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2013 MLS Cup playoffs

The 2013 MLS Cup Playoffs was the eighteenth post-season tournament culminating the Major League Soccer regular season. The tournament began in late October and culminated on December 7, 2013, with MLS Cup 2013, the eighteenth league championship for MLS. This was the third year that the playoffs included ten teams, and the second playoff series since 2006 in which teams could not cross conference brackets. The top five teams in both the Eastern and Western conferences of the league earned berths, with the top three clubs in each conference earning direct byes to the conference semifinals. The fourth and fifth-place finishers of both conferences competed in a single-elimination play-in match.

Format
For 2013, the league kept the format the same as the 2012 edition. In 2012, the league's previous system of "wild card" qualification—which had the potential for "crossover" series in which one team could play in the other conference's bracket—was scrapped. Instead, the current system has the top five teams in each conference qualify for the playoffs and the two conference brackets are entirely separate. The First Round of each conference is a one-off match between the 4th and 5th place teams, similar to the previous wild card system, with the 4th-place team hosting. The First Round winner advances to play the conference's top seed in the Conference Semifinals while the other two teams play each other in the other series. Conference Semifinals and Conference Championship series are conducted in a home-and-away aggregate-goal format, with the higher seed hosting the second leg. If the teams are tied after two games, a 30-minute extra time period (divided into two 15-minute periods) will be played followed by penalty kicks, if necessary. The away goals rule or golden goal is not used. In the case of ties in the First Round and MLS Cup, extra time and penalty kicks are used in the same manner as above. == Qualification ==
Qualification
Eastern Conference Western Conference Tiebreak rules When two or more teams are tied in standings on points the following tiebreak rules apply: • Most wins • Goals for • Goal differential • Fewest disciplinary points in the official points table (foul: 1 pt, first yellow: 3 pts, second yellow: 5 pts, straight red: 6 pts, disciplinary commission suspension: 6 pts, etc.) • Road goals • Road goal differential • Home goals • Home goal differential • Coin toss (two teams) or drawing of lots (three or more teams) == Bracket ==
Schedule
Knockout round Eastern Conference ---- Western Conference Conference semifinals Eastern Conference ---- Sporting Kansas City won 4–3 on aggregate ---- Houston Dynamo won 4–3 on aggregate ---- Western Conference ---- Portland Timbers won 5–3 on aggregate ---- Real Salt Lake won 2–1 on aggregate ---- Conference finals Sporting Kansas City won 2–1 on aggregate ---- Real Salt Lake won 5–2 on aggregate MLS Cup Result == See also ==
Source: Wikipedia ↗
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