From Tim Cahill's eight-second goal to FC Dallas players fighting each other, our fan reps and bloggers recall the highs and lows of the 2013 MLS season

Sporting Kansas City have lifted the 2013 MLS Cup and the season is officially over, so it's time for our dedicated crew of fan reps, bloggers and beat reporters to recall the highs, lows and greatest goals of the year and the memories that will sustain until the next season starts. Please share yours below.

Chicago Fire

Dan Martin, Whiskey Brothers Aught Five and Hot Time in Old Town:

Best game: 3-2 win over the Revs at Toyota Park. After losing the home opener and the away game to New England, this needed to happen.

Worst game: 2-0 loss to DC United in the Open Cup semifinals, immediately followed by the 5-2 loss in the final game of the season at New York.

MVP: Seriously? You think I'm gonna say "El Diablo" Thompson? Mike Magee.

Best goal: I'll say Paladini's game-tying goal vs Portland over Anibaba's curler at Dallas only because Paladini's was in front of the Harlem End.

Best trade/signing: Seriously? You think I'm gonna say Rios? Mike Magee.

Highlight: Magee's seven-game scoring run across league and Open Cup matches after joining the club.

Low point: See "Worst game".

Running joke: "The Editorial" – a Fire staffer channels Miss Manners and Andrew Hauptman with predictable results.

Chivas USA

Alicia Ratterree, The Goat Parade:

Best game: 3-2 win over New York in late August. The shine was definitely gone from the season at that point, but a win over the eventual Supporters Shield winners picked up spirits for a time.

Worst game: How do I choose? Seriously, there were too many stinkers, but losing 3-1 against Philadelphia was particularly rough, because Chivas went ahead before a terrible refereeing decision torpedoed any hopes of getting a result.

MVP: Across the season, it has to be Dan Kennedy once more. But for overall impact, Erick Torres was a welcome addition and singlehandedly got the team back to scoring.

Best goal: The bicycle kick by Torres against Vancouver was certainly the most impressive.

Best trade/signing: Hands down, best trade was for Eric Avila. For overall signing, it has to be Torres –even if it was just a loan deal.

Highlight: Rookie and local boy Carlos Alvarez coming off the bench to score the very late tying goal against the Galaxy in the year's first match between LA rivals.

Low point: Sorry, there's no way to narrow it down to one. On the field and off, it was an absolutely brutal year for the Goats.

Running joke: Humor? We're way beyond that.

Colorado Rapids

Todd Haggerty, Centennial 38 Supporters:

Best game: The 'Pids 4-3 victory in Montreal, which included a Tony Cascio sighting.

Worst game: The play-in game against the Sounders shook my faith in the beauty of soccer. Neither team was able to string any passes together, Pareja's personnel choices were odd, and it featured a record number of throw-ins.

MVP: Clint Irwin.

Best goal: Dillon Powers' Le Tissier impression against Portland back in March.

Best trade/signing: Vicente Sanchez.

Highlight: Finally bringing the Rocky Mountain Cup back home.

Low point: The aforementioned debacle in Seattle.

Running joke: Win pins.

Columbus Crew

Ben Hoelzel, Crew Union:

Best game: 4-2 win over FC Dallas in September. Interim coach Brian Bliss managed to win four of his first five games in charge, and this win put Columbus' playoff hopes squarely in their own hands. The Crew faithful were starting to get excited!

Worst game: 1-0 loss to KC on 5 October. The very next game, the Crew wet the sheets and lost at home to KC, rendering the last two games of the season pointless (a home and away series against New England, the other team battling for the last playoff spot). Why do you build me up, Buttercup, just to let me down?

MVP: Federico Higuain. He didn’t seem to have the all-star year that many were expecting. But with 11 goals and nine assists, he was the most consistent player on a very inconsistent team.

Best goal: Higuain's chip against New York: pure class. It really demonstrates how good he can be, unfortunately we just didn’t see it enough.

Best trade/signing: Picking up Oduro for the rights to Robbie Rogers (which the Fire then leveraged to get MLS MVP Mike McGee from LA). He led the team in goals, and the Crew have high hopes for him. We’ll see if new coach Gregg Berhalter will play him as a winger or true striker.

Highlight: Anthony "Tony Aces" Precourt's purchase of the Crew from Hunt Sports Group. Lamar Hunt is the most revered man in the Columbus soccer community but since his passing, it became clear that the family would eventually need to sell the Crew. A search for local ownership failed, but nearly everyone is excited to see what Precourt has planned for the organization.

