What defines team success in MLS? There are plenty of ways to measure it, but with the 2018 MLS regular season in the books, this year's expansion team completed a strong first campaign by any metric.
In terms of poitns, LAFC accomplished the best regular season for an MLS expansion team, earning 57. That total surpassed the 56 picked up the 1998 Chicago Fire, also coached by Bob Bradley, as well as the post-shootout era record of 55 set a year ago by Atlanta United.
LAFC's seven road wins were also tied for the most ever by an expansion team with the '98 Fire, and two of Chicago's road wins in 1998 came in the shootout.
In addition, the Black-and-Gold finished second all-time in goals scored by an expansion team in a season, with 68, just behind Atlanta's 70.
In terms of finishing position, LAFC ended the campaign in third place in the Western Conference, after losing their bid to finish atop the West following a 2-1 loss to Sporting Kansas City on Sunday as part of Decision Day presented by AT&T. They became the fifth expansion team to reach the postseason in a debut season, along with the Fire, Atlanta, the 1998 Miami Fusion and the 2009 Seattle Sounders.
The Fire finished second in the West in 1998, while the Fusion finished fourth in the Eastern Conference. In the post-shootout era, Seattle finished third in the Western Conference in 2009, while Atlanta placed fourth in the East last season.
With MLS Cup still up for grabs, LAFC are looking to become the second expansion side to win it and the third expansion team to win major silverware in their first season. The '98 Fire won the domestic double (MLS Cup and the U.S. Open Cup), while the '09 Sounders won the U.S. Open Cup.
