MLS: First Teams to 100 Goals

In the last post, I looked at the breakdown of goals by competition and by team. I couldn't help but notice that Seattle is already over 100 goals in only two seasons, helped by their US Open Cup success. Not only that, they're 2/3rds of the way to Toronto's total despite playing two seasons vs four for TFC. It got me thinking, how long did each team take to get to the 100 goal milestone? It's not exactly a fair comparison for all teams, since the goals per game average was higher for the original MLS franchises. It was over 3.00 for six of the first seven years (and none since). As for Chicago and Miami, 1998 was the single highest scoring year (3.57 per game). However, 1999 was a down year (2.86), so the totals for 1996-97 are actually higher than 1998-99. The past decade's expansion teams mostly took a bit longer to get there. However, I think that it's fair to compare them and the original teams amongst their own groups. This includes all competitions: Number of Games to 100 Goals DC 49 KC 52 TB 52 CHI 56 DAL 59 LA 59 SJ 61 CLB 64 COL 68 HOU 71 NY 73 NE 74 SEA 77 MIA 80 CHV 81 RSL 89 TOR 91 DC leads the list, scoring at a rate of two per game. NE is the last original team, just one game behind NY, while Miami was even worse. Toronto comes up last, taking 91 games to score 100 goals. That would be the 2-0 home win over DC on August 15, 2009. Funny that the next season, they hire a defensive coach. I'm not surprised that the club which famously set records for scoring futility in their expansion season ends up with this record as well. RSL barely bests TFC, not reaching the mark until August 29, 2007. That 3-1 home win over Kansas City also marked Javier Morales' debut. Currently, after one season Philadelphia has scored 36 times in 31 matches. Such a rate suggests that it will take 86 matches, though it's likely that they'll improve a bit. But given the struggles most recent expansion teams have seen, and more importantly the downward trend in scoring, it wouldn't be a shock to see them or one of the other new teams (Portland, Vancouver, Montreal) break the mark.

The Countdown to 10,000 Goals

Tonight is the first competitive game of the 2011 MLS season, as RSL visits Columbus for the first leg of the CCL quarterfinal. That's also the first chance to add a couple of goals to the all time total, one that is rapidly nearing a huge milestone: 10,000 goals. Let the countdown begin! I'll be updating the progress every so often, like I did last year for the 1,500th player (Tyler Deric, remember?). By my count, MLS teams have scored 9,544 goals in all competitions from 1996-2010. Of that total, 7,997 were scored in MLS regular season action (which means the 8,000th will occur during the opening week, another milestone). Here's the list of goals by competition: Goals by Competition Goals Top Scorer MLS 7,997 Jaime Moreno - 133 Open Cup 596 Jaime Moreno - 13 Playoffs 531 Landon Donovan - 13 Champions League 215 Luciano Emilio - 9 Superliga 81 Landon Donovan - 4 OC Qualifying 73 John Wolyniec - 5 Canadian Champ. 15 Dwayne De Rosario - 4 Copa Merconorte 12 Roy Lassiter - 3 CCL Qualifying 8 8 players tied - 1 Giants Cup 8 3 players tied - 2 Copa Sudamerica 5 4 players tied - 1 Copa Interamericana 2 2 players tied - 1 Cup Winners Cup 2 Dante Washington - 2 Total 9,544 Jaime Moreno - 164 CCL qualifying refers to the handful of matches played in the late 1990's by Colorado and LA. If you add up the totals for each competition, you might notice that the sum is actually 9,545. That's due to the one match in 1999 which doubled as a regular season match and an Open Cup match (Colorado 1:0 Tampa Bay). You have no idea how much extra work that one match has caused me over the years (lol). I would estimate that the 10,000th goal will occur sometime around late June or early July. Goals by Team Goals Top Scorer DC 971 Jaime Moreno - 162 LA 916 Landon Donovan - 89 CLB 814 Brian McBride - 79 DAL 813 Jason Kreis - 99 CHI 760 Ante Razov - 95 KC 755 Preki - 81 NE 749 Taylor Twellman - 119 NY 747 Juan Pablo Angel - 62 COL 681 Paul Bravo - 46 SJ 653 Ronald Cerritos - 66 TB 335 Roy Lassiter - 44 HOU 294 Brian Ching - 57 RSL 279 Robbie Findley - 34 CHV 254 Ante Razov - 34 MIA 229 Diego Serna - 59 TOR 152 Dwayne De Rosario - 31 SEA 106 Fredy Montero - 25 PHI 36 Sebastien Le Toux - 15 DC is likely to become the first team to reach 1,000 goals this season. Further Reading Milestone MLS regular season goals

MLS: Updated CONCACAF Champions League Stats (1996-2010)

