Hello and welcome to the L.A. Times weekly soccer newsletter. I’m Kevin Baxter, The Times’ soccer writer.
The MLS season ended with a surprisingly loud thud for one team last Thursday when the Los Angeles Football Club, which had designs on a long postseason run, was tripped up by lowly Real Salt Lake in a first-round knockout game. The Galaxy’s season ended four days earlier when the Houston Dynamo eliminated them from postseason consideration, opening the way for RSL to grab the Western Conference’s final berth.
As a result, Salt Lake is now preparing for the second leg of its conference semifinal playoff series with Sporting Kansas City while the Galaxy and LAFC are beginning preparations for next season.