Low point: I really think it was losing fan favorite and midfield rock Eddie Gaven to a season-ending injury against a semi-pro side in the US Open Cup. Without The Beard, the Crew would lose 10 of their next 15 games. At the end of the season, Gaven unexpectedly announced his retirement.

Running joke: Robert Warzycha’s use of the word “responsibility”. Also, our scoreboard catches fire.

DC United

Kim Kolb, Screaming Eagles:

Best game: The US Open Cup final.

Worst game: The 4-0 put on United by Houston at RFK. Not only was it a beatdown, but United could have shown some rebound of a 3-0 drubbing the previous game. Instead they came out timid and the season's theme was set.

MVP: Can there be an MVP of a team that had such poor results? If so Perry Kitchen could be that man. In his third season, he brought a lot more to his game and looked much more comfortable in his central midfield role.

Best goal: It's hard to pick the best of 22, but I'd go with Jared Jeffrey's long-range shot against Toronto FC on 28 September. It was a beautiful, world-class strike that earned Goal of the Week honors. Lewis Neal's USOC winner is a close second due to its magnitude.

Best trade/signing: In terms of immediate impact it could be the acquisition of Luis Silva – he started out with a big splash but faded late in the season. Not having DeRo around in the future could give him more flexibility on the team. Jared Jeffrey was another solid pickup.

Highlight: The announcement of a potential stadium deal and the US Open Cup are the obvious highlights.

Low point: Having a single low point seems to suggest that there were high points, but the signing of Carlos Ruiz and the obvious desperation it entailed was the lowest point.

Running joke: Lionid Pajoy, or anything to do with his penchant for not scoring, or for being in offside positions.

FC Dallas

Gina Zipilli, The Inferno:

Best game: Honestly, our season was abysmal. The come-from-behind win against Houston was fantastic, but two other games stand out. The win against Vancouver in September was a highlight because we scored three beautiful goals (including Jair Benitez' long-range bomb). The other was our last regular-season home game, against Seattle. Schellas Hyndman announced his resignation days before. Everyone knew that the season was done – so we all sat back, relaxed and did our thing. The players played, the fans cheered and the team pulled off a confident, strong performance and managed to upset Seattle, live on NBC.

Worst game: For some reason, losing 3-0 at home to Real Salt Lake comes to mind. That loss stung more than usual because it broke the curse that had plagued RSL for eight years. Up until that night, they had always left Texas empty-handed. In the throws of our summer slump, the supporters hung on to that statistic as a tiny piece of optimism that we could maybe squeeze some much-needed points out of the match. We were dead wrong. It wasn't just the loss, but the way we lost that made that game so troublesome. FC Dallas played the most uninspired, flat and frustrating game I have ever seen. It felt like the only people who cared about the match were the ones in the stands. It was finally some concrete proof that this team was – as we all feared – in very deep trouble. Oh, and let's not forget Jackson and Ferreira fighting with each other on national TV in our last game. Stay classy, boys.

MVP: Probably Blas Perez. In a season where we were hurting for goals, homeboy scored 11 of them when he wasn't off saving the day for Panama. Someone who is not on an MVP level but I do want to mention is Kellyn Acosta. The kid – yes, he's 18 – is a boss. He came up big for us when Zach Loyd was out injured and is definitely a name to watch going forward.

Best goal: This one is a tie between Michel's Olympico and Jair's bomb. Both beautiful, beautiful goals. Can't decide between the two.

Best trade/signing: Finally, one I can answer without hesitation. Mauro Diaz – hands down. Mauro came to us in July, a month FC Dallas fans typically associate with our annual summer slump. We needed a burst of energy, someone who could light up a game and make a difference. Along came Mauro. Three goals and two assists may not seem like much, but when your #BrekSheaMoney only produces six goals over an entire season (and all six from one player), three goals and two assists make a world of difference.

Highlight: Honestly, our season was such a disappointment that I had to poll the FC Dallas family for this one. My fellow supporters were unanimous. Our highlight of the year was Kenny Cooper's 90th-minute game-winner against Houston. Playing at home, on national television, we went up 2-0 in a span of a minute. Houston tied 2-2 and it looked like they would escape with a point. Cooper scored a goal in stoppage time that the Houston fans are still whining about. There was no hand ball – quit your bitching.

Low point: Probably when the "fire Schellas" chant started. Our summer slump bled over into the fall and nothing was changing. The supporters knew where the problems were coming from, but nobody would listen. We had to get our message across, and so we did. It's not a low point because of the chant (I encouraged it, actually) – it's a low point because it was almost a public SOS. The supporters were finally making it loud and clear that what was happening on the field was not OK.

