Sunday, May 30, 2010

MLS History: Longest Unbeaten & Winless Streaks

Bumped and updated (through the 2009 season), because the 2010 LA Galaxy are on the verge of history. Counting the end of last season, they are currently unbeaten in their last 14 regular season games (already 4th all time) and 18 games overall (2nd all time).

As always, shootouts (1996-99) are counted as draws.


Most Games Unbeaten - REGULAR SEASON ONLY


Games Record First Game Last Game
1 Columbus 19 9-0-10 2004-07-03 2005-04-02
2 DC United 16 11-0-5 1996-09-17 1997-06-14
3 Los Angeles 15 14-0-1 1997-09-07 1998-05-17
4 DC United 14 10-0-4 2006-05-13 2006-07-22
4 San Jose 14 11-0-3 2005-07-20 2005-10-15
6 DC United 13 9-0-4 2007-08-05 2007-10-13
7
Chicago
12
6-0-6
2008-10-23
2009-05-28
7 Colorado 12 8-0-4 1998-09-16 1999-05-27
7 Dallas 12 6-0-6 1999-03-20 1999-06-05
7 Kansas City 12 10-0-2 2000-03-25 2000-05-27
7 Los Angeles 12 10-0-2 1996-04-13 1996-06-26
7 Los Angeles 12 7-0-5 1999-10-09 2000-05-20
7 Miami 12 9-0-3 2001-04-21 2001-07-04
7 New England 12 8-0-4 2004-10-16 2005-06-11
7 San Jose 12 7-0-5 2001-04-28 2001-07-04
16 Chicago 11 10-0-1 1998-05-16 1998-07-04
16 Chicago 11 5-0-6 2007-09-08 2008-04-12
16 Chivas USA 11 7-0-4 2007-08-18 2007-10-11
16 DC United 11 8-0-3 1999-07-25 1999-09-25
16 Houston 11 8-0-3 2007-06-03 2007-07-22
16
Houston
11
8-0-3
2009-04-11
2009-06-20
22
 DC United 10 8-0-2 1998-07-02 1998-08-29
22 Houston 10 4-0-6 2006-05-27 2006-07-22
22
Houston
10
5-0-5
2008-08-31
2009-03-21
22
Los Angeles
10
2-0-8
2009-04-11
2009-06-06

Columbus has held the top spot for nearly six years now. The Crew, or the Arsenal of MLS if you like, only managed to win fewer than half of the 19 games in their streak. They were the best team in what was probably the most parity filled MLS season ever, featuring good form from many current less regarded players like Jon Busch and Kyle Martino. They then blew it in the 2004 playoffs, losing to the Revs in one of the more memorable series in playoff history. The opener saw Avery John scoring the only goal in his Revolution career from long distance, in front of a horrible crowd of 5,000 people due to the Red Sox hosting game 1 of the World Series at the same time. Then of course, the Crew blew it by missing two penalties in the home leg. However, it definitely seemed to me that DC was the hotter team entering the playoffs (they had just signed Christian Gomez) and I didn't expect them to get to the cup any way.


Most Games Unbeaten - ALL COMPETITIONS


Games Record First Game Last Game
1 DC United 24 18-0-6 1996-09-17 1997-06-14
2 Columbus 15 7-0-8 2004-07-24 2004-10-16
2 New England 15 9-0-6 2004-10-16 2005-06-11
4 DC United 14 12-0-4 2006-05-13 2006-07-22
5 Chicago 13 9-0-4 1998-10-01 1999-05-08
5 DC United 13 11-0-2 1998-07-02 1998-08-29
5 Miami 13 10-0-3 2001-04-21 2001-07-04
5 San Jose 13 8-0-5 2001-04-28 2001-07-04
9 Chicago 12 11-0-1 1998-05-16 1998-07-06
9 Dallas 12 6-0-6 1999-03-20 1999-06-05
9 DC United 12 9-0-3 2004-10-02 2005-04-09
9 Kansas City 12 10-0-2 2000-03-25 2000-05-27
9 Los Angeles 12 10-0-2 1996-04-13 1996-06-26
14
Chicago
11
5-0-6
2009-03-21
2009-05-28
14 Chivas USA 11 7-0-4 2007-08-18 2007-10-11
14 DC United 11 8-0-3 1999-08-08 1999-09-28
14
Houston
11
6-0-5
2008-08-31
2008-10-18
14
Houston
11
8-0-3
2009-04-11
2009-06-20
14 Los Angeles 11 6-0-5 2000-03-18 2000-05-20
14
Los Angeles
11
2-0-9
2009-04-07
2009-06-06
14 New York 11 9-0-2 2000-06-14 2000-07-25
22
 Chicago 10 4-0-6 2007-09-08 2007-11-01
22
Columbus
10
7-0-3
2009-06-27
2009-08-18
22
 Dallas 10 4-0-6 2005-10-05 2006-04-29
22
 DC United 10 8-0-2 2007-08-18 2007-09-29
22
 Houston 10 4-0-6 2006-05-27 2006-07-22
22
 Kansas City 10 7-0-3 2004-06-05 2004-07-24

DC's streak consists of the last two games of the 1996 regular season, six games in the playoffs, two games in the US Open Cup, and then the first fourteen games of the 1997 season. They won the double along the way, with Raul Diaz Arce scoring 19 goals in those 24 games. Jaime Moreno "only" scored 14 times. They ended the streak with a bang fitting its status, losing 6-1 at KC for the worst loss in team history. KC was the only team in the league they didn't beat during the 24 games.


