Between some major upsets, the Western Conference staying wild, and a team scoring a touchdown, this past weekend\u2019s slate of games had it all.<\/p>\n
Let’s explore some of the most interesting things we learned during Matchday 37. If you want to read up on other key moments in detail, check out Matt Doyle\u2019s latest column<\/a>.<\/p>\n There may not be a single MLS player who\u2019s raised his stock more in 2025 than Alex Freeman<\/a>.<\/p>\n At the start of the season, Freeman was Dagur Dan Th\u00f3rhallsson<\/a>\u2019s backup at right back. Now he\u2019s a bona fide star for Orlando City<\/a> who\u2019s worked his way into being a regular for Mauricio Pochettino\u2019s USMNT<\/a>. The young defender may end up on the end-of-season Best XI, too. Freeman has been that good for Orlando.<\/p>\n The 21-year-old’s attacking output is what’s made him so special for the Lions. Still a steady defender, Freeman has put up 6g\/2a this season, making him Orlando City\u2019s top goal contributor outside of their DP trio. Among defenders, only Kai Wagner<\/a>, Jordi Alba<\/a>, Andrew Gutman<\/a> and Andy Najar<\/a> have bettered Freeman\u2019s eight goal contributions in 2025.<\/p>\n Freeman\u2019s latest exploit came against FC Cincinnati<\/a> on Sunday Night Soccer presented by Continental Tire, when he charged into the box to head home a 96th-minute goal that earned his side a 1-1 draw<\/a>:<\/p>\n 2025 has been the year of Alex Freeman. What might the rest of the year hold for him?<\/p>\n There have been a lot \u2013 a lot! \u2013 of great duos in MLS history.<\/p>\n Even over just the last decade, Jozy Altidore and Sebastian Giovinco in Toronto<\/a>, Josef Mart\u00ednez<\/a> and Miguel Almir\u00f3n<\/a> in Atlanta<\/a>, and Lionel Messi<\/a> and Luis Su\u00e1rez<\/a> in Miami<\/a> have thrilled us all. None of those duos have accomplished what Son Heung-Min<\/a> and Denis Bouanga<\/a> have over the last six games. In fact, no duo in MLS\u2019s existence has done what LAFC<\/a>\u2019s frontmen are doing.<\/p>\n Over the last six games, LAFC have scored 17 goals. Son and Bouanga have scored all 17 goals. Yep, that\u2019s right: they’re the first duo in MLS history to score at least 17 consecutive goals in the regular season.<\/p>\n In Saturday’s 3-0 win<\/a> at St. Louis<\/a>, Son bagged a brace while showing off his dynamism in transition and elite on-ball skill in possession, while Bouanga chipped in with a fast-break goal. Those two have made the absolute most of a run of games against weak defenses. I can\u2019t wait to see what tricks they pull out of their communal bag come Audi MLS Cup Playoffs time.<\/p>\n With their stars leading the way, LAFC have quickly become the most feared team in the Western Conference.<\/p>\n Everything in MLS came up Philadelphia Union<\/a> this past weekend. Don\u2019t believe me? Let\u2019s run through things in chronological order:<\/p>\n Miami drew, 1-1<\/a>, at Toronto, handing control of the Supporters\u2019 Shield race back to the Union. If Philly close the season with two wins in their final two games, the Supporters\u2019 Shield will belong to them. Even Miami, with two games in hand, can\u2019t catch them.<\/p>\n Losing Quinn Sullivan<\/a> to injury in the first half against D.C. was far from ideal. But Milan Iloski<\/a>, who scored a goal and was a key part of several other bright attacking moments, put in a great shift in the attacking midfield line as part of Bradley Carnell\u2019s post-Sullivan solution.<\/p>\n The Union are deep, they\u2019re talented, they\u2019re cohesive, and they\u2019re headed towards silverware.<\/p>\n The Chicago Fire<\/a> haven\u2019t qualified for the postseason since 2017. They\u2019ve qualified just twice since 2009. Things have been bleak for more than a decade in the Windy City, and Gregg Berhalter was hired last fall to make a change.<\/p>\n So far, he\u2019s done exactly that. And with three weeks left in the regular season, the Fire are all but assured a playoff berth after a 2-0 win<\/a> over the Columbus Crew<\/a>.<\/p>\n Sitting ninth in the Eastern Conference with a five-point lead and a game in hand over the New York Red Bulls<\/a>, the Fire can clinch a postseason spot with a win at Inter Miami on Tuesday (7:30 pm ET | MLS Season Pass, Apple TV+<\/a>). If that doesn\u2019t pan out, they can clinch this Saturday against Toronto (8:30 pm ET | MLS Season Pass<\/a>).<\/p>\n While the Fire are still a flawed team (what ninth-placed side isn\u2019t?), there\u2019s plenty to like about their direction. In the short term, Berhalter has shifted from a 4-3-3 to a 3-4-3 setup to shore up a struggling defense for the postseason, where they have the top-end talent to pull off an upset or two. In the medium term, they can add a Designated Player next year and should benefit from roster continuity.<\/p>\n There\u2019s work to be done, but the progress is obvious. Soon, the Fire will be a playoff team.<\/p>\n While the East playoff field is nearly locked in with just one spot up for grabs (though it looks destined to be claimed by Chicago), the West\u2019s is incredibly open. Four spots \u2013 including two Wild Cards \u2013 are yet to be claimed.<\/p>\n With Austin FC<\/a> and the Portland Timbers<\/a> likely to get the final two automatic seeds, most of the intrigue stems from those Wild Card spots.<\/p>\n The Colorado Rapids<\/a>, San Jose Earthquakes<\/a>, FC Dallas<\/a>, Real Salt Lake<\/a> and Houston Dynamo FC<\/a> all have a chance to claim one of them. This past weekend? Well, there was no shortage of chaos.<\/p>\n Colorado (eighth, 40 points) left the door open for the teams below them with a 1-1 draw<\/a> against Minnesota<\/a>. Buckle up, folks. We\u2019re in for a wild ride ahead of Decision Day.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Between some major upsets, the Western Conference staying wild, and a team scoring a touchdown, this past weekend\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":191452,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[69],"tags":[6864,30055,7184,403,99,10925,10924],"class_list":["post-191451","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-soccer","tag-match-reaction","tag-orlando-city-sc","tag-philadelphia-union","tag-soccer","tag-sports","tag-voices-joseph-lowery","tag-what-we-learned"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191451","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=191451"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191451\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/191452"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=191451"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=191451"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=191451"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nPhiladelphia took care of business and then some in a 6-0 win<\/a> at D.C. United<\/a>, pushing them up to 63 points at the top of the standings.
\nSan Diego FC<\/a>, Seattle Sounders FC<\/a> and Cincy all dropped points, giving the Union a four-point cushion.<\/p>\n
\nSan Jose (ninth, 38 points) enjoyed a massive 1-0 win<\/a> at San Diego, pushing them above the playoff line.
\nDallas (10th, 38 points) pulled off a late comeback in a 2-2 draw<\/a> at Portland.
\nRSL (11th place, 37 points) earned a crucial 3-1 win<\/a> over Austin.
\nHouston (12th, 36 points) suffered a 3-1 defeat<\/a> at Nashville<\/a>.<\/p>\n