The New York Red Bulls, meanwhile, just squeaked into the playoffs in the eighth spot, being forced into the Western Conference bracket as the last seed. They had an up-and-down season marred by inconsistency at nearly every position.

The Crew's Chad Marshall - who earned MLS Defender of the Year - and fellow central defender Danny O'Rourke have been a solid tandem since the first game of the season, while fullbacks Frankie Hejduk and Gino Pedula have well over two decades of experience between them. Holding midfielder Brian Carroll has been rock-solid all season, and winger Robbie Rogers had a breakout season interrupted by his participation in the '08 Summer Olympics.

Schelotto helped lead the Columbus Crew past the Chicago Fire, 2-1, in the Eastern Conference final with assists on both goals.

The first came off a perfectly placed service into the center of the Fire?s penalty area on a free kick.

The Red Bulls, who upset the two-time defending champion Houston Dynamo in the Western semis, will now square off against the top seed in the playoffs - the Eastern Champion Columbus Crew - in the MLS Cup Championship on Nov. 23 at The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif.

New York left winger Dave van den Bergh was the hero on Saturday, scoring the game's only goal in the 28th minute after Red Bulls' forward John Wolyniec outraced RSL defender Jamison Olave on the le

"It's not over," Juan Pablo Angel told MLSnet.com. "We know that we're on the doorstep of the big party of the year. We would like to get it right, but we have a very difficult challenge ahead." The challenge comes Saturday night when the Red Bulls (1-0-1) travel to the Salt Lake City area to take on Real Salt Lake (1-0-1) in the Western Conference final at Rio Tinto Stadium.

"The way the system is set up it's only a one game round this time," RSL's Clint Mathis told his team's official website. "So it's important to have the home crowd behind you because they definitely help us out. They are our 12 player out on the field. It's important to win this game at home and then we are

"Fred really wants to continue playing and maintaining his fitness during our off-season, so we have agreed to this short-term loan," United's General Manager Dave Kasper said.

The Brazilian will be eligible to play six matches with the Phoenix starting with their match on Sunday.

Chad Marshall and Eddie Gaven scored second-half goals to lead the Crew to victory after Brian McBride gave the Fire a 1-0 lead in the first half.

With the win, the Supporters' Shield winners will face the victor of the New York Red Bulls at Real Salt Lake Western Final on Saturday in the MLS Cup Championship on Nov. 23 at the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif.

This is a big step toward having the stadium done by the 2010 season, when MLS Philadelphia joins the league as the 16th team.

Wells had a damaged tibial sesamoid bone removed from his left foot and will likely to need three months to recover.

In his first season with D.C., Wells appeared in 17 MLS matches - all starts - and posted a 8-8-1 record with one shutout. In all competitions in 2008, Wells played in 31 matches - all starts - and had a record of 13-15-3.

Franklin, 23, started 26 out of 27 matches and recorded one assist. He was the Galaxy?s first pick - fourth overall - in the 2008 MLS SuperDraft.

He is the first Galaxy player to win Rookie of the Year honors.

Victorine, who joined Chivas USA from the Kansas City Wizards on Sept. 15, originally suffered the injury to his knee in the match against the Colorado Rapids on Oct. 19.

In his MLS career, the Corona, Calif. native has played a total of 232 matches, with 32 goals and 40 assists. At the international level, Victorine has four caps and one goal for the full U.S. national team.

"I'm excited, I know the team and the players are excited going into this game," Crew coach Sigi Schmid said. "It's great to have the conference final and be in the conference final but it's even better to have the conference final here in Columbus." The home-field advantage could be key, with the Crew owning the best home record in the league at 11-2-2 as well as winning the last seven fixtures overall at Crew Stadium.

"Obviously it is what we have played for all season," Schmid said.

The 17-year-old Bowen is the fist player in Galaxy history to be signed from the club's youth development program.

"Tristan is an exciting and talented young player who has impressed me and all of our coaches during his time training with the club," Galaxy General Manager and coach Bruce Arena said. "He has many of the attributes which are required in order to become a good player in MLS and has shown the drive and desire to improve all areas of his game. We are excited to have him join the club and look forward to seeing him grow in a Galaxy uniform." Bowen will occupy a spot on the Galaxy's developmental roster after being selected as a member of the league's Generation Adidas program, meaning that his salary will not count toward the club's salary budget.

For the last 18 years, the award has honored the best U.S. player as chosen by the American sports media. Tim Howard finished second and Clint Dempsey placed third.

This recognition coincides with the start of Donovan's trial with Bayern Munich in Germany. Donovan, who currently plays with the Los Angeles Galaxy, started training with the Bundesliga club Tuesday and hopes to sign a contract with the team this winter.

Mastroeni has played in the fifth most games (132), has started the third most games (126) and has also played the fourth most minutes (11,042) in Rapids team history. The nine-time MLS all-star has led Colorado to the Western Conference title three times.

