MLS Team of the Week: Altidore and Valdez Dazzle in Postseason
The home teams were thoroughly dominant during the opening two rounds of the Major League Soccer postseason.
Three of the four home sides advanced out of the knockout round by a combined score of 9-6. Only the Montreal Impact were able to pull out a result on the road.
The results were even more lopsided on Sunday as Montreal, LA, Toronto and Seattle outscored their opponents 7-0 on home soil in the first leg of the conference semi-finals.
Seattle, led by unexpected hero Nelson Valdez, came closest to securing a spot in the next round, as they defeated FC Dallas 3-0 at CenturyLink Field.
We considered performances from both the knockout round and first leg of the conference semi-final round for our MLS Team of the Week.
Continue reading to see who fit into our best XI from the first week of the MLS play-offs.
GK: Stefan Frei, Seattle Sounders
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Stefan Frei was the only goalkeeper to record two clean sheets in the first week of the postseason.
The Seattle Sounders netminder picked up his first shutout on Thursday night in the club's 1-0 win over Sporting Kansas City in the final knockout round match.
Frei continued his strong play on Sunday as he made three saves in the 3-0 first leg win over FC Dallas at CenturyLink Field.
A third consecutive shutout in the second leg would have more people talking about the Sounders defense as they surge toward MLS Cup.
DEF: Joevin Jones, Seattle Sounders
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Joevin Jones picked up a pair of assists during Seattle's eight-minute onslaught at the start of the second half on Sunday.
The Trinidad and Tobago international unleashed a perfect cross from the left wing in the 50th minute that found the head of the suddenly hot Nelson Valdez.
Jones helped Nicolas Lodeiro complete his brace eight minutes later as he fed the Uruguayan with a through ball down the left side of the pitch.
In addition to his offensive success, Jones and his teammates in defense limited FC Dallas to three shots on target.
DEF: Jared Watts, Colorado Rapids
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Without Jared Watts' showing at the back, the Colorado Rapids would be facing a much larger deficit in the second leg of their Western Conference semifinal with the LA Galaxy.
The center-back delivered a superb first half that featured a few key blocks in front of the net to keep the match at StubHub Center scoreless.
Pablo Mastroeni's men were unlucky to lose on Sunday, as Giovani dos Santos' game-winner took an unfortunate bounce off Axel Sjoberg on its way into the net.
Colorado are in good position to come out on top in the second leg, especially if they defend like they did for the majority of the first leg.
DEF: Jelle Van Damme, LA Galaxy
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Giovani dos Santos may have scored the Galaxy goal on Sunday, but Jelle Van Damme deserves all the credit for setting it up.
The Belgian defender, who made a healthy amount of surges forward in the club's first two play-off games, used some tricky skill on the left side of the box to get around a defender and find Dos Santos at the top of the penalty area.
The Defender of the Year front-runner also held the Rapids to one shot on target in the first leg. The lone attempt was a long-distance rocket from substitute Jermaine Jones in the second half.
Van Damme and his partners in defense felt more pressure on Wednesday in the knockout-round match against Real Salt Lake, as the Claret and Cobalt fired off five shots on target, one of which beat Brian Rowe.
DEF: Laurent Ciman, Montreal Impact
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The Montreal Impact have played 180 minutes of perfect play-off soccer.
The best 90 minutes from Mauro Biello's side came on Sunday, as they shut down all facets of the New York Red Bulls attack.
Laurent Ciman kept a close eye on Golden Boot winner Bradley Wright-Phillips and held him without a shot on target in the Impact's 1-0 win at Stade Saputo.
Ciman, who also scored in Thursday's Eastern Conference knockout-round win over D.C. United, faces a bigger task in the second leg, as the Red Bulls attempt to break through at home.
MID: Nicolas Lodeiro, Seattle Sounders
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The best midseason signing in MLS continued his impressive play in front of the net with a pair of tallies in Seattle's impressive three-goal victory at home.
Nicolas Lodeiro benefited from nice work by Jordan Morris and Joevin Jones on his strikes in the 55th and 58th minutes.
Sunday's brace was a welcome performance for Lodeiro, who entered the postseason with one goal in his final four regular-season contests.
All the Sounders need in the second leg is one away goal to finish off FC Dallas. We wouldn't be surprised if Lodeiro is the player who officially kills the treble hopes of Oscar Pareja's side.
MID: Emmanuel Boateng, LA Galaxy
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Every year the LA Galaxy find a way to get the best out of a player who had a slow regular season in the play-offs.
Emmanuel Boateng emerged as that man on Wednesday night as he bagged a brace against Real Salt Lake at StubHub Center.
Boateng scored in the 26th and 34th minutes to hand the Galaxy a comfortable 3-1 win that set up the Western Conference semifinal clash with the Rapids.
In order to leave Dick's Sporting Goods Park with a spot in the Western Conference Final, Boateng must use his speed to find cracks in the organized Colorado back line.
MID: Patrice Bernier, Montreal Impact
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Patrice Bernier isn't a perennial all-star player in the regular season, but he turns into a different man when the postseason arrives.
Bernier, who thrived in the 2015 play-offs for the Impact, was an absolute force in the middle of the park against the pressing system of the Red Bulls.
The 37-year-old limited the impact of Sacha Kljestan, who failed to create a single attacking chance in 90 minutes.
Achieving that task in the second leg will be difficult, but the Impact have the organization and game plan to do so with a one-goal advantage in the series.
FW: Jozy Altidore, Toronto FC
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Jozy Altidore extended his blistering-hot form from the end of the regular season into the first two matches of Toronto FC's quest for MLS Cup.
Altidore banged in a tally late to seal the Reds' first-ever play-off win on Wednesday over the Philadelphia Union.
The United States international scored his second of the postseason in the 84th minute on Sunday, as he cleaned up a mess in the box following a Michael Bradley free-kick.
The Reds carry a 2-0 lead over New York City FC into Yankee Stadium. Based off the performances of both sides in the first leg, Toronto have a great chance of moving on to what could be an all-Canadian Eastern Conference Final.
FW: Nelson Valdez, Seattle Sounders
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We only needed 48 hours to find the unexpected hero of the postseason.
Nelson Valdez, who went the entire regular season without a goal, sent Seattle into the Western Conference semifinal with a late winner against Sporting Kansas City on Thursday.
Valdez followed that up with a headed tally in the 50th minute to open the floodgates at CenturyLink Field on Sunday.
The 32-year-old Paraguayan has scored four goals in two seasons in MLS; three of them have come in the postseason.
FW: Matteo Mancosu, Montreal Impact
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Who needs Didier Drogba anyway?
Italian forward Matteo Mancosu scored three of Montreal's five goals over the last week to put the club in a decent position to advance to the Eastern Conference Final.
Mancosu opened his postseason account with a brace in the Impact's domination of D.C. United at RFK Stadium on Thursday.
He followed that up with a beautifully taken blast from the right side of the box on Sunday that right now stands as the difference between the Impact and Red Bulls.
Mancosu will be tasked with scoring an away goal on the counter in the second leg at Red Bull Arena. If he is able to find the back of the net for the third straight match, the Impact stand a good chance of moving on.
Joe Tansey covers MLS for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter, @JTansey90.
All statistics obtained from MLSSoccer.com.