Includes when it was called the CONCACAF Champions Cup. Qualifying games like the ones Colorado and LA played in the 90s are not included. However, the preliminary round games that are a part of the new Champions League are included (as they're considered part of the final tournament). Alltime Records GP W L D Pts GF GA GD DC United 40 16 14 10 58 64 58 6 Houston 22 7 8 7 28 28 31 -3 Columbus 18 8 7 3 27 25 26 -1 Chicago 11 6 3 2 20 18 14 4 Los Angeles 14 5 5 4 19 20 24 -4 San Jose 8 5 3 0 15 10 12 -2 Real Salt Lake 6 4 1 1 13 17 11 6 Toronto 10 3 3 4 13 8 10 -2 Kansas City 8 3 3 2 11 9 11 -2 Seattle 8 2 5 1 7 8 12 -4 New England 6 1 4 1 4 4 12 -8 New York 2 0 1 1 1 3 4 -1 Chivas USA 2 0 1 1 1 1 3 -2 This season, Colorado and Dallas will make their debuts in the competition. They're the last two non-expansion teams to play in it. Top Goalscorers Goals 1 Emilio, Luciano 9 2 Gomez, Christian 8 3 Lassiter, Roy 6 3 Saborio, Alvaro 6 5 Ching, Brian 5 5 Moreno, Jaime 5 7 Buddle, Edson 4 7 De Rosario, Dwayne 4 7 Kovalenko, Dema 4 7 Lenhart, Steven 4 7 Talley, Carey 4 All it took was one edition for RSL's Saborio to shoot up the scoring chart, and he's not done yet. There's a possibility of six more games for him to get the four goals necessary to overtake Emilio. Most Games Played Games 1 De Rosario, Dwayne 29 2 Moreno, Jaime 24 3 Barrett, Wade 22 3 Mullan, Brian 22 5 Ching, Brian 20 5 Olsen, Ben 20 5 Simms, Clyde 20 5 Waibel, Craig 20 9 Boswell, Bobby 19 10 McTavish, Devon 18 10 Carroll, Brian 18 12 Emilio, Luciano 17 12 Agoos, Jeff 17 12 Mulrooney, Richard 17 12 Namoff, Bryan 17 16 Clark, Ricardo 16 16 Onstad, Pat 16 18 Ashe, Corey 15 18 Garcia, Nick 15 18 Jaqua, Nate 15 18 Robinson, Eddie 15 22 Burch, Marc 13 22 Cameron, Geoff 13 22 Davis, Brad 13 22 Gomez, Christian 13 22 Holden, Stuart 13 22 Quaranta, Santino 13 22 Talley, Carey 13 DeRo has now played in the CCL for four consecutive editions. He's still got a long way to go to catch Jeff Agoos, though. The longtime MLS defender played for DC in the tournament from 1997-99 and 2001 (just before being traded), as well as SJ from 2002-04. There was no 2000 tournament. List of MLS Matches in the CONCACAF Champions Cup (qualifiers not included in above statistics) Read more »

