FRISCO - It was a very telling double-match week around the Western Conference, one that saw some teams jump into the heart of the playoff race and one that has FC Dallas in unfamiliar territory. Every team in the West is into the single digits in games remaining as crunch time approaches over the final two months of the 2017 regular season.
Seattle still finds itself atop the West for a second straight week after draws against Cascadia Cup foes Vancouver and Portland, the latter of which jumped up into second place with a mid-week win over Colorado. Sporting KC dropped a spot without playing a match after their meeting with the Dynamo in Houston was postponed in the wake of Hurricane Harvey.
The Whitecaps put up a four-point week with their Wednesday draw at home and a road win over Orlando City SC on Saturday to jump from sixth to fourth and just four points back of the leaders. The Dynamo with one more game played than Vancouver sit in fifth place despite being level on points. San Jose rebounded from a ghastly 4-0 loss to Real Salt Lake on Wednesday with a 2-0 win over the struggling LA Galaxy on Sunday to climb into the sixth and final playoff spot after Week 25.
FCD, with just one of a possible six points earned on the week, has fallen out of the playoff picture for the first time all season, but still holds two games in-hand over the Earthquakes above them as well as games in-hand over three of the top five teams in the conference.
Real Salt Lake saw explosive offensive performances with a 4-0 win over the Quakes and a 4-1 win over Colorado to pull just one point back of Dallas in the eighth spot.
Below them, though, it appears to be all-but over for Minnesota, LA and Colorado. Minnesota earned a 2-1 win over the slumping Chicago Fire to reach 25 points on the season, but with nine games left to eclipse an eleven-point gap, the Loons will need a serious stroke of luck to sniff the playoffs. The Galaxy fell 2-0 in Columbus and at home to San Jose, while Colorado dropped both of their matches on the week as well.
