TSF Website has Moved!

The USL-1 playoffs start tonight around the league, including the 7:30pm match at SAS Soccer Park between Carolina and Seattle. Here's a quick primer on everything you need to know about the playoffs:

Quarterfinal matchups

8-Carolina RailHawks v 1-Seattle Sounders
7-Vancouver Whitecaps v 2-Portland Timbers
6-Puerto Rico Islanders v 3-Montreal Impact
5-Rochester Rhinos v 4-Atlanta Silverbacks

The wwo game series will be played Friday, September 14th and Sunday, September 16th.

Aggregate series rules

Both the quarterfinals and semifinal round are a two game, home-and-away aggregate series. The winner is the team that scores the most goals cumulative between the two matches. Away goals do not count "double" as a tiebreaker like in UEFA Champions League play. If the second matches end with an aggregate goal total which is equal for both teams, then 2 15-minute overtime periods will be played in their entirety, regardless of extra time scoring (no golden goal). If 30 minutes of extra time does not decide the winner, the game will be decided by kicks from the penalty spot per FIFA regulations.

Semifinal pairings

At the conclusion of the quarterfinals, the USL will re-seed the teams based on regular season standings and the lowest seed will play the highest seed, etc. The USL-1 does not use a straight bracket system with pre-determined second round matchups. Semifinals will be played on Friday, September 21st and Sunday, September 23rd.

Finals

The USL First Division Championship consists of a single 90 minute match to determine the league playoff champion will be held September 29. The match will be broadcast on Fox Soccer Channel.