Posted by Heath Harshman

By Heath Harshman- WFD Fan Correspondent

Five in and five out. That ratio is how the MLS playoffs look after the first matches of October took place last weekend. New York, Columbus and Dallas joined the Galaxy and Real Salt Lake as teams that have punched their ticket to November soccer. On the other end of the spectrum, Philadelphia, Chivas USA and New England joined Houston and D.C. United as those who were eliminated from playoff contention.

Now six teams will battle over the final three slots over the last few weeks of the regular season. Were the season to end today Seattle, Colorado and San Jose would all continue into the postseason while Kansas City, Toronto and Chicago would all fall short.

The "safest" team, Seattle, currently has 42 points, the most of any teams that have not clinched a playoff spot. After a shaky start to their second season the Sounders have calmed the tide and snuck into great place in the standings late in the season. They have taken points in 11 of their last 12 matches, including their Saturday afternoon matchup with Toronto FC.

After Dwayne De Rosario opened the scoring for TFC at Qwest Field, Seattle responded with two goals before halftime and another early in the second half as they strolled to a 3-2 win. Steve Zakuani, Blaise Nkufo and Sanna Nyassi scored, in that order, for SSFC. Seattle trails their point total from last season, 47, by five points with three matches left in their 2010 campaign. Next weekend they will travel to Community America Ballpark in Missouri to take on the Kansas City Wizards.

The loss is a big one for Toronto who now trail eighth place San Jose by nine points. TFC will have to win out as well as have San Jose lose out while hoping their goal differential after said results is better than the Earthquakes. The first of their next three games is at the Home Depot Center against already eliminated Chivas USA.

In the shock result of the week the now seventh place Colorado Rapids fell at home to bottom of the table D.C. United. Just one week after almost ending Real Salt Lake's home unbeaten streak the Rapids came out flat and were unable to recover, losing 1-0. It was United's first win in Colorado in over a decade as a Danny Allsop goal just before the half gave the winners all they needed. The Rapids, now on 41 points, are all but assured a postseason position should they earn points in their final three matches. While it is manageable, Colorado's next three matches are away to Dallas, away to Los Angeles and home versus Real Salt Lake.

In a late season playoff battle taking points in any game is huge and the San Jose Earthquakes did just that last weekend, earning a hard fought 0-0 draw in Columbus. The draw earned a postseason place for the Crew while it gave the Earthquakes another step in the right direction. In the final playoff spot every point is valuable and one on the road against a top four team in the league is one I'm sure San Jose head coach Frank Yallop would've taken. The Earthquakes will look to make a big move for the postseason next weekend with a road trip to last place D.C. United.

Road games against top opponents are not what teams outside of the playoff picture ask for late in the season, but that is exactly what ninth place Kansas City had last weekend. 24,799 loud and proud New York Red Bulls fans had plenty to cheer about as they won 1-0 thanks to a Dane Richards sixth minute goal. The win catapults New York to first in the East and deals KC a tough hand to end their season with. It wasn't for lack of effort from the Wizards, who attempted 26 shots in the game, 12 of which on goal. Red Bulls keeper Bouna Coundoul was named MLS Player of the Week for his effort in the match. Coundoul, who is 28-years-old and hails from Senegal, is the first goalkeeper to win the honor this season.

In the MLS primetime game of the week on ESPN the Los Angeles Galaxy made yet another nationally televised appearance against rival Chivas USA. A sweet right-footed half-volley by Edson Buddle following a perfectly lobbed pass from Michael Stephens gave L.A. a 1-0 lead after 23 minutes. Los Angeles followed that up with a made-for-movie free kick from David Beckham in the 39th. Becks curled the free kick around the outside of the wall to the far post and directly into the top corner. Former Galaxy veteran forward Alan Gordon answered back for the Goats in the second half but it wasn't enough as the league's top team retained its title with a 2-1 win. It was the Galaxy's second consecutive nationally televised match of three consecutive as they face the Philadelphia Union Thursday night on ESPN2.

Other scores around the MLS from last week include FC Dallas defeating Chicago 3-0 at Pizza Hut Park in Dallas, Real Salt Lake besting the New England Revolution by a score of 2-1 and Philadelphia drawing 1-1 with the Houston Dynamo.

Next weekend's MLS action offers another slate of great matchups, a tribute to the league's parity. Three games that are must watch for any MLS fan has to include the ESPN MLS Game of the Week at PPL Park in Philly as the Union welcomes the Galaxy. Despite the Union being eliminated from playoff contention you know as well as I do that their crowd and team will come to play against the Galaxy. Saturday features a possible MLS Cup matchup between New York and Real Salt Lake. Defending champion Salt Lake will travel to the east coast and try to slow down the charging Red Bulls. Lastly, two teams that are yet to decide their postseason fate faceoff as Seattle take on Kansas City. It is a big match for both teams that will make a big difference their November scheduling.

Another game that I will be sure to catch is Tuesday night's US Open Cup matchup between the Sounders and Columbus Crew. The Sounders are trying to be the first MLS team to ever repeat as Cup holders while the Crew are trying to win their first Open Cup since 2002. I wrote a preview of the match for Washington State University's student newspaper, The Daily Evergreen, last week. You can read that piece here http://www.dailyevergreen.com/story/32522.



In addition to being a weekly blogger for WFD, I write for the Washington State University student newspaper, The Daily Evergreen, where I have a weekly sports column. I am also the Washington State University men's basketball beat writer for Jim Basnight's college hoops blog on mynorthwest.com. You can find past pieces and follow my work not only for WFD but for The Daily Evergreen and mynorthwest.com by following me on twitter @heathharshman or adding me on facebook. Any feedback is welcome at heath_harshman@yahoo.com.