Running joke: Kenny Cooper and Eric Hassli as #BrekSheaMoney. They had their own hashtag and all. We're not quite sure of who produced less in 2013: Brek Shea or our #BrekSheaMoney? We're seriously hoping that's not an issue in 2014!

Houston Dynamo

Stephen Eastepp, Dynamo Theory:

Best game: 2-2 draw with New York in the first leg of the Eastern Conference quarterfinal. The game just was classic Houston. After giving up two crucial goals and digging the biggest hole you’d imagine, Houston managed to claw back and get the equalizer in stoppage time.

Worst game: 5-0 loss at Montreal. Nothing much to say but absolutely horrible. It’s as if the team forgot to show up for the game at all.

MVP: Ricardo Clark, hands down. He had his best season in orange and the team suffered when he was out in a number of ways. He set career highs in both goals (four) and assists (four) on a year which saw him hold down the midfield defensively and suddenly become an offensive threat. Houston would not have had as good of a season if he wasn't the man in the middle.

Best goal: For me, the best shot of the year was Giles Barnes’ blast against the Seattle Sounders. Barnes collects the ball in midfield, looks up and decides he wants to steal the show on Clint Dempsey’s return to Houston. Clint who?

Best trade/signing: Andrew Driver was a sparkplug in the midfield, filling gaps all over the place, namely for two busy guys with their respective national teams – Brad Davis and Boniek Garcia. Driver was an important part of the midfield depth and provided a good lift to the club when on the field.

Highlight: Houston getting the best of the Supporters Shield-winning Red Bulls in the aggregate series. Not only did they take down the big dogs, Omar Cummings redeemed himself with two of the biggest Dynamo goals ever after a season of injuries and disappointment. The series gave fans some hope heading into 2014.

Low point: Starting with a first loss at home in nearly two years against rival Sporting Kansas City, the Dynamo went winless in seven straight. The scoring stopped, the midfield was stale and the defense was making mistakes nearly every game.

Running joke: We lost to SKC – there is no joking around. Time to get to work and win the MLS Cup in 2014.

LA Galaxy

Josh Guesman, founder, The Section 108 blog, co-host of Corner of the Galaxy podcast:

Best game: 4-0 victory over Seattle Sounders, 26 May, StubHub Center. A Robbie Keane hat trick and a Sean Franklin goal all in the first half.

Worst game: 2-1 loss to Portland on a 94th-minute set-piece goal. The set-piece and late goals were the real story of the LA Galaxy's season.

MVP: Robbie Keane: 16 goals, 11 assists. And he was only available for 23 games. That’s impressive.

Best goal: Sean Franklin from a rebound. A 30-yard laser that gave LA the 1-0 win over Real Salt Lake in the first leg of the Western Conference semifinals.

Best trade/signing: Goalkeeper Jaime Penedo filled the massive hole at the back of the defense. A different season with Penedo in goal for all games.

Highlight: Mike Magee’s opening day hat-trick against the team he ended the season with. It even included a bad Robbie Keane impression.

Low point: Trading Magee to the Chicago Fire for the right to sign Robbie Rogers. It wasn’t a good trade. It’s made even worse when Magee scores 21 goals and is the league MVP.

Running joke: “Oh no! It’s the last 15 minutes of a match. The LA Galaxy are giving up at least a goal.” No lead was safe. Giving up late goals was the hallmark of the 2013 season.

Montreal Impact

Sofiane Benzaza, Mount Royal Soccer:

Best game: The 5-0 victory over the Houston Dynamo at Stade Saputo. The Impact could not be more efficient and deadly in front of the net.

Worst game: The 3-0 loss to the Houston Dynamo in the playoffs was embarrassing. The beer league tactics were confusing and the Impact were only competitive for 10 minutes. Add to that the debacle at the end of the game, with Andres Romero and Marco Di Vaio red-carded, and you could say that this was the worst game for Les Bleus.

MVP: Di Vaio – he scored 20 goals during the run of play, without attempting one penalty kick. The Italian should have been voted the MLS MVP.

Best goal: The first of the season, which saw Davy Arnaud score gorgeously against the Seattle Sounders after a nice build-up.

Best trade/signing: Hernan Bernardello seems like a good signing, to add more talent and grit to the midfield. We will have to wait to see that potential thrive in 2014.

Highlight: The first four games were won, including victories at Portland and Seattle.

