Changes have already started and more will come for the Philadelphia Union and Orlando City SC as they look ahead to 2018.
First, the teams run down the 2017 curtain on Sunday afternoon at Talen Energy Stadium.
Philadelphia and Orlando have 10-14-9 records and are tied with Montreal for eighth in the Eastern Conference. Philadelphia, though, is 9-4-3 at home, and has a minus-2 goal differential while Orlando is 3-9-4 on the road with a minus-14 differential.
While looking for its third straight home win, Philadelphia is also going for a split of the season series after losing 2-1 on March 18 in Orlando.
The Union are paced by forward CJ Sapong (14 goals) and midfielder Haris Medunjanin (11 assists). Orlando forward Cyle Larin has a team-high 12 goals with five game-winners. Lions goalkeeper Joe Bednik tops MLS with 118 saves, six more than Minnesota's Bobby Shuttlesworth.
Sunday's contest will be the last for Brian Carroll after the Union midfielder announced his retirement earlier this week. Carroll was a captain for much of his time after joining Philadelphia in 2011.
The 36-year-old has appeared 370 matches since joining Major League Soccer in 2003, winning championships with D.C. United in 2004 and Columbus in 2008.
"Brian Carroll is a consummate professional, meticulous in his preparation, and a true icon in both Philadelphia Union and MLS history," Philadelphia sporting director Earnie Stewart said in a statement. "His veteran leadership has meant so much for our young players both on and off the field, and the trophies that he has won in this league speak for themselves in terms of his quality."
Philadelphia also will be without defender Keegan Rosenberry after what was deemed inappropriate use of social media to complain about a lack of playing time prior to last Sunday's 3-2 loss in Chicago.
The third overall pick in the 2016 MLS Superdraft and southeast Pennsylvania native took a huge step backward after a highly successful rookie season in which he played every minute of every regular-season match and was named an All-Star.
He finishes the season with one assist in 14 games, including 11 starts, but coach Jim Curtin believes Rosenberry will bounce back from the incident.
"Keegan has a bright future," Curtain told the league's official website. "It was a mistake he made -- one I hope he learns from -- and he looks to bounce back and have a good year next year."
Orlando, which has been blanked in three of its last four matches, wants to end on a high note.
"For me it's about ending well. Everything that we do, we should want to do well at the end. That's why we're competitors, that's why we're professional athletes, professional coaches," Lions coach Jason Kreis told the team's official website. "We want to finish well. We want to be able to walk out of this season with our heads held high and our chests out and say, 'We gave everything we had.' "
The Lions will be without the legendary Kaka, who played his last MLS match last Sunday in 1-0 loss to Columbus. He finishes second on the club's all-time list with 24 assists and second with 22 goals, including six this year.
