Sporting Kansas City will host the second leg of the Eastern Conference Semifinals on Nov. 7 at LIVESTRONG Sporting Park, the club announced Wednesday. Tickets to see Sporting Kansas City in the 2012 MLS Cup Playoffs, presented by Budweiser, begin at $30 and are available online at Ticketmaster.com or at the LSP Box Offices.
The team will play the first leg of the Eastern Conference Semifinals on the road on Nov. 3 or 4. Opponent, kick-off time and broadcast information for the series will be determined pending the completion of the Major League Soccer regular season on Sunday and, if applicable, the Eastern Conference Knockout Round on Oct. 31.
Sporting Kansas City holds a three-point lead atop the Eastern Conference standings ahead of tonight’s regular season finale against the Philadelphia Union at LIVESTRONG Sporting Park. The team has set club records in 2012 with 17 wins and 60 points, and is unbeaten in their last 11 MLS matches.
Sporting Kansas City can clinch the conference’s top spot for the second straight season and the No. 2 overall seed in the MLS Cup Playoffs, presented by Budweiser, with a draw or win against the Philadelphia Union tonight. Tickets for tonight’s match, sponsored by Garmin, are available online at Ticketmaster.com or at the LSP Box Offices.
The 2012 MLS Cup Playoffs, presented by Budweiser, will feature the top five teams from each conference and will culminate with MLS Cup on December 1.
2012 MLS Cup Playoffs Field (seeding as of 10/23/12)
Eastern Conference
1.Sporting Kansas City (60)
2.D.C. United (57)
3. Chicago Fire (56)
4.New York Red Bulls (54)
5.Houston Dynamo (53)
Western Conference
1.San Jose Earthquakes (65)
2.Seattle Sounders FC (56)
3.Real Salt Lake (56)
4.LA Galaxy (51)
5.Vancouver Whitecaps FC (42)
2012 MLS Cup Playoffs Format
The fourth and fifth place teams in each conference will play a single knockout game, the winner of which will advance to the Conference Semifinals and face the first place team in the conference.
The four Conference Semifinals will be decided by two-game aggregate series, with the lower seed hosting the first leg and the higher seed hosting the second leg. If the aggregate score is tied after 180 minutes of play, two 15-minute extra time periods will be played in their entirety, followed by penalty kicks, if necessary.
The two Conference Championships will be decided by a two-game aggregate series, with the lower seed hosting the first leg and the higher seed hosting the second leg.
MLS Cup will be a single championship match hosted by the higher seed. The finalist with the most regular season points will host MLS Cup. If the two finalists have the same number of regular season points, the tiebreakers for playoff qualification will be applied to determine the host team.
