It's nearly time for the Audi 2018 MLS Cup Playoffs to lift off with the Knockout Round, a card of one-off ties leading to the Conference Semifinals that have provided several thrilling contests over the last seven years.
As such, we decided to count down the best Knockout Round barnburners from the bunch. Before we dive in, a quick shoutout to Seattle's wild 3-2 win over the visiting LA Galaxy back in 2015 for just missing the cut. Both of those teams did land on the list for other famous Knockout Round victories.
No. 5: LA Galaxy 2, Vancouver 1, 2012
When the Galaxy embarked on their journey toward becoming just the third club to stack MLS titles back-to-back by hosting a Vancouver side that had backed into the playoffs, advancement may have seemed like a mere formality.
It became clear it wouldn't go that way when Darren Mattocks booted the Whitecaps ahead in just the third minute. Meanwhile, the Galaxy couldn't find a way past Brad Knighton, who coolly denied David Beckham twice.
Midway through the second frame, the momentum swung when Josh Saunders made a big stop on Matt Watson to keep the visitors from pulling away. About a minute later, Mike Magee's nifty volley had the game tied. A brief moment after that, Landon Donovan was fouled in the area before sending the Galaxy onward from the spot.
No. 4: Seattle 1, Sporting KC 0, 2016
After a miserable regular season (0 goals from 24 outings), Nelson Valdez suddenly turned playoff wizard as the Sounders started the march to their first MLS Cup triumph. Seattle were in form thanks to an 8-2-3 closing kick, but a Sporting KC team they hadn't beaten in five series meetings made it a tense Knockout Round bout.
Stefan Frei had to turn Paulo Nagamura away twice in the early going, and he got some woodwork love when Graham Zusi rung the post in quick fashion. The Sounders goalkeeper kept the saves coming, and was able to breathe a sigh of relief when the flag caught Matt Besler a hair offside on 53 minutes.
Seattle would eventually win the day when Valdez nudged home a Joevin Jones cross for the lone goal. The forward would go on to score the winner in their Conference Semifinal starter and set up the Jordan Morris goal in Colorado that put them in that happily fateful championship match in Toronto.
No. 3: Atlanta United 0 (1), Columbus 0 (3), 2017
The expansion darlings had the raving multitudes out at Mercedes-Benz Stadium for the first playoff game in club history, expecting their brash league newcomers to score goals and venture off on a playoff odyssey. However, rude guests Columbus ended up spoiling the party.
Miguel Almiron nearly put Atlanta up early, only to leave the crowd slapping their foreheads by pinging the crossbar. Five Stripes co-star Josef Martinez followed suit by hitting the post on 72 minutes and a Hector Villalba laser was pushed away by Zack Steffen with mere seconds left in regulation.
The game then shifted, as Columbus caught the woodwork for their second time in the first extra session and saw Michael Parkhurst save Harrison Afful's header early in the second. Steffen started penalty kicks by stopping Julian Gressel and Leandro Gonzalez Pirez, and when Jeff Larentowicz dinged the post in round four, last ditch Crew SC sub Adam Jahn was allowed to win the shootout with his first touch.
No. 2: New York Red Bulls 2, Sporting KC 1, 2014
It was anything but a whodunit when the Red Bulls bumped off defending champs Sporting KC in the Knockout Round. Four days after Bradley Wright-Phillips earned them this home playoff opener with the only two goals in a closing day win at Kansas City, the Big Apple hit man would strike again. And again.
For a good long while, it looked like the Red Bulls might never crack the visitors' code. Tim Cahill and Wright-Phillips scuffed early chances, and Dax McCarty would later fail to nod into an open net. Worry lines became more pronounced around Red Bull Arena when Benny Feilhaber expertly teed up Dom Dwyer for a well-taken ice-breaker shortly after intermission.
The finally tide turned when Thierry Henry fed Wright-Phillips for the equalizer 13 minutes from time. The Englishman capped the comeback with a last-minute clincher, nodding home when he alone was wise to a strange bloop of a cross from Ambroise Oyongo.
No. 1: Portland 2 (7), Sporting KC 2 (6), 2015
This will forever be known as the double-post penalty miss game, but it was so much more than that. The teams traded blows in an all-time classic that would eventually set Portland on their way to an MLS Cup.
Try as they may, the Timbers – who entered the game scoreless in their last 388 minutes of play against Sporting – were repeatedly unable to grab the lead. Nagamura pitched in with an early line clearance, and Tim Melia squelched another pair of big opportunities. Portland finally got the saw buzzing when Rodney Wallace poked home in the 56th minute, but Kevin Ellis kissed in a Zusi cross three minutes from regulation time to level matters. In the first overtime period, Krisztian Nemeth put the visitors up with a dazzling strike. Unbowed, the Timbers knotted the game through Maxi Urruti in the 117th minute to force penalties.
Jon Kempin, who'd come into the game as an injury replacement for Melia late in regulation, started the shootout by denying Diego Valeri. A round later, Adam Kwarasey returned the favor by stopping Ellis' try. It was the start of a trend; in all, a save or miss would give Sporting an edge four times, and each time they'd hand it right back with a failed conversion of their own.
After Kempin ate up a weak Alvas Powell kick in round nine, SKC rookie Saad Abdul-Salaam stepped up with their second shot at a winning penalty. His kick had Kwarasey beaten, but pinged one post and then the other before bouncing away harmlessly. Two rounds later, Kwarasey buried his try before stopping Kempin's to send Providence Park into relieved raptures.
