FRISCO, Texas -- Had a single table been in place for the 2005 Major League Soccer season, the Los Angeles Galaxy would have finished fourth from the bottom with no hope of winning the championship.
As it stands, however, the Galaxy are one victory away from achieving the pinnacle of club soccer and capturing the elusive double. A victory in Sunday's MLS Cup over the New England Revolution at Pizza Hut Park will give the Galaxy their second league title and more than salvage a mediocre regular season.
Galaxy players said they recognize the effect the playoff system has had on their club this season.
"It's not something we take lightly," Galaxy goalkeeper Kevin Hartman said. "As veterans and leaders on this team, we all know that this is our saving grace. This is our opportunity to really say, 'We were able to accomplish
something this year.'"
The Galaxy finished the regular season with a 13-13-6 record and finished ahead of only expansion sides Real Salt Lake and Chivas USA in the Western Conference. Of the Eastern Conference sides, only Columbus had fewer points than the Galaxy's 45. But the Galaxy peaked at the right time and are reaping the rewards of it.
"I can't stress the fact how this four-week tournament has been for us this year. It's really turned our team from having one of the worst seasons we've ever had to all of the sudden having the opportunity to accomplish the
double which is huge," Hartman said. "There were high expectations for us in the preseason with the arrival of Landon [Donovan] and some moves that we made but
throughout the year we had problems and we were able to learn from mistakes."
Form held in the east as the Revolution finished first in the regular season and followed that up with a trip to MLS Cup. Out west, however, San Jose ran away with the conference and locked up the Supporters' Shield with weeks to spare. But the Quakes drew the short straw in the playoff system, faced the Galaxy and their season was rendered virtually meaningless with a 3-1 loss to the Galaxy in the first leg of the two-game conference semifinal series.
Hartman lamented San Jose's situation and seemed almost apologetic when discussing it.
"What a great team they were. As far as I'm concerned, they deserve some sort of trophy other than the Supporters' Shield," Hartman said. "Throughout the world games are very, very important week in and week out because whoever wins the league standings is the champion and then you have your
cups or whatever the case may be. I understand this is a very American-type thing, to do a playoff format, but I think it does tend to slight teams like San Jose who don't quite get it at the right page at the right time."
With the playoff system in place, the Galaxy's victory over San Jose in the first playoff game was far more meaningful than San Jose's three regular-season victories over the Galaxy, games that the Quakes won by a combined 8-2 margin.
But what it came down to was performing at the right time. The Galaxy stepped up when it mattered most and the Quakes did not, Hartman said.
"It's difficult to keep games hyped up in June and July. The fact is they're not as important," Hartman said. "San Jose wins the entire conference and unfortunately for them they have to play us in a two-game series where they have to go on the road for one game and then go try to pull it together at home."
Still, the Galaxy are not about to give anything back.
"For us, it couldn't have worked out any better," Hartman said. "We feel fortunate that we were in the Western Conference this year. We feel fortunate that we were able to get San Jose two games and not just one game and we feel very, very fortunate to be where we are right now."
Luis Bueno is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
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