat, quite incredibly in their first two seasons in MLS back in 2006 and 2007. They haven’t won the MLS Cup since then but incidentally were the beaten finalists in those LA Galaxy triumphs.
Can't wait for Saturday night. 🍿Conference Finals doubleheader:▪️ 6pm ET: #AllForCincy vs. #Crew96▪️ 9:30pm ET: #LAFC vs. #HoldItDown pic.twitter.com/yZpggpu5Co
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) November 29, 2023
FC Cincinnati in first Conference Final
FC Cincinnati, who have only competed in MLS since 2019, won the 2023 Supportes’ Shield with games to spare and have reached their first ever Conference Final, which just happens to be a Hell is Real derby in Ohio.
Their opponents will be MLS charter club Columbus Crew, who are three-time Supporters Shield winners and two-time MLS Cup champions, most recently in 2020.
With the post-season playoffs bringing together the best teams in the country, there is always a reasonable chance of matches ending in a tie, which several already have done this year. Depending on the round, different tiebreakers are used, especially in the early part of the knockout stages.
Different tiebreakers in Wild Card round and Round One
In the one-off Wild Card matches, for instance, matches which finished level after 90 minutes skipped extra time and went straight to a penalty shootout (as happened in the Western Conference clash between Sporting Kansas City and San Jose Earthquakes).
Hell is Real tifo never misses. 🔥 pic.twitter.com/2GGiReZXnz
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) December 2, 2023
Round One was a best-of-three series, with each match in the series producing a winner. Again, games that were tied after 90 minutes had no extra time and went straight to penalties. This year, Conference Finalists Cincinnati and Houston Dynamo both won Round One matches from the spot, with the Texans also losing one against Real Salt Lake.