Low point: The freefall the Impact went into after the mid-season point.

Running joke: Over/under on how many ejections Marco Schallibaum would get. It was kind of funny to hear fans calling the Swiss head coach “Schalliboum” – they were referring to his volcanic temper. The Swiss Volcano nickname followed him from Europe.

New England Revolution

Julie Kumor, Midnight Riders:

Best game: 5-0 win over the LA Galaxy, in our only nationally broadcast home game.

Worst game: 5 October draw against Red Bull. Possibly not our worst-played game, but seeing Tim Cahill score the tying goal was heartbreaking.

MVP: Jose Goncalves – the heart and soul of the team.

Best goal: Juan Agudelo's backheel against Chicago Fire.

Best trade/signing: Agudelo – full credit to the front office on that "no-brainer" trade.

Highlight: As a resident of Watertown, MA, being on lockdown in the 24 hours leading up to the Red Bulls game in New Jersey on 20 April had us all questioning whether we would get to the game. We did, and the way the front office in NY handled us was wonderful: VIP parking when our bus didn't show, NY fans greeting us with a giant "New York Stands with Boston" banner, walking into the stadium together as one group, the in-stadium treatment by the home fans. It brought us all to tears.

Low point: The news of Kevin Alston's cancer diagnosis.

Running joke: Bob Kraft not knowing he owns a soccer team.

New York Red Bulls

Dan Dickinson, Gothamist:

Best game: There's a lot of good options this year, including the 4-3 last-minute home win over RSL, both regular-season away trips to Houston, and a counterattacking 3-2 spectacle at Sporting Park. But I have to go for the 5-2 season closer over Chicago, with five players getting on the scoresheet in a match that drove home everyone's role on the team that season.

Worst game: 3-0 loss at Philly, where the team never looked in the game at all (not helped by a Lloyd Sam red card). Honorable mention to the 3-2 loss at Chivas, because any loss to Chivas is automatically considered a low point of the year.

MVP: Tim Cahill. Found his scoring boots, was omnipresent in attack and defense, fought off injuries and exhaustion from World Cup qualifying to keep helping the team, and became a locker-room leader without needing the armband.

Best goal: Cahill's eight-second wonder-goal in Houston, fastest in MLS. It was fast, it was well taken and it was a ridiculous statement of intent.

Best trade/signing: Acquiring Jamison Olave from Real Salt Lake was a difference-maker in the defense all year long.

Highlight: Winning the Supporters' Shield and ending the 18 year trophy drought.

Low point: June. A sloppy home loss to Vancouver, a disastrous trip to Boston to get knocked out of the US Open Cup, and that 3-0 road loss to Philly had everyone convinced the summer swoon was here.

Running joke: Juninho being a "free-kick specialist" who only managed to hit the target once – and only when the target was Jimmy Nielsen's face.

Philadelphia Union

Dan Walsh, Philly Soccer Page:

Best game: The 3-0 win over New York in June. Nothing gets the Union faithful up like pounding the Red Bulls at home.

Worst game: The 5-1 loss to New England in August. The Union completely lost their composure after two of their goals were disallowed. They just collapsed.

MVP: Amobi Okugo.

Best goal: Conor Casey’s diving, thunderous header against Columbus.

Best trade/signing: Jeff Parke. Conor Casey and Sebastien le Toux were also excellent acquisitions, but Parke anchored the backline and became the first hometown guy to start regularly for the club.

Highlight: Kleberson’s game-winning free kick goal in the 95th minute against Toronto, coming just minutes after a spectacular game-saving play by Ray Gaddis, who ran half the field to stop a Robert Earnshaw breakaway.

Low point: Lawrence Olum’s stoppage-time winner for Kansas City slammed the door shut on Philadelphia’s playoff hopes with sudden, cold finality.

Running joke: Danny Cruz started 32 games for the Union this year. Cruz is a hard-nosed, athletic and likeable player, but most Union fans consider his regular place in the starting lineup to be a joke.

Portland Timbers

Roger Anthony, Timbers Army:

Best game: The 7 November “Sounders Beatdown” in which Portland went up 3-0 during a 50-minute clinic on how to close out a playoff series.

Worst game: A 4-2 loss at Real Salt Lake on 30 August planted the notion Portland might slip out of the playoff race.

MVP: Sometimes it was a midfielder – Diego Valeri, Darlington Nagbe or Diego Chara. Sometimes it was goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts. Whoever MVP of the moment was, captain Will Johnson was right beside him, filling the roles of wingman, instigator and leader by example.

