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MLS playoff spots still at stake

By José Alfredo Flores
USA TODAY

Major League Soccer's regular season comes to an end this weekend, with three teams battling for the eighth and final playoff spot.

Friday's game between Los Angeles and Colorado features two teams at opposite ends of the playoff race.

The Galaxy (14-9-8, 50 points), the No. 4 seed in the league, hold a one-point lead on Central Division runner-up Tampa Bay in the race for home-field advantage in the first round. A Galaxy win clinches that.

The Rapids (40 points) will earn the final spot with a win. They lead both Miami and Columbus by two points. If the Rapids lose, they will have to hope they aren't passed by Columbus or Miami.

''It's clear we have to win,'' says Colorado coach Glenn Myernick. ''We like our chances against L.A. since we've had some close games against them.''

The Galaxy lead the season series 2-1, with each game decided by one goal. ''Everything is in our hands now,'' says Galaxy forward Cobi Jones. ''If we win, we get home field (in the first round), and who wouldn't want that?''

Saturday, the league's top team and three MLS records could be set when Kansas City visits Tampa.

The Western Division champion Wizards (16-7-8, 56 points) hold a two-point lead over Eastern winners New York/New Jersey and Central champion Chicago.

With a win, Kansas City finishes with the league's best record and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.

* Tampa forward Mamadou Diallo has been one of the league's biggest surprises, earning a spot on the roster during training camp and running away with the goal-scoring title in his first MLS season.

Diallo (26 goals and three assists for 55 points), barring another five-goal outburst by MetroStar Clint Mathis, also will earn the scoring title.

Diallo is also one goal away from reaching the league's single-season mark (27 goals by Roy Lassiter in 1996) and is three points away from the MLS points record (58 points by Lassiter in 1996).

''My name will be in the record book and that is very important to me,'' Diallo says. ''It would be very important to me to break this record in front of the fans in Tampa.''

* The final three seeds will be determined Saturday. Dallas (43 points) gets the sixth seed with a victory. If Colorado wins and New England (42 points) ties, the Revolution will drop to eighth and the Rapids move into the seventh seed because of the tiebreaker.