Winners and Losers from MLS Matches from October 10-12
After some wild, unpredictable results in Week 31, clarity has begun to shine on the Major League Soccer playoff picture.
The once-chaotic Eastern Conference saw a few teams clinch playoff berths, while two clubs on the opposite side of the playoff positions were eliminated.
In the Western Conference, the race for fifth place became clearer after a shocking win by the Vancouver Whitecaps away at the Seattle Sounders.
Thanks to those results, and a few other happenings across the league, we had no trouble determining who the winners and the losers were in MLS this weekend.
Winner: Columbus Crew
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The Columbus Crew earned a season-defining win over the Philadelphia Union Saturday night, which put them in the driver's seat to earn the fifth playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
After going down by two goals in the second half, the Crew responded with three goals in four minutes to eliminate the Union from playoff contention.
Ethan Finlay, Justin Meram and Jairo Arrieta all carved apart the Philadelphia defense to hand Gregg Berhalter's side a massive momentum boost heading into the final two weeks of the season.
As if that wasn't impressive enough, the Crew came from behind without the services of playmaker Federico Higuain, who was serving a one-game yellow-card suspension.
Loser: Philadelphia Union
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On the losing side of the crazy game at PPL Park was Philadelphia, who crashed out in spectacular fashion in front of the home crowd.
Things looked to be going their way after goals from Danny Cruz and Andrew Wenger, but the Union eventually fell victim to porous defending once again.
The loss capped off a downward spiral that was kick-started after the Union lost the U.S. Open Cup final to Seattle in extra time.
Since the final on September 16, Philadelphia has scored three goals and earned two points in four games.
Winner: Vancouver Whitecaps
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Before the Crew surprised us all with their comeback, Vancouver stole the headlines with a victory at CenturyLink Field over Seattle.
Powered by a Kekuta Manneh goal, the Whitecaps took a commanding lead in the race for fifth place in the Western Conference, and they clinched their second consecutive Cascadia Cup title.
The win extended the team's winning streak to three, and that number should grow with San Jose and Colorado remaining on the schedule.
Winners: First-Time Scorers
4 of 10Five different players netted their first-career goals in Week 31.
New York's Ruben Bover was the first player to open his scoring account in the 34th minute of the Red Bulls' 3-1 win over Toronto.
Sebastian Velasquez then took advantage of his opportunity starting in place of Javier Morales to score for Real Salt Lake at Rio Tinto Stadium.
In Chivas USA's 2-1 win over Colorado, two players recorded firsts, as the Rapids' John Neeskens and Kris Tyrpak of Chivas USA found the back of the net.
Taylor Kemp added his name to the list of first-time scorers this weekend, as he opened the scoring in D.C. United's 3-1 win over Houston.
Winner/Loser: Dom Dwyer
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Dom Dwyer felt a mixed range of emotions in Sporting Kansas City's 2-0 victory over the Chicago Fire.
In the 12th minute, Dwyer soared a penalty over the goal after Benny Feilhaber drew a foul in the box on Lovel Palmer.
The Englishman did redeem himself in second-half stoppage time, as he rose above the Fire defense to head home a Graham Zusi cross for Sporting's second goal.
The goal was the 21st of the season for Dwyer, who should finish second in the Golden Boot standings behind Bradley Wright-Phillips.
Loser: Zat Knight
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Just when you thought things couldn't get worse for the Colorado Rapids, they did.
Center back Zat Knight was expected to help the back four improve, but his presence only made the defense worse in the 2-1 loss to Chivas USA.
On the first Chivas goal, Knight stood flat-footed as Tyrpak danced right around him, but that wasn't his worst defensive error of the night.
In the 85th minute, Knight failed to keep track of Felix Borja, who cut behind him to head home the game-winning goal for the Goats.
Winner: Lee Nguyen and His Wicked Deflection
7 of 10The strangest-looking goal of the season was produced by Lee Nguyen in New England's 2-2 draw with the Montreal Impact.
In the 69th minute at Stade Saputo, Nguyen's attempted chip took a crazy deflection to beat Impact goalkeeper Evan Bush.
At first, some believed that the shot went in by itself, but after a few looks at the replay, it was clear that Nguyen's 15th goal of the season had some help finding the back of the net.
Loser: Houston Dynamo
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Houston's playoff chances were prolonged a bit by a weather delay Sunday afternoon, but once the final whistle finally blew, the clock struck midnight on the team in orange.
Dominic Kinnear's side could not create any October magic like they have in the past, as they fell 3-1 at home to D.C.
Houston put itself back in the playoff discussion after a win Wednesday over Toronto, but thanks to the defeat, and other results in the East, the dream ended for the Dynamo Sunday.
Winner: FC Dallas
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FC Dallas closed out the weekend in style with a 2-1 win over the LA Galaxy at home.
Fabian Castillo played the role of hero for the Hoops, as they kept the pressure on Real Salt Lake in the race for third place in the West.
Both teams have to play the Portland Timbers before the season ends, while FC Dallas has to face Colorado next weekend, and RSL plays host to Chivas USA on October 22.
With Portland still looking to get past Vancouver in the chase for fifth, expect both sides to face a challenge from the Timbers, who could end up deciding the third position in the West through their desperation.
Winner: Drama in the Supporters' Shield Race
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Thanks to the unlikely victories by Vancouver and FC Dallas, the Supporters' Shield standings stayed the same after Week 31.
Seattle and LA are tied on points at 60, and the Sounders hold the tiebreaker of most wins heading into the home-and-home series between the two sides to end the season.
The script couldn't have been written more perfectly for the final two weeks of the season with the Supporters' Shield and the top seed in the Western Conference still to play for.
The first star-studded match will take place Sunday at the StubHub Center before the two square off at CenturyLink Field on October 25.
Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90.