"I think that this is an exciting time for the Colorado Rapids organization," Mastroeni said. "After being here for seven years, I want to leave with some type of hardware and I think we have the right ingredients to get that done." Mastroeni has represented the United States in two World Cups, 2002 and 2006, and has been a member of three CONCACAF Gold Cup winning sides. In eight years with the national team, Mastroeni has earned 61 caps.

Smith served as the Rapids' interim coach after Fernando Clavijo stepped down. Under Smith, Colorado tied for the fourth most points earned in Major League Soccer and worked its way back into the postseason race.

Smith's record of 5-4-2 included a month of undefeated play in September and three road victories. By comparison, the Rapids had only one road win in nine matches before Smith?s arrival.

Nearly a decade ago, long before Donovan emerged as American soccer's brightest star, German club Bayer Leverkusen signed the then 16-year-old to a contract.

Donovan became the youngest U.S. player to ever sign a professional contract to play overseas. Just a few years later before the 2000-01 season, Donovan earned a spot on Bayer Leverkusen's first team, but did not make an appearance for the club that season.

The group is comprised of MLS players who have completed the 2008 season, as well as Norway-based goalkeeper Troy Perkins and defender Clarence Goodson.

Following the completion of the camp and the next round of club games, Bradley will announce the roster that will train in advance of the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Guatemala on Nov. 19.

Huckerby joined San Jose in July and had six goals and four assists in just 14 games. He led the team in scoring despite playing less than half the season and earned the Earthquakes' Most Valuable Player award.

In Huckerby's first eight matches with the team, the Earthquakes posted a 4-0-4 record, part of the Quakes league-high, nine-game unbeaten streak. San Jose was 3-9-4 before Huckerby's arrival and finished the year with a 5-4-5 record after he joined the team.

Schmid previously won Coach of the Year in 1999 with the Los Angeles Galaxy and joins current United States national team coach Bob Bradley (1998 and 2006) as two-time winners in MLS.

Schmid also becomes the second coach in Crew history to win the award, joining Greg Andrulis (2004).

Richards scored a goal and an assist as well as drawing a penalty kick that led to another goal in the Red Bulls' 3-0 upset of the two-time defending MLS Cup champion Houston Dynamo on Sunday. Thanks in large part to the Jamaican- born winger's play, the Red Bulls will travel to Sandy, UT to take on Real Salt Lake in the Western Conference Final on Thursday.

This is the first payer of the week award for the 24-year-old Richards, who was drafted by the Red Bulls 19th overall in the 2007 MLS SuperDraft.

The speedy winger had a goal and an assist as well as drawing a penalty kick in the Red Bulls' 3-0 upset win of the two-time defending MLS Cup champion Houston Dynamo. With the win, the Red Bulls take the Western Conference Semifinal Series, upsetting the top-seeded Dynamo, 4-1, in the home-and-home, total goals series after the teams battled to a 1-1 draw at Giants Stadium last week.

Richards gave the Red Bulls the lead in the 25th minute after he took a through-ball from Sinisa Ubiparipovic, split the defense and fired a shot past Houston goalkeeper Pat Onstad.

A 2-2 draw at The Home Depot Center on Saturday night was enough after earning a 1-0 victory at Rio Tino Stadium in the first leg last weekend.

Javier Morales scored a goal and an assist on Saturday to lead his side to the next round in its first ever appearance in the MLS Cup playoffs.

Brad Evans and Robbie Rogers scored on each side of the half to help lead Columbus to the 3-1 victory in the home-and-home total goals series after the teams battled to a 1-1 draw in the first leg this past Saturday. The playoff victory is the Crew's first since topping the San Jose Earthquakes six years ago.

Crew coach Sigi Schmid also improves to 17-7-4 in his career in the MLS Cup playoffs, including going 12-0-1 at home, which isn't a good sign for the Chicago Fire, who travel to Columbus for the Eastern final on Thursday.

The Dynamo (0-0-1), winners over the New England Revolution in the past two MLS Cup championships, feel good about their chances after earning a 1-1 draw vs.

the Red Bulls in the first leg of the home-and-home, total goals series this past Saturday at Giants Stadium. Kei Kamara scored the late equalizer for top-seeded Houston after a Juan Pablo Angel goal just after the break gave the No. 4 Red Bulls the lead.

"It's huge for the club, huge for us because now we are a goal ahead going into our second leg which relieves a lot of pressure, you know," Movsisyan told SportsNetwork.com earlier this week. "It was big for us because anything but a win in that game would have been a disappointment." The 21-year-old Movsisyan is coming off back-to-back games in which he scored huge 90th minute goals after his equalizer at Colorado on Oct. 25 earned RSL's playoff berth.

Now, RSL will be looking to earn at least a draw on the road at The Home Depot Center vs.