2013 in American soccer



The 2013 season is the 101st season of competitive soccer in the United States.

Major League Soccer
The Major League Soccer season began on March 2, 2013, following preseason events in Tucson, Arizona, Orlando, Florida, and Charleston, South Carolina. The regular season ended on October 27, 2013.

Conference tables
Eastern Conference

Western Conference

North American Soccer League
The North American Soccer League has been split into spring and fall tournaments for the 2013 season, similar to the Apertura and Clausura league system commonly found in Mexican and Central American soccer leagues. The winner of the Spring season will host the winner of the Fall season in the 2013 Soccer Bowl championship. The Spring season will begin on April 6, 2013. The Fall season will begin on August 3, 2013.

Fall Season
The New York Cosmos will join the league during the Fall season. Puerto Rico Islanders, originally planned to take part in this season, announced taking one year off due to restructuring.

Soccer Bowl 2013
Soccer Bowl 2013 was contested by the winners of the spring and fall seasons. The game was hosted by the winner of the spring season.

USL Pro
For the first time, all USL Pro teams will play every other team in a home-and-away arrangement, like most European leagues. The only exception will be Antigua Barracuda FC, which will play all their matches on the road, giving every other team 13 home matches against other USL Pro teams.

On January 23, 2013, USL Pro announced an alliance with Major League Soccer. For the 2013 season, four MLS teams will affiliate with USL Pro teams in lieu of participating in the MLS Reserve League system. These MLS clubs will loan at least four of their reserve players to their USL Pro affiliate club for development purposes.

All USL Pro teams will play two matches each with the remaining MLS Reserve League teams. Those matches will count toward USL Pro standings, giving each team a total of 26 games.

The following teams will affiliate:


 * Sporting Kansas City — Orlando City Soccer Club
 * New England Revolution — Rochester Rhinos
 * D.C. United — Richmond Kickers
 * Philadelphia Union — Harrisburg City Islanders

USL Pro teams will play MLS Reserve teams as listed below. Except for Antigua Barracuda FC (who will play two MLS reserve teams on the road), each set will be a home-and-away arrangement.


 * Antigua Barracuda FC — FC Dallas and San Jose Earthquakes
 * Charleston Battery — Houston Dynamo
 * Charlotte Eagles — Chicago Fire
 * Dayton Dutch Lions — Columbus Crew
 * Harrisburg City Islanders — Colorado Rapids
 * Los Angeles Blues — Los Angeles Galaxy
 * Orlando City — Seattle Sounders FC
 * Pittsburgh Riverhounds — Toronto FC
 * Phoenix FC — Real Salt Lake
 * Richmond Kickers — Vancouver Whitecaps FC
 * Rochester Rhinos — Montreal Impact
 * VSI Tampa Bay FC — Portland Timbers
 * Wilmington Hammerheads — New York Red Bulls

The USL Pro season will begin on March 23, 2013. The first matches with MLS Reserve League teams will take place on April 7, 2013.

National Women's Soccer League
The inaugural NWSL season began on April 13 and concluded on August 18. The Portland Thorns won the first NWSL Championship, defeating NWSL Shield winner Western New York Flash 2–0 on August 31.

US Open Cup
The 100th edition of the annual national championship, the 2013 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, ran from May 7 through October 2. Sporting Kansas City, the defending champions, were eliminated in the fourth round (round of 16) by USL Pro side Orlando City.

D.C. United defeated Real Salt Lake 1–0 in the final to qualify for the 2014–15 CONCACAF Champions League Group stage.