nathanm5000
Ties are extremely frustrating to the fan, but luckily [for me] the intensity of the game makes for good sports entertainment. It’s doubly frustrating because the Sounders had quite a few ties this season — wins are always better, losses are obviously worse. In the regular season a tie counts for 1 point in the standings, a win 3 points, and a loss zero points. I searched online and couldn’t find any reasoning behind why ties are allowed. I suspect they were allowed to keep the length of games down. I know the NHL only recently stopped allowing games to come to a draw, opting for shootouts in regular season games.
I wasn’t sure how the playoff system worked in MLS, but my understanding is the first round is based on the cumulative score of two games; therefore, one game can end in a tie if the other game ends in a win for one of the teams. In the case of tonight, game 1 ended in a tie, so game 2 will need to be played to conclusion (if they are tied after regulation I believe they will play two 15 minute halves, then go to a shootout if necessary). The tie tonight puts Houston at an advantage for next week’s game, which will be on their home turf (it’s a theoretical advantage, the Sounders actually play really well on the road).