A quartet of dramatic MLS conference semi-finals resulted in upsets, outstanding individual performances and possibly the end for some of footballs most iconic names. Colorado Rapids have reached their second ever MLS Conference final where they will face Seattle Sounders, who will make their third appearance at this stage. In the Eastern Conference, Canada rules as Toronto FC and Montreal Impact face off against each other for the first time ever in a post-season with neither side reaching this phase of the competition before.Ahead of the season-defining games, live on Sky Sports, we dissect some of the subplots to have come out of the play-off semi-finals, with a look ahead to what seems set to be one of the most exciting climaxes to an MLS campaign in its 20-year history. Highlights as Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard suffer defeats in the MLS semi-finals with their contracts up at the end of the season Is Steven Gerrards playing career over?Gerrard has hinted that he might end his playing career at LA Galaxy, with his contract at the club expiring at the end of the season. Media reports have linked the 36-year-old with a return to Liverpool to take up a coaching role under Jurgen Klopp.Should Gerrard retire or opt to leave Galaxy, he will depart America without an MLS Cup to his name.Considering the Galaxy are the most decorated club in American soccer history, the 1-1 aggregate defeat on penalties at the conference semi-final stage was as a real upset. Ashley Cole was among the players to miss a penalty as LA Galaxy crashed out of the MLS playoffs against Tim Howards Colorado Rapids side Will Didier Drogba start in MLS again?Montreals 3-1 aggregate victory over New York Red Bulls would have been an important statement to Didier Drogba. The 38-year-old is no longer the clubs star, Ignacio Piatti is.The former Chelsea striker refused to feature for the Impact last month after learning he would not be starting. He has not played since with reports of an apparent back problem, missing Impacts final regular season game and then their first two play-off matches.Drogba came off the bench for the final ten minutes on Sunday with Montreal already 2-1 up on aggregate, playing a cameo role reminiscent of his second spell at Chelsea. Piattis double in the second leg against the Red Bulls means he has three goals and an assist in the play-offs after three matches, while Drogbas striker replacement Matteo Mancosu has also scored three.If a fully fit Drogba does not start against Toronto on November 27, the end of his MLS career may be in sight.Sebastian Giovinco shiningToronto will have thought they would be up against it when they were drawn to face a New York City team consisting of Frank Lampard, Andrea Pirlo and David Villa, but Sebastian Giovinco had other plans. Sebastian Giovinco scored a hat-trick to help Toronto through Having already dispatched Philadelphia Union 3-1 in a one-game knockout round, the first leg of their Eastern Conference semi-final clash with NYC came just four days later. That did not faze coach Greg Vanneys side, though. Jozy Altidore and Tosaint Ricketts gave the Reds a two-goal cushion going into the away leg before Giovinco scored a hat-trick at Yankee Stadium in the 5-0 victory. The tie finished 7-0 to Toronto on aggregate, the largest play-off scoreline in league history.In their first MLS season, New York City were competing in their first ever play-off. An achievement in itself, but questions will now be raised over the longevity of Pirlo, 37, and Lampard, 38, in Major League Soccer. Resurgence in SeattleThe majority of Seattles season had been difficult, only winning six league matches in the first five months of the season. But the tough decision to replace long-standing coach Sigi Schmid for his assistant Brian Schmetzer looks to have paid off. How the MLS play-offs work Our guide to the MLS post-season Seattle have won their last ten home matches in a row and has been greatly spurred on by Osvaldo Alonso and forwards Jordan Morris and Nicolas Lodeiro.So despite Clint Dempsey being ruled out for the season in August with health issues relating to an irregular heartbeat, the Sounders have stayed strong.FC Dallas were on the hunt for the treble this season having already won the Supporters Shield and U.S Open Cup, but Seattle have ended any chance of further success earlier than expected with a 3-0 win in the first leg carrying them over the line in the end as they