MLS: Offense & Defense Ranks by Year

Here's a nice way to see the yearly rankings all in one place (now updated through 2010). I think this provides an interesting look at team performance historically by looking at each category separately. Red = top half for that year, while blue = bottom half. In 2007 & 2009, teams without a color mean they were ranked exactly in the middle. Bold = ties. There are more teams in the top halves than in the bottom halves overall because of ties. For example, in 1997 four teams are tied for third on offense. So for that year, six teams are counted in the top half with only four in the bottom half. I've chosen to do that rather than to count them as being in both halves. Offense 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 CHI XXX XXX 4 3 1 4 6 2 8 7 6 10 5 6 9 CHV XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX 11 3 4 9 12 15 CLB 4 9 3 6 6 3 3 5 6 10 12 7 2 5 5 COL 9 7 4 9 11 9 6 6 10 9 11 12 5 4 2 DAL 6 3 12 2 4 5 3 9 9 5 2 9 3 1 4 DC 2 1 2 1 10 7 10 8 2 1 1 1 7 2 16 HOU XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX 5 6 3 6 5 KC 3 2 11 11 7 11 9 3 7 5 6 5 12 13 10 LA 4 3 1 5 7 2 3 9 3 8 10 8 1 10 2 MIA XXX XXX 9 8 4 1 XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX NE 10 10 7 9 7 10 1 1 3 2 9 2 9 13 14 NY 8 8 6 12 2 8 8 6 1 3 8 3 8 15 8 PHI XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX 11 RSL XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX 12 3 10 9 2 1 SEA XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX 8 7 SJ 6 3 8 6 12 6 2 4 5 3 XXX XXX 14 10 12 TB 1 3 9 3 3 12 XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX TOR XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX 13 13 9 13 Defense 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 CHI XXX XXX 2 3 6 1 3 5 8 10 5 5 2 6 10 CHV XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX 12 7 2 7 3 12 CLB 9 1 5 4 10 4 5 6 2 7 7 7 3 3 7 COL 8 8 12 4 11 7 9 8 2 2 11 3 11 9 5 DAL 2 3 7 2 7 7 5 10 9 5 9 7 7 13 3 DC 6 5 3 6 12 9 4 3 6 2 3 3 13 11 13 HOU XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX 4 1 1 1 14 KC 10 4 4 9 1 11 7 6 1 5 10 9 5 10 8 LA 3 2 1 1 2 4 1 1 5 7 2 12 14 3 2 MIA XXX XXX 11 11 8 4 XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX NE 6 5 10 9 3 10 10 9 7 2 1 6 9 8 16 NY 1 5 9 12 8 3 8 4 10 9 5 9 12 13 4 PHI XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX 14 RSL XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX 11 11 9 5 7 1 SEA XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX 1 8 SJ 4 8 8 7 4 2 2 1 4 1 XXX XXX 4 15 6 TB 5 10 6 8 4 12 XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX TOR XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX 13 9 12 11 Years in Top & Bottom Half - Offense Top Bottom PCT CHI 8 5 61.5% CHV 2 4 33.3% CLB 10.5 4.5 70.0% COL 4 11 26.7% DAL 10 5 66.7% DC 10 5 66.7% HOU 5 0 100.0% KC 6 9 40.0% LA 9 6 60.0% NE 5 10 33.3% NY 6 9 40.0% PHI 0 1 0.0% RSL 3 3 50.0% SEA 1.5 0.5 75.0% SJ 7 6 53.8% TOR 0 4 0.0% MIA 2 2 50.0% TB 4 2 66.7% Years in Top & Bottom Half - Defense Top Bottom PCT CHI 10 3 76.9% CHV 3 3 50.0% CLB 9.5 5.5 63.3% COL 5 10 33.3% DAL 7.5 7.5 50.0% DC 8 7 53.3% HOU 4 1 80.0% KC 7 8 46.7% LA 12 3 80.0% NE 5.5 9.5 36.7% NY 6 9 40.0% PHI 0 1 0.0% RSL 3 3 50.0% SEA 2 0 100.0% SJ 9 4 69.2% TOR 0 4 0.0% MIA 1 3 25.0% TB 3 3 50.0% Longest Streak in Top Half - Offense Columbus 1998-03 6 DC United 2004-09 6 Houston 2006-10 5 San Jose 2001-05 5 Chicago 1998-01 4 Dallas 1999-02 4 DC United 1996-99 4 Los Angeles 1996-99 4 New England 2002-05 4 Columbus 2008-10 3 Colorado 2008-10 3 Dallas 2008-10 3 Kansas City 2005-07 3 Longest Streak in Bottom Half - Offense Colorado 1999-07 9 New England 1996-01 6 Kansas City 1998-02 5 DC United 2000-03 4 Toronto 2007-10 4 Chivas USA 2008-10 3 Columbus 2004-06 3 Kansas City 2008-10 3 Los Angeles 2005-07 3 New England 2008-10 3 New York 2001-03 3 Longest Streaks in Top Half - Defense Los Angeles 1996-04 9 Chicago 1998-03 6 San Jose 2000-05 6 Chicago 2006-09 4 Houston 2006-09 4 Chivas USA 2007-09 3 Columbus 1997-99 3 Columbus 2008-10 3 DC United 1997-99 3 DC United 2005-07 3 New England 2005-07 3 Real Salt Lake 2008-10 3 Longest Streak in Bottom Half - Defense Colorado 2000-03 4 New England 2001-04 4 Toronto 2007-10 4 Colorado 1996-98 3 DC United 2008-10 3 Kansas City 2001-03 3 Miami 1998-00 3 New York 1998-00 3 New York 2007-09 3 Real Salt Lake 2005-07 3 San Jose 1997-99 3 Ranks of MLS Cup Winners OFF DEF 1996 DC United 2 6 1997 DC United 1 5 1998 Chicago 4 2 1999 DC United 1 6 2000 Kansas City 7 1 2001 San Jose 6 2 2002 Los Angeles 3 1 2003 San Jose 4 1 2004 DC United 2 6 2005 Los Angeles 8 7 2006 Houston 5 4 2007 Houston 6 1 2008 Columbus 2 3 2009 Real Salt Lake 2 7 2010 Colorado 2 5 Ranks of Supporters Shield Winners OFF DEF 1996 Tampa Bay 1 5 1997 DC United 1 5 1998 Los Angeles 1 1 1999 DC United 1 6 2000 Kansas City 7 1 2001 Miami 1 4 2002 Los Angeles 3 1 2003 Chicago 2 5 2004 Columbus 6 2 2005 San Jose 3 1 2006 DC United 1 3 2007 DC United 1 3 2008 Columbus 2 3 2009 Columbus 5 3 2010 Los Angeles 2 2