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Faria vs New England, 2001
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Ten years of regular season finales
October 10, 2006
We all remember last year's regular season finale, when Metro needed a win and a win only to rise over Kansas City and get into the playoffs. With the situation eerily similar this year, we look back at the last ten years of Metro season closers. Amazingly, this year will be the first scheduled finale that is played at home.
September 21, 1996: Tampa Bay 4, MetroStars 1
With Metro stuck in third place no matter what the result is, they send a team of backups to Tampa, highlighted by Louis Ken-Kwofie, who rose from Metro office staff games to becoming a yet-to-be-topped 36th player to suit for Metro that year. Giovanni Savarese had the lone Metro goal, on a PK, to bring his season total to 13.
September 28, 1997: DC United 1, MetroStars 3
Just three days after Metro was eliminated from the playoffs with a 1:0 loss to Columbus in which Branco spat on Mike Lapper (combined with a 2:1 New England win over Dallas), the finale was once again all but academic. What went down is amazingly still the only win over DC by more than a goal in Metro's 11-year-history. Brian Kelly had a goal and an assist, Savarese got his 14th of the year, and Miles Joseph also scored.
September 26, 1998: New England 0, MetroStars 0 (2:4 SO)
Coming into the match with a six-game losing streak that cost Alfonso Mondelo his job, it was Metro's first match under Bora Milutinovic. Once again, Metro was sealed into the third spot no matter what the result was. A drab 0:0 game followed, with Metro scoring on all four shootout attempts.
October 2, 1999: New England 2, MetroStars 1
The last game in the season of horrors was academic as well, with Lawrence Lozzano's first and last Metro tally being the club's only goal.
September 9, 2000: New England 4, MetroStars 3
The first finale that actually meant something, with Metro entering the match tied with Chicago and two points behind Kansas City for the Supporters' Shield and the playoff #1 seed that came with it. Alex Comas would score a hat-trick, but Octavio Zambrano declared at halftime (with Metro trailing by one) that the game was meaningless, and Metro proceeded to lose the match and drop to the third seed. Interestingly, Chicago needed a late winner and Kansas City came back from two goals down in their matches to claim the top two seeds. The Fire later walked through Metro in the playoffs, winning both of their home games that they gained on this day, to meet the Wizards in the MLS Cup.
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