lost 2-1 in the return fixture.The Sounders have never gone past the conference championship final, but they have also never lost at home in the penultimate round before MLS Cup so plenty of reason to suggest theyre a significant threat. LA Galaxy were knocked out of the MLS Cup after a penalty shoot-out defeat to the Colorado Rapids on Sunday Underdogs Colorado out for second MLS CupThe only team out of the four to have lifted an MLS Cup, Colorado Rapids have been this seasons MLS surprise packages.Last year, the Rapids finished bottom of the West on 37 points and have now gone on to reach the Conference finals after seeing off a star-studded LA Galaxy team on penalties.A 40-yard strike from former Basel forward Shkelzen Gashi to send the tie to extra-time will go down as one of the great goals in MLS play-off history while Tim Howard pulled off the necessary heroics with two saves in the shoot-out.The resilience seen in the Rapids post-season campaign so far could see the Rapids lift their first MLS Cup since 2010. Colorado have not reached the same stage of the play-offs in the last six years, and would surely make for one of the leagues great success stories should they overcome an expensively assembled Seattle side.What are the dates and times? MLS play-offs schedule Date Knockout round Time October 27 Toronto 3-1 Philadelphia LA Galaxy 3-1 Real Salt Lake October 28 DC United 2-4 Montreal Seattle 1-0 Kansas Conference semi-finals First leg October 30 East: Toronto 2-0 NYC (2) West: LA Galaxy 1-0 Colorado (2) East: Montreal 1-0 NY Red Bulls October 31 West: Seattle 3-0 Dallas (1) Second leg November 6 East: NY Red Bulls (1) 1-2 Montreal West: Colorado (2) p1-0 LA Galaxy November 7 East: NYC (2) 0-5 Toronto West: Dallas (1) 2-1 Seattle Conference finals November 21 Seattle v Colorado Midnight November 23 Montreal v Toronto Midnight November 27 Colorado v Seattle 8pm November 30 Toronto v Montreal 11pm MLS Cup Final December 10 West winner v East winner Midnight Also See: Toronto and Impact advance WATCH: Gerrards final kick? Cheap NCAA Jerseys Authentic . The Australian is competing in his final season in Formula One and still looking for his first win this year. 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It was hard for Luck to pull off another comeback, or even get into the end zone, while standing on the sideline. Rivers threw a 22-yard touchdown pass to rookie Keenan Allen and Nick Novak kicked four field goals to give the Chargers a 19-9 victory against the Colts on Monday night. PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- Tiger Woods was nine shots out of the lead, not the best position at The Players Championship, especially since he had not even started his round. Perhaps the bigger surprise was the guy who posted the record-tying round Thursday. Roberto Castro had only played the TPC Sawgrass in a practice round. He made a debut he wont soon forget. There was the 9-iron to a foot on the island-green 17th and a 4-iron to about the same tap-in range on the 18th, the hardest hole on the course. He hit a 3-iron to 3 feet for eagle, and twice hit wedge so close he didnt even have to read the putt. When his memorable day was over, Castro had a 9-under 63 and his name in the record book twice. He tied the course record held by Fred Couples and Greg Norman, and his three-shot lead was the largest margin after the opening round at The Players in 21 years. Welcome to Sawgrass. "I hit it close a lot," said Castro, making it sound as easy as it looked. He led over Rory McIlroy, who broke par for the first time in his fourth appearance with five birdies after the turn and conservative play off the tee on the front nine for a bogey-free 66. Zach Johnson also had a 66 while playing in the pristine morning conditions. Woods had to work a little harder in the afternoon. Not only did he spot Castro nine shots, Woods had never broken 70 in the opening round in his 15 previous tries. "It was a day that I felt I had to shoot something in the 60s," Woods said. He ran off four straight birdies around the turn. He was on the cup of his first bogey-free round at The Players until his 8-iron from 200 yards went just over the green and he flubbed his chip. The bogey gave him a 67, a strong effort considering he knew he had a lot of ground to make up before hitting his first shot. "Ive seen that a lot, but not at this golf course," he said. Vijay Singh, playing one day after he sued the PGA Tour for its handling