Most Games Winless - REGULAR SEASON ONLY


Games Record First Game Last Game
1 New York 19 0-15-4 1999-05-22 1999-09-05
2 Real Salt Lake 18 0-16-2 2005-08-10 2006-05-06
3 Real Salt Lake 15 0-6-9 2006-09-23 2007-06-17
4 Columbus 13 0-7-6 1996-05-15 1996-07-20
4 Columbus 13 0-7-6 2006-06-10 2006-08-16
4
New York
13
0-11-2
2009-05-16
2009-08-15
7
Los Angeles
12
0-6-6
2008-06-21
2008-09-13
7
 Toronto 12 0-8-4 2007-07-07 2007-09-29
9
 Chivas USA 11 0-9-2 2005-05-14 2005-07-02
9
 San Jose 11 0-5-6 1999-03-20 1999-05-27
11
 Colorado 10 0-7-3 2007-06-02 2007-08-04
11
 Dallas 10 0-7-3 2005-07-02 2005-09-10
11
 DC United 10 0-6-4 2002-07-04 2002-08-25
11
 Kansas City 10 0-8-2 1998-09-17 1999-04-28
11
 Los Angeles 10 0-8-2 2006-05-06 2006-06-24
11
Miami
10
0-7-3
1998-05-16
1998-07-18
11
 New England 10 0-8-2 1999-07-11 1999-09-04
11
Real Salt Lake
10
0-8-2
2005-05-21
2005-07-16
11
San Jose
10
0-4-6
2004-09-08
2005-04-16
11
Tampa Bay
10
0-9-1
2001-04-28
2001-06-16

No points for guessing this one. The 1999 Metrostars have been beaten to death over the years, as we've always heard tales about how wretched they were.


Most Games Winless - ALL COMPETITIONS


Games Record First Game Last Game
1 New York 20 0-16-4 1999-05-22 1999-09-05
2 Real Salt Lake 18 0-16-2 2005-08-10 2006-05-06
3
New York
16
0-13-3
2009-05-16
2009-08-15
4
 Columbus 13 0-7-6 1996-05-15 1996-07-20
5
Kansas City
12
0-7-5
2009-06-21
2009-08-29
5
Los Angeles
12
0-6-6
2008-06-21
2008-09-13
5
 Toronto 12 0-8-4 2007-07-07 2007-09-29
8
 Chivas USA 11 0-9-2 2005-05-14 2005-07-02
8
 Real Salt Lake 11 0-9-2 2005-05-21 2005-07-16
8
 San Jose 11 0-5-6 1999-03-20 1999-05-27
11
 Chivas USA 10 0-8-2 2005-08-03 2005-09-24
11
 Colorado 10 0-6-4 2001-05-16 2001-06-30
11
 Colorado 10 0-4-6 2003-09-18 2004-04-17
11
 DC United 10 0-6-4 2002-07-04 2002-08-25
11
DC United
10
0-7-3
2008-09-06
2008-10-12
11
 Kansas City 10 0-8-2 1998-09-17 1999-04-28
11
 Kansas City 10 0-8-2 2003-07-26 2003-09-20
11
 Los Angeles 10 0-6-4 2003-04-05 2003-05-31
11
 Los Angeles 10 0-8-2 2006-05-06 2006-06-24
11
 New England 10 0-8-2 1997-07-20 1997-09-09
11
 New England 10 0-8-2 1999-07-11 1999-09-04
11
 New York 10 0-7-3 1998-08-22 1999-03-20
11
Real Salt Lake
10
0-6-4
2007-04-21
2007-06-17
11
Tampa Bay
10
0-9-1
2001-04-28
2001-06-16

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posted by scaryice at 4:20 AM

Comments on "MLS History: Longest Unbeaten & Winless Streaks"

 

Blogger henryo said ... (12:12 PM, September 28, 2008) : 

Just a quick comment:
2005 San Jose should also be listed as joint-4th in the table "Most Games Unbeaten - ALL COMPETITIONS", :-)

 

Blogger scaryice said ... (7:04 PM, September 28, 2008) : 

No, they lost on 8/24/2005 in the Open Cup.

 

Blogger henryo said ... (9:54 PM, June 01, 2010) : 

Just a minor correction: DC United's unbeaten run in 2006 regular season should be 10-0-4 instead.

 

Blogger henryo said ... (10:09 PM, June 01, 2010) : 

By the way, just a suggestion: for the teams with the same number of unbeaten games, perhaps those with more wins should be ranked ahead.

E.g. 05 SJE & 06 DCU are currently joint-4th at 14 unbeaten games each, though SJE should be 4th (11-0-3) and DCU 5th (10-0-4).

 

Blogger scaryice said ... (3:19 AM, June 02, 2010) : 

Thanks Henry for the correction. However, I don't think it's fair to rank teams by their record in this post.

 

Anonymous Eric B said ... (12:32 PM, June 09, 2010) : 

I could swear you had this for home and away streaks, too. Am I imagining that?

 

Blogger scaryice said ... (6:50 PM, June 09, 2010) : 

No, you're not. But I haven't updated it for a while:

http://usasoccer.blogspot.com/2008/04/longest-unbeaten-winless-streaks.html

 

Anonymous pay per head said ... (3:59 PM, January 26, 2013) : 

It is impressive that DC United can reach to 24 games in the row, well they had 6 draws.

 

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