Major League Soccer Postseason Is Upon Us

Well, fans of American soccer (if you're not, you should be), it's time for the MLS postseason. The NY/NJ Metro Stars and the New England Revolution both advanced from the Eastern Division; the Chicago Fire, Tampa Bay Mutiny and Dallas Burn represent the Central Division advancers, and the Kansas City Wizards, Los Angeles Galaxy and Colorado Rapids hail from the Western Division.

Two quarterfinal series' have been decided and there are two games left to decide who will be playing in the semi-final round. Let's look at the quarterfinal match ups first.

Galaxy vs. Mutiny

The Galaxy swept the best-of-three series without much trouble, winning 1-0 and 5-2. Key to the win was Luis Hernandez, who had a goal and three assists. It was about time Hernandez lived up to his contract. Although he signed a three-year contract worth $4.5 million when the season was two months old, the richest in MLS history, he has had a relatively quiet season scoring just four goals and six assists in 16 regular-season games.

Also key to the Galaxy's win was containing Tampa Bay's Mamadou Diallo, the league's leading goal scorer. Galaxy defender Paul Caligiuri did well to contain him, keeping him off the score sheet in Game One and only allowing two in the second game. The Galaxy will face either Kansas City or Colorado.

Burn vs. Metrostars

The Metrostars have also clinched a semi-final spot, but by a far smaller margin. They won the first 2-1 in overtime and then 2-1 in regulation. The Metrostars' Clint Mathis scored two second-half goals Wednesday night, giving the Metrostars their first ever postseason series victory, although this result was no surprise. The Metrostars beat the Burn in their last three meetings and in the last one Mathis exploded, scoring five goals. Games like these are why he is the second leading scorer in the MLS.

Defense isn't either team's strong suit, but Mike Petke of the Metostars was able to hold the potent Ariel Graziani scoreless in the series. Graziani has scored only once in three games against the MetroStars this season. He could have been on the verge of a breakout game. Petke has been the MetroStars' stopper all season and seems to have gained in commitment and poise, which he showed against Graziani.

Fire vs. Revolution

The Fire were the heavy favorites coming into this. They have a wide variety of skilled players up front and they were coming in on a four game winning streak. Field conditions have been challenging, they played Tuesday only two days after the Patriots and the Vikings played in the same stadium. After winning the first playoff game in their history, New England will look to build on that momentum as they take on the Fire in the decisive game of the quarterfinal series. The Revolution have qualified for the playoffs twice in the League's five-year history but never won.

Fire forward Hristo Stoitchkov is one of the most dangerous offensive players in MLS. He proved that in Friday's game, sending a perfect one-touch pass 35 yards right into the path of a charging Dema Kovalenko, who proceeded to bury his shot to give the Fire the advantage. John Harkes has been marking Stoitchkov with only moderate success. Harkes has been training at right back and could replace Pierce. Harkes is among the few Revolution players with the experience and guile to contend with Stoitchkov.

Wizards vs. Rapids

Although technically undecided, there is little doubt about this series. The Wizards came in as the favorite, but the Rapids held them off to a tie in game two, forcing the third game. Colorado had 19 shots against Tony Meola in game one, but simply couldn't get one past him. The key will be to get the first goal. If Kansas City is allowed to take the lead early, the Wizards figure to back into a defensive shell, which has been a successful tactic for them all season as the league's best defense.

Defensively, Colorado must be extremely aware of Kansas City forward Miklos Molnar, who scored the lone goal in Game One, and seems to have shaken himself from a six-week slump. If the Rapids hope to win the series they have to hope that defender Chris Martinez will be able to shut Molnar down. Molnar has scored a goal in four consecutive games before their scoreless tie, so limiting his chances will be imperative. Martinez did a solid job in Game One, but allowed Molnar the small opening he needed to redirect a Preki free kick into the net.

Goalkeeper Tony Meola has been tough as nails all season, but was especially so in game one. Meola's 17 shut-outs this season were no accident. He has the league's best defense playing in front of him.

Semifinals and Finals

So what will happen? This is how this humble soccer enthusiast sees it going.

The Wizards will beat the Rapids. It should be no trouble since they only have to tie to advance and the Rapids have to not only win the game but also a second tie breaker to advance. If the Wizards want to play it safe, they will drop back early and simply frustrate the Rapids. If not, they'll look to Molnar to put one or two in the back of the net before dropping back.

The Fire will close out Revolution with only a little more trouble than the Wizards are having. They simply have too much skill up front for the Revolution to compete. With Stoitchkov and Jamar Beasley up front for the Fire, the Revolution will have to hope they can score early and then try to sit back and hold on. The Tuesday loss knocked the Fire off a five game winning streak so they better hope they can pick it up after that.

The Galaxy did well scoring six goals in the first round, but they are going to have to do something special to repeat that against the Wizards defense. It is possible that the extra game for the Wizards will tire them, but I doubt it will be enough to keep them from advancing to the finals.

The Metrostars got their first ever series victory in the playoffs. Unfortunately for them, that will probably be the end of it. Once again the excess of talent up front for the Fire will probably prevail.

Well, what about the finals on October 15? It will be a classic battle of offense versus defense. If I had to pick, I would say the Wizards, but that all depends on who runs out of energy first, so the results of the semi-finals might really impact the outcome. The short of it is you better watch to find out for yourself.