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

Home/away Disparity 2010

As usual, some teams have played unbalanced schedules to this point. Looking at this, we can see which teams are probably a little better or worse than they currently appear in the standings. DC (+2) and Houston (+3) have played a few more home games, and will be at a disadvantage from this point on. With DC, it's hard to imagine them playing worse so I doubt it will matter much. But the Dynamo may be another story, as they have 11 of their 19 remaining games away from home. They're sitting in 8th place overall in PPG, so they'll have to step their game up to remain a playoff team. Meanwhile, Toronto (-2) and Philadelphia (-4) are likely to improve their position. TFC has a perfect record at home this season, and could soon be challenging the Crew at the top of the standings.

New ESPN Fan Zone Survey

What is ESPN Fan Zone? Read their FAQ. I highly encourage anyone who wants to express their opinions to ESPN to sign up. It's probably the best way to directly have an impact. The other day, they sent me a new soccer survey, this one focused solely on the World Cup. I copied the questions and posted them on Bigsoccer. You can see what they asked here. It wasn't quite as interesting as the one they sent out last year (questions here), which dealt a little bit more with ESPN's coverage. However, this time there was one question that stood out. They asked how interested you are in the Copa America and the Gold Cup, which makes me wonder if they're considering buying the English rights to those tournaments. If I ran a more sensational blog, I would've probably wrote a headline like "ESPN to air 2011 Copa America in English?" Fox Soccer Channel already has the rights to the 2011 Gold Cup.