of his doping case, was largely ignored while playing in the group behind Woods. One fan wore felt deer antlers in the bleachers behind the first tee -- Singhs case involved taking deer antler spray -- but only a dozen or so people followed the 50-year-old Fijian on the back nine and it was a quiet day. At one point, Singh let out a hearty laugh walking off the tee with Robert Garrigus and J.J. Henry. His golf wasnt the subject of the laughter. Singh hit into the water on the last hole and made bogey for a 74, leaving him in danger of missing the cut. Graham DeLaet of Weyburn, Sask., opened with a 1-under 71. David Hearn of Brantford, Ont., shot an even-par 72. So ended a first round filled with plenty of action -- a record-tying score by a player hardly anyone knows, McIlroy breaking par for the first time at Sawgrass, 17 balls in the water around the island-green 17th and 33 rounds in the 60s. Padraig Harrington followed an eagle with a double bogey. Michael Thompson made a hole-in-one. But it all started with Castro, a 27-year-old who felt like he couldnt miss. "I dont think anyone has figured out what the secret is to this place," Castro said. Woods, Webb Simpson and Ryan Palmer each had a 67, the lowest score froom the afternoon.dddddddddddd McIlroy also played in the morning, in the same group as Masters champion Adam Scott (69) and Steve Stricker (67). The 24-year-old from Northern Ireland had never made the cut or even broken par at The Players, but McIlroy figured it out on a gorgeous morning by dialing it back off the tee and letting his iron play take over. McIlroy never came seriously close to a bogey, and he didnt hit driver once on the front nine. "When you hit the shots, it seems very simple," McIlroy said. "I had a lot of good shots out there, lot of iron shots that were 12, 15 feet away from the pin and I got myself a lot of looks for birdies. I adopted maybe more of a conservative strategy off the tee this year. But once you put your ball in the fairway that means you can be more aggressive into the greens. So it sort of balances itself out." The Stadium Course has rarely looked so vulnerable with barely a trace of wind and some pins in bowls that allowed for good looks at birdie. Half the 72 players in the morning broke par. But the punishment is never far away, as Scott Stallings discovered. He opened with five straight birdies to get everyones attention, but after going out in 31, Stallings gave most of it back with a bogey, double bogey and a triple bogey on the 16th when he hit two balls into the water. He shot 40 on the back for a 71. "It just goes to show about the golf course and really how volatile it is," Stallings said. Castro hasnt discovered that yet. This was a day when everything went right. He made three birdies early in his round on the back until making his tap-in birdies on the 17th and 18th. Then, he hit 3-iron into 3 feet on the par-5 second hole for an eagle and was 7-under through 11 holes. On the fourth, he hit his approach inside 2 feet for another birdie, and then he hit wedge to 18 inches on the sixth. Castro had a birdie putt just outside 12 feet to break the course record, but missed it. After his eagle on the second hole -- his 11th of the round -- Castro was reminded of a game he plays to try to birdie every other hole. "When I eagled, I was like, Oh, now Im 7 (under) through 11, so thats keeping ahead of that 50 per cent mark. But this is a different golf course," he said. "The golf course is much harder than most of the other times Ive kind of taken that attitude." Couples shot his 63 in 1992 in the third round. Norman opened with a 63 in 1994 when he went on to shatter the tournament record at 24-under 264. Along with joining them in the record book, Castro matched the record set by Billy Ray Brown in 1992 with his three-shot lead after one round. Castro is not well known even in golf circles. His mother grew up in Peru and moved to America as a teenager along with her sister, Jenny Lidback, who played the LPGA Tour. He toiled in the minor leagues for five years after getting his industrial engineering degree at Georgia Tech. Woods wasnt pleased with how he struck the ball, only with where he missed it. Despite missing six greens, he was left with straightforward shots to save par. The only blemish came at the end, when his 56-degree wedge came up heavy into the grain and failed to reach the putting surface. 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