Sporting Kansas City won the 2018 MLS Western Conference playoff race on 62 points, 3 points ahead of Seattle Sounders FC. It came down to the final days: Sporting Kansas City did not lead for good until October 21, 2018.
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Western standings, 2018
Team
W
L
T
PTS
L10
Streak
Sporting Kansas City (SKC)
18
8
8
62
6-2-2
W3
Seattle Sounders FC (SEA)
18
11
5
59
8-2-0
W5
FC Dallas (DAL)
16
9
9
57
3-4-3
L3
Los Angeles Football Club (LAFC)
16
9
9
57
5-2-3
L1
Portland Timbers (POR)
15
10
9
54
5-3-2
L1
Real Salt Lake (RSL)
14
13
7
49
4-4-2
L1
LA Galaxy (LA)
13
12
9
48
3-4-3
L1
Vancouver Whitecaps FC (VAN)
13
13
8
47
4-4-2
W1
Houston Dynamo FC (HOU)
10
16
8
38
3-5-2
W1
Minnesota United FC (MIN)
11
20
3
36
2-7-1
L4
Colorado Rapids (COL)
8
19
7
31
2-7-1
W1
San Jose Earthquakes (SJ)
4
21
9
21
1-8-1
L1
Final standings.
Turning points
The lead changed hands 10 times.
Sporting Kansas City trailed by as many as 9 points on July 28, 2018.
Sporting Kansas City took first place for good on October 21, 2018.
Seattle Sounders FC won 9 games in a row from July 21, 2018 to September 15, 2018, the longest run of the race.
FC Dallas led by 6 points as late as August 3, 2018.
Sporting Kansas City went 4-0-2 from March 16, 2018 to April 20, 2018, turning a deficit of 3 points into a lead of 7 points.
The top two ended the day within three points of each other on 61 of the 87 days played.
Seven teams held first place.
Sporting Kansas City spent 99 of the season's 240 charted days in first place.