MLS Hat Tricks: A Comprehensive Review

(Bumped and updated. Original post was in June 2007.) There have been 95 hat tricks in MLS regular season play from 1996 until now. When you realize that there's been 2,748 games (through 2010), that means that the odds of seeing a hat trick for either team are 3.46%. Based on that, if you attend all your team's home games, you'll probably see one every two years. In addition, there have only been 10 games where a player has scored 4+ goals. Odds of seeing one of those: 0.36% (or one in 275 games). The home/away breakdown is 62/33 (65% at home). Also, the records of the teams with the hat trick: 90-3-2. The player with the fewest amount of goals in his MLS career to have a hat trick prior to this year is Jose Vasquez (6). After the retirement of Blaise Nkufo (5) before the 2011 season, he now holds that record along with Birahim Diop (who should score at least one more goal to surpass him). There have also been 12 more hat tricks by MLS teams outside of the regular season: 8 in the Open Cup, 2 in the playoffs, 1 in the CONCACAF Champions League, and 1 in the Canadian Championship. Most Hat Tricks (regular season only) 1 Stern John 5 1 Diego Serna 5 3 Edson Buddle 4 3 Mamadou Diallo 4 3 Cobi Jones 4 6 Conor Casey 3 6 Landon Donovan 3 6 Amado Guevara 3 6 Eduardo Hurtado 3 6 Taylor Twellman 3 Most Hat Tricks (all competitions) 1 Stern John 6 2 Diego Serna 5 3 Edson Buddle 4 3 Raul Diaz Arce 4 3 Mamadou Diallo 4 3 Cobi Jones 4 7 Conor Casey 3 7 Landon Donovan 3 7 Amado Guevara 3 7 Eduardo Hurtado 3 7 Roy Lassiter 3 7 Taylor Twellman 3 Team Breakdown (regular season only) FOR AGAINST CHI 5 4 CHV 0 8 CLB 9 6 COL 6 10 DAL 4 8 DC 8 8 HOU 4 0 KC 6 8 LA 16 4 MIA 6 3 NE 9 8 NY 10 13 PHI 1 0 RSL 1 3 SEA 1 0 SJ 4 6 TB 5 4 TOR 0 2 Team Breakdown (all competitions) FOR AGAINST CHI 6 4 CHV 0 8 CLB 10 6 COL 6 10 DAL 6 9 DC 12 9 HOU 4 0 KC 6 8 LA 17 4 MIA 7 3 NE 9 8 NY 10 13 PHI 1 0 RSL 2 3 SEA 1 0 SJ 4 6 TB 5 5 TOR 1 2 Year Breakdown (regular season only) Tricks Games PCT 1996 8 160 5.0% 1997 5 160 3.1% 1998 13 192 6.8% 1999 3 192 1.6% 2000 9 192 4.7% 2001 7 158 4.4% 2002 6 140 4.3% 2003 4 150 2.7% 2004 6 150 4.0% 2005 6 192 3.1% 2006 4 192 2.1% 2007 5 195 2.6% 2008 7 210 3.3% 2009 5 225 2.2% 2010 7 240 2.9% Total 95 2748 3.5% Year Breakdown (all competitions) Tricks 1996 9 1997 5 1998 14 1999 5 2000 12 2001 8 2002 6 2003 5 2004 6 2005 7 2006 5 2007 5 2008 7 2009 6 2010 7 All MLS Hat Tricks (note: OC = Open Cup, PO = Playoffs, CCL = Champions League, CAN = Canadian Championship. The number on the far right is the number of goals the player scored). CD CHIVAS USA (none) CHICAGO FIRE MLS 2000-05-06 A Miami 3-0 W Ante Razov 3 OC 2000-08-09 H Dallas 5-1 W Josh Wolff 4 MLS 2002-05-19 A New England 3-1 W Ante Razov 3 MLS 2004-06-05 H DC United 3-0 W Damani Ralph 3 MLS 2005-06-04 H Chivas USA 5-2 W Nate Jaqua 3 MLS 2008-10-23 H New York 5-2 W Chris Rolfe 33 COLORADO RAPIDS MLS 2001-07-04 H DC United 3-1 W John Spencer 3 MLS 2002-07-04 H Chicago 3-2 W Chris Carrieri 3 MLS 2005-06-18 A Chivas USA 3-1 W Jeff Cunningham 3 MLS 2008-09-27 A New York 5-4 W Conor Casey 3 MLS 2009-04-04 A Los Angeles 3-2 W Conor Casey 3 MLS 2009-08-08 H Chivas USA 4-0 W Conor Casey 3 COLUMBUS CREW MLS 1996-09-07 A Kansas City 5-1 W Brian Maisonneuve 3 MLS 1998-04-18 H Miami 5-1 W Stern John 3 MLS 1998-05-30 H San Jose 4-1 W Stern John 3 MLS 1998-08-16 H Kansas City 5-3 W Stern John 3 MLS 1999-08-01 H Miami 4-0 W Stern John 3 MLS 1999-08-18 A New York 4-2 W Stern John 3 PO 1999-11-07 H DC United 5-1 W Stern John 3 MLS 2001-06-16 H Tampa Bay 6-1 W Dante Washington 3 MLS 2004-09-04 H Los Angeles 3-1 W Ross Paule 3 MLS 2004-09-18 H New York 4-2 W Edson Buddle 4 DC UNITED MLS 1996-05-15 H Columbus 5-2 W Steve Rammel 3 MLS 1996-07-07 H Dallas 6-1 W Raul Diaz Arce 4 PO 1996-10-10 H Tampa Bay 4-1 W Raul Diaz Arce 3 MLS 1997-04-12 A Colorado 5-2 W Raul Diaz Arce 4 MLS 1998-07-18 H Chicago 4-1 W Roy Lassiter 3 CCL 1998-08-11 H Joe Public 8-0 W Roy Lassiter 4 MLS 2000-05-06 A Colorado 5-2 W Jaime Moreno 3 OC 2000-06-14 A Charleston 4-0 W Raul Diaz Arce 3 