Sporting Kansas City, the No. 1 seed in the East for the 2012 MLS Cup Playoffs, will face either the Chicago Fire or Houston Dynamo in the Eastern Conference Semifinals on the club's Quest for the Cup, presented by Budweiser.
Following results around Major League Soccer on Saturday, the No. 4 seed Chicago Fire will host the No. 5 seed Houston Dynamo in the Eastern Conference knockout round on Oct. 31 or Nov. 1. The winner will advance to host Sporting Kansas City in the first leg of the Eastern Conference Semifinals on Nov. 3 or 4.
Sporting Kansas City will then return home to host the decisive second leg on Nov. 7 at LIVESTRONG Sporting Park. A limited number of tickets are still available and can be purchased online at Ticketmaster.com or at the LSP Box Offices.
The Eastern Conference Semifinals will be determined by aggregate scoring in the two-game series. 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.
Additional information for the postseason, including kick-off times and broadcast details will be announced at a later date. For all the latest, visit the SportingKC.com Playoff Guide.
Sporting Kansas City went 1-2-0 against Chicago and 0-1-2 against Houston during the 2012 regular season. The club finished in first place in the Eastern Conference for the second straight year, setting team records for most points (63) and victories (18) in a single season.
Sporting Kansas City supporters are encouraged to attend the Kansas City Cauldron's playoff rally on Tuesday, Oct. 30 at Crossroads KC at Grinders (417 E 18th St Kansas City, MO). The rally will feature a special playoff preview edition of The Sporting KC Show on Sports Radio 810 WHB, hosted by Callum Williams and Jake Yadrich from 7-8 p.m. CT live on location. The rally will officially kick off at 8 p.m. CT with Border Patrol co-host Nate Bukaty serving as the emcee for the special event.
Sporting Kansas City players will be in attendance and admission is free for all ages. Doors open at 6 p.m. CT and there will be random prizes given away throughout the rally, including a grand prize drawing for 2013 Sporting Kansas City Season Tickets.
2012 MLS Cup Playoffs - Eastern Conference seeds
- Sporting Kansas City (63)
- D.C. United (58)
- New York Red Bulls (57)
- Chicago Fire (57)
- Houston Dynamo (53)
Points total does not include tonight's match
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.
