Major League Soccer announces dates for title playoffs

Major League Soccer on Tuesday announced the dates for its playoffs that will culminate with the MLS Cup championship game Dec. 7.

The top five teams in each of the MLS’ Western and Eastern conferences qualify for postseason play.

The playoffs start with the conference knockout round, in which the fourth- and fifth-place teams in each conference play a single game to see which of those clubs advance to the conference semifinals. The knockout-round matches will be Oct. 29-30.

The two-game conference semifinals, which are decided by aggregate goals, will be Nov. 1-2 and Nov. 8-9.

The winners of the semifinals advance to the conference championships, which also are two games decided by aggregate goals. The conference championships will be played Nov. 22-23 and Nov. 29-30.

The MLS Cup final will follow Dec. 7.

The league said this would be the first time that its postseason would extend past Thanksgiving Day (Nov. 27), a change that allows for more weekend games than in the past.

The Galaxy and the Seattle Sounders, which are tied for first place in the Western Conference, are the only two MLS teams that so far have clinched playoff spots.