Best goal: With the Conference title on the line against Chivas, Valeri sealed the deal with a magnificent slalom and delicate chip shot. Watch the replay carefully to see Nagbe’s “preaction”: No6 begins celebrating before the shot is taken.

Best trade/signing: Beside Valeri, left-back Michael Harrington from Sporting KC.

Highlight: With maybe 30 minutes left in the extermination of Seattle, there was a stoppage. Ricketts suddenly ran halfway to the midfield line and waved over centre-backs Futty Danso and Pa Modou Kah. Strategy? Nope. Ricketts gave Danso a high five for scoring a goal that drove the final stake through Seattle’s little tin hearts. All in their 30s, these hard-bitten professionals took a moment for themselves, grinning like kids and wrapping arms around each other’s shoulders. It was a display of pure joy that 20,674 fans will carry forever.

Low point: The club lost two forwards – Bright Dike and Brent Richards – to season-ending knee injuries during the preseason. Then centre-backs David Horst and Mikael Silvestre tore up knees in home games in April and May.

Running joke: Seattle fans’ unending references to the games in hand their club had after getting early-season matches pushed back to make way for a run at the Champions League. They may have point though, as further research uncovered the fact that Seattle now has two games in hand over Portland, Salt Lake and Kansas City.

Real Salt Lake

Denzel Eslinger, RSL Perspective:

Best game: Had to be the 2-0 win over the Galaxy in the second leg of the Western Conference semifinals – nobody gave RSL a shot but we simply took the team everyone expects to win it all every year and crushed them from pillar to post, despite having awful officiating and a disallowed goal for no real reason. It showed what this club is capable of.

Worst game: The 1-0 loss at home to DC United in the US Open Cup final, a team we should have beat with ease, but despite outplaying them we were simply unable to get a goal and they got a lucky shot from distance that was the difference maker. It's hard to lose a trophy match at home against a team to whom you are so superior.

MVP: Nat Borchers – he was rock steady all year despite being matchup at centre-back with seven players as the season went along. He provides a level of leadership that is often missed by outsiders but his hard work and consistency are something RSL is lucky to have.

Best goal: Javier Morales' bicycle kick goal against the Portland Timbers in our 4-2 win at the end of August.

Best trade/signing: This is a tough one, as we saw a number of new faces with RSL this year. I have to give it to Devon Sandoval, who as a second-round draft pick that nobody else was looking at worked as hard as anyone could and by the end of the season had national media types wondering if RSL was a better team with the rookie than with DP forward Alvaro Saborio.

Highlight: In a year when RSL was rebuilding after the loss of three All Stars and all but one forward, to be able to compete for all three major trophies speaks volumes to the quality and depth of this club and what the future might hold.

Low point: This one could be yet to come, clearly: if head coach Jason Kreis decides to head to NYCFC it will mark a dark day for RSL and would be perhaps the low point of the decade.

Running joke among fans: There really isn't one that I know.

San Jose Earthquakes

Lisa Ericsson:

Best game: The “Stanford Game”, LA Galaxy vs San Jose. Quakes equalized and won it in stoppage time in front of more than 50,028 people. A final score of 3-2.

Worst game: Bootgate – a precious two-points lost to Vancouver (who scored when two SJ players went off the pitch to change boots, not being allowed back on until a ball stoppage). Those two points kept the Quakes out of the playoffs.

MVP: Sam Cronin was a workhorse where so many key players went missing throughout the season. Sam was always there, putting in the work and winning balls.

Best goal: Alan Gordon in the 93rd minute vs the Galaxy to win it all. It was a complete team goal from Marvin Chavez to Shea Salinas to Sam Cronin to Gordon to the back of the net!

Best trade/signing: Hands down, Clarence Goodson. The Quakes were leaking goals like a burst pipe in winter, then Goodson showed up and was the perfect partner for Victor Bernardez.

Highlight: Making it out of the group round of the Concacaf Champions League by beating Montreal Impact and CD Heredia from Guatemala.

Low point: Not winning throughout the early months, to the point where Frank Yallop was released as coach.

Running joke: Due to suspensions, injuries, and international call-ups, would the Quakes be able to field a full team or would fans need to jump in and cover the backline?

Seattle Sounders

Sam Chesneau, Gorilla FC:

Best game: 3-1 victory against Tigres in Champions League play. The first time an MLS team beat a Mexican team and it took them to the semifinals.

Worst game: October.

MVP: Osvaldo Alonso

Best goal: Djimi Traore's rocket against Tigres.

