The 2009 MLS Cup Playoffs is the postseason to Major League Soccer

Major League Soccer

Major League Soccer is a professional soccer league based in the United States and sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation . The league is composed of 19 teams — 16 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada...

's 2009 season

2009 Major League Soccer season

The 2009 Major League Soccer season was the 14th season of Major League Soccer. The season began on March 19 and ended with Real Salt Lake winning the MLS Cup 2009, on November 22 at Qwest Field in Seattle, Washington-Changes from the 2008 season:...

. MLS Cup 2009

MLS Cup 2009

The 2009 MLS Cup was the championship match of the 2009 Major League Soccer season, the 14th season of the league. The final was played at Qwest Field in Seattle, Washington on November 22, 2009. The match was contested by Eastern Conference champion Real Salt Lake and Western Conference champion...

 concluded the season on November 22, 2009 at Qwest Field

Qwest Field

CenturyLink Field is a multi-purpose stadium in Seattle, Washington, United States. It serves as the home field for the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League and Seattle Sounders FC of Major League Soccer...

 in Seattle, Washington

Seattle, Washington

Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...

. Real Salt Lake

Real Salt Lake

Real Salt Lake is an American professional soccer club based in Sandy, Utah, a suburb of Salt Lake City. The team competes in Major League Soccer , the top professional soccer league in the United States and Canada. They currently play their home games at Rio Tinto Stadium. Real Salt Lake won...

 won the Cup in penalties over the L.A. Galaxy

Los Angeles Galaxy

The Los Angeles Galaxy are an American professional soccer team, based in the Los Angeles suburb of Carson, California, which competes in Major League Soccer , the top professional soccer league in the United States and Canada. It is one of the ten charter clubs of MLS, and the league's second...

.

Format

At the 2009 season's end, the top two teams of each conference made the playoffs; in addition the clubs with the next four highest point totals, regardless of conference, were added to the playoffs. In the first round of this knockout tournament, aggregate goals over two matches determined the winners; the Conference Championships were one match each, with the winner of each conference advancing to MLS Cup

MLS Cup

The MLS Cup is the championship match of Major League Soccer, the highest tier of professional soccer in the United States and Canada. As the final match of the MLS Cup playoffs, the winner is crowned the season champion in the same manner as other North American sports leagues...

. In all rounds, the tie-breaking method was two 15-minute periods of extra time, followed by penalty kicks if necessary. The away goals rule

Away goals rule

The away goals rule is a method of breaking ties in association football and other sports when teams play each other twice, once at each team's home ground. By the away goals rule, the team that has scored more goals "away from home" will win if scores are otherwise equal...

 was not used.

Conference standings

Eastern Conference

Real Salt Lake advances 4–2 on aggregate.
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Chicago Fire advances 3–2 on aggregate.

Western Conference

Los Angeles Galaxy advances 3–2 on aggregate.
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Houston Dynamo advances 1–0 on aggregate.

Eastern Conference

Real Salt Lake advances 5–4 on penalties.

Western Conference

Los Angeles Galaxy advances.

MLS Cup