began construction in 2001. Road to the final The MLS Cup is the post-season championship of Major League Soccer, a professional club soccer league based in the United States. The 2001 season was the sixth in the league's history and was contested by twelve teams organized into three divisions (later renamed conferences). Each team was to play a total of 28 matches in the regular season, which ran from April to September, facing teams within their division four times and outside of their division twice. The shortened schedule, with four fewer matches, and a smaller roster limited to 18 players under a $1.7 million salary cap reflected the league's financial troubles at the time. The MLS Cup Playoffs ran from mid-September to October and was contested by the winners of the three divisions and five wild card teams with the most points regardless of division, who were then seeded based on overall standings. The playoffs were organized into three rounds, the first two being a home-and-away series organized into a best-of-three format with the first team to earn five points advancing, and the single-match MLS Cup final. MLS Cup 2001 was contested between the San Jose Earthquakes and the Los Angeles Galaxy, both from the Western Division. It was the first MLS Cup with finalists from the same division and the same state. San Jose had never appeared in an MLS Cup final, while Los Angeles lost the 1996 and 1999 finals to D.C. United. The finalists played each other twice during the regular season, both won by the Earthquakes, but two additional matches in the series to be played at the end of the regular season were canceled after the September 11 attacks, which shortened the league's season. Due to several teams having already played an extra match, playoff seeding was determined by points per game and matches began a week later. The Earthquakes and Galaxy also met each other in the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open Cup in July, which Los Angeles won 10–9 in a penalty shootout following a 1–1 draw after extra time. San Jose Earthquakes The San Jose Earthquakes, originally named the San Jose Clash until 2000, had historically been among the worst teams in the league and went through four coaching changes in its first six seasons. The Clash finished sixth overall in the inaugural season and qualified for the playoffs, where they were