MLS 2001-05-09 H New England 5-0 W Abdul Thompson Conteh 4 OC 2001-06-27 H New Jersey 8-0 W Abdul Thompson Conteh 3 MLS 2007-06-10 H New York 4-2 W Ben Olsen 3 MLS 2008-06-14 H New York 4-1 W Luciano Emlio 3 FC DALLAS MLS 1997-07-18 H San Jose 3-1 W Dante Washington 3 MLS 1999-03-20 H Kansas City 4-0 W Jason Kreis 3 OC 1999-07-13 H Jacksonville 3-0 W Bobby Rhine 3 MLS 2002-06-08 H Colorado 4-1 W Bobby Rhine 3 OC 2006-08-02 A Charleston 3-3 D Kenny Cooper 3 MLS 2009-08-01 H Kansas City 6-0 W Jeff Cunningham 4 HOUSTON DYNAMO MLS 2006-04-02 H Colorado 5-2 W Brian Ching 4 MLS 2007-06-21 H Chivas USA 4-0 W Brad Davis 3 MLS 2007-09-08 H Real Salt Lake 4-3 W Nate Jaqua 3 MLS 2010-08-21 H Chicago 4-3 W Brian Ching 3 KANSAS CITY WIZARDS MLS 1998-05-16 A New England 3-1 W Vitalis Takawira 3 MLS 1998-09-05 H San Jose 5-1 W Preki 3 MLS 2004-07-03 H Dallas 5-1 W Davy Arnaud 3 MLS 2007-05-26 A New England 4-3 W Eddie Johnson 3 MLS 2007-06-02 H New York 3-2 W Eddie Johnson 3 MLS 2010-10-23 H San Jose 4-1 W Birahim Diop 3 LOS ANGELES GALAXY MLS 1996-06-09 A New York 4-0 W Eduardo Hurtado 3 MLS 1996-06-26 H Colorado 3-1 W Eduardo Hurtado 3 MLS 1996-07-27 A Tampa Bay 3-4 L Cobi Jones 3 MLS 1997-09-07 H Tampa Bay 6-1 W Eduardo Hurtado 3 MLS 1997-09-21 A San Jose 3-2 W Jose Vasquez 3 MLS 1998-05-06 H Colorado 7-4 W Cobi Jones 3 MLS 1998-05-17 A Columbus 4-2 W Martin Machon 3 MLS 1998-06-04 A Dallas 8-1 W Harut Karapetyan 3 MLS 1998-08-05 A Colorado 6-1 W Cobi Jones 3 MLS 1998-08-22 A New England 5-1 W Cobi Jones 3 MLS 2002-08-31 H New York 3-0 W Carlos Ruiz 3 OC 2003-08-27 A Seattle 5-1 W Carlos Ruiz 3 MLS 2004-05-19 A DC United 4-2 W Alejandro Moreno 3 MLS 2008-04-26 H Chivas USA 5-2 W Landon Donovan 3 MLS 2008-05-18 A Dallas 5-1 W Edson Buddle 3 MLS 2008-06-14 A San Jose 3-0 W Edson Buddle 3 MLS 2008-09-20 H DC United 5-2 W Landon Donovan 3 MIAMI FUSION MLS 1998-08-30 H New England 3-2 W Diego Serna 3 OC 2000-06-14 H New Jersey 6-1 W Welton 4 MLS 2000-06-21 A Tampa Bay 4-1 W Diego Serna 3 MLS 2000-09-02 H New York 4-1 W Diego Serna 4 MLS 2000-09-09 A DC United 6-2 W Diego Serna 3 MLS 2001-06-02 A Dallas 6-2 W Diego Serna 3 MLS 2001-09-08 H DC United 3-1 W Alex Pineda Chacon 3 NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION MLS 1997-05-30 H New York 3-1 W Alberto Naveda 3 MLS 2002-09-07 H DC United 3-0 W Taylor Twellman 3 MLS 2003-08-30 H Chicago 5-1 W Chris Brown 3 MLS 2003-10-25 H New York 5-2 W Pat Noonan 3 MLS 2004-06-02 A Kansas City 3-2 W Pat Noonan 3 MLS 2005-07-16 H Dallas 3-2 W Taylor Twellman 3 MLS 2005-09-10 H Columbus 3-1 W Taylor Twellman 3 MLS 2009-08-23 H Real Salt Lake 3-1 W Kheli Dube 3 MLS 2010-04-10 H Toronto 4-1 W Zack Schilawski 3 NEW YORK RED BULLS (Metrofanatic story) MLS 1996-05-16 H Colorado 3-0 W Giovanni Savarese 3 MLS 2000-08-26 A Dallas 6-4 W Clint Mathis 5 MLS 2000-09-09 A New England 3-4 L Alex Comas 3 MLS 2001-05-02 H Kansas City 4-1 W Clint Mathis 3 MLS 2002-06-15 H Los Angeles 5-0 W Mamadou Diallo 4 MLS 2005-04-30 A Colorado 3-1 W Amado Guevara 3 MLS 2005-08-21 H Chivas USA 3-3 D Amado Guevara 3 MLS 2006-05-20 H Chivas USA 5-4 W Jean-Philippe Peguero 3 MLS 2006-08-26 H Real Salt Lake 6-0 W Edson Buddle 3 MLS 2006-10-14 H Kansas City 3-2 W Amado Guevara 3 PHILADELPHIA UNION MLS 2010-04-10 H DC United 3-2 W Sebastien Le Toux 3 REAL SALT LAKE OC 2005-07-13 A Minnesota 4-6 L Jason Kreis 3 MLS 2009-04-02 H Columbus 4-1 W Robbie Findley 3 SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES MLS 2003-09-20 A Kansas City 4-1 W Landon Donovan 3 MLS 2003-09-27 H Dallas 5-2 W Dwayne De Rosario 3 MLS 2010-09-25 A Toronto 3-2 W Chris Wondolowski 3 MLS 2010-10-20 H Chivas USA 3-0 W Chris Wondolowski 3 SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC MLS 2010-09-18 A Columbus 4-0 W Blaise Nkufo 3 TAMPA BAY MUTINY MLS 1996-08-03 H Colorado 3-1 W Roy Lassiter 3 MLS 1998-05-10 A New England 3-4 L Musa Shannon 3 MLS 2000-08-16 H New York 4-3 W Mamadou Diallo 3 MLS 2000-08-30 A Columbus 4-3 W Mamadou Diallo 3 MLS 2001-05-09 H Los Angeles 4-4 D Mamadou Diallo 4 TORONTO FC CAN 2009-06-18 A Montreal 6-1 W Dwayne De Rosario 3