Best trade/signing: Deandre Yedlin as a home-grown player.

Highlight: #dempseywatch

Low point: Everything following September.

Running joke: The curse of Alex Morgan. How the team self-destructed after trading Servando Carrasco to Houston.

Sporting Kansas City

Malena Barajas, Women United FC:

Best game: MLS Cup final vs Real Salt Lake, 7 December. It doesn’t get better than bringing home the cup.

MVP: Jimmy Nielsen. The tireless SKC captain came up big time after time through the season.

Best goal: Aurelien Collin’s MLS Cup-winning penalty has to be mentioned, but for a beautiful goal Benny Feilhaber’s 33rd-minute goal against Colorado on 31 August is a season favorite.

Best trade/signing: Claudio Bieler is the first to come to mind here. However, I believe the most impactful personnel change for SKC this year was Kei Kamara’s sale to Middlesbrough.

Highlight: Winning the MLS Cup. After facing Houston in playoff competition for the third consecutive year, SKC finally broke through and went all the way.

Low point: Losing to USL/PRO side and affiliate Orlando City SC to be knocked out of the US Open Cup was a disappointing moment.

Running joke: No comment.

Toronto FC

Duncan Fletcher, Waking the Red:

Best game: Beating up the worst team in the league's B team 4-1 was fun, but it seems wrong to pick that and none of the other games TFC won were good games. So I'll go with July's 3-3 tie against Montreal.

Worst game: There was a lot of crap this year but even among all that, losing the second leg of the Canadian Championship semifinal 6-0 to Montreal stands out. Absolutely nothing good to come out of that game.

MVP: Matias Laba was the best player, but injuries meant he only played half the season so this goes to Steven Caldwell, who came in and provided some backbone and organisation to a backline that was chaotic and seemed terrified when the game got down to the last few minutes.

Best goal: Darel Russell. A horrible cross fortuitously fell to him, he controlled it and hammered it from outside the box into the top corner to rescue a point against Dallas.

Best trade/signing: Matias Laba. Kevin Payne really didn't have the best of luck with his South American shopping as Maxi Urruti and Diego Forlan are now merely two more punchlines in TFC's ongoing comedy routine, but the young Argentinian has proven to be worth every penny of his DP contract.

Highlight: It always rains on TFC home games, TFC always lose and TFC never beat Columbus. All three of those facts were very much continuing in late July as the clock ticked past the 86-minute mark. The rain had turned from steady to torrential, the stands had pretty much emptied out, but then Jonathan Osorio scored, whipped his shirt off and celebrated with the fans. All very cathartic, but then it got better. In the last minute of injury time a Columbus clearance was held up by the wind, a cross came in and Andrew Wiedeman poked it home for the win. Magic.

Low point: Maybe this will turn out to be for the best and the reasons behind it are still murky, but for a team with a history of instability like TFC has, to fire the president/general manager, Kevin Payne, less than a year into his reign takes some beating. To top it off by then trading Maxi Urruti, the designated player the club had spent six months chasing, after just 25 days and 37 minutes of playing time, was mind-boggling. Hopefully, this time they know what they're doing.

Running joke: So many little things that add up to the only possible answer: Toronto FC. The entire organisation. It's as simple as that.

Vancouver Whitecaps

Brenton Walters

Best game: Late in the season, needing a win but never having won in Seattle before, the Whitecaps went down and trounced the Sounders 4-1, including three goals from 18-year-old Kekuta Manneh.

Worst game: Ugh – the 1-0 home loss to RSL's reserves late in the season. We needed to win, RSL handed us the opportunity, and we ballsed it up but good.

MVP: Easiest answer: Camilo. MLS Golden Boot winner with 22 goals, tacked on six assists. No other player came close.

Best goal: Again: Camilo, with the MLS Goal of the Year. YP Lee with an awkward pass, and Camilo somehow contorts himself mid-air to volley home past an outstretched Ricketts.

Best trade/signing: Nigel Reo-Coker. He provided leadership, power and physicality in the midfield – something we lacked in past years.

Highlight: Kekuta Manneh's hat-trick was amazing, and helped us win the Cascadia Cup, but for sheer excitement and adrenaline nothing equalled the three-goal flurry (including Camilo's Goal of the Year) in our 2-2 draw with Portland.

Low point: The 1-0 home loss to RSL. Just an abject performance when competent likely would have been enough.

Running joke: Our away performances for most of the season were a joke, but not really in a funny ha-ha sort of way.