This isn't baseball, where the only clock that matters is the one that signals time for first pitch and one big late inning can wipe out hours of frustration.
In soccer, you get 90 minutes, plus stoppage time, to get a result – and the deeper the hole, the later in a match, the harder it is to climb out.
These four teams found a ladder, though – one of them twice. And on four of the five occasions listed here, MLS' biggest comebacks of the season, the team mounting the charge walked away with three points, not just a share of the spoils.
Note: These are listed in chronological order, not ranked 5-1, so no slight is intended in the presentation. But if you think we missed one, don't hesitate to hit us up in the comments section below.
Let's get started, shall we?
April 29: Sounders make club history
This was the lone occasion that the comeback team had to settle for a draw – but after becoming the first Seattle team in the MLS era to fight back and secure a draw after falling behind 3-0, the Sounders weren't complaining.
Two goals from Juan Agudelo and another from Daigo Kobayashi had New England up big after 54 minutes. It was still 3-0 Revs with a quarter-hour to go, and the closest the Sounders had come to finding the net was hitting the crossbar (twice) and the post.
Cue Nicolas Lodeiro, Will Bruin and Osvaldo Alonso, whose late strikes pulled Seattle even – but this would only be a prefiguration of an even bigger moment for the Sounders later in the year.
July 1: Salinas caps Quakes' Cali Clasico comeback
Yeah, the LA Galaxy were uncharacteristically awful this year and San Jose were on their way to snapping a long postseason drought. Still, when you get these two California clubs together, the records tend not to matter so much.
The Galaxy went up 1-0 at Stanford University on Jelle Van Damme's 11th-minute goal, and that lead lasted well into the second half before Chris Wondolowski equalized in the 75th. The Earthquakes weren't done yet, though; Shea Salinas, who had practiced his goal celebration before the match, struck three minutes deep in second-half stoppage time to give San Jose their fourth comeback victory in six Cali Clasico matches in Palo Alto.
A little Cardinal magic, maybe?
July 19: Sounders make league history
The Sounders turned in an unprecedented off-the-canvas performance at CenturyLink Field, becoming the first MLS side ever to come back from a three-goal deficit and win a league match.
This time, it was D.C. United playing Ivan Drago to Seattle's Rocky Balboa, pounding the Sounders with goals from DeShorn Brown, Ian Harkes and Lloyd Sam in the first 50 minutes.
Then came the counterpunches: Bruin in the 51st minute, Brad Evans in the 62nd, Gustav Svensson in the 74th and Cristian Roldan in the 78th. Down went United, and they stayed there. (Thankfully, the Sounders spared their home crowd a punchy "Everybody can change" soliloquy afterward.)
Aug. 6: David Villa racks up a hatty in the Golden Boot Winners' Derby
Any time you put a pair of MLS scoring-title winners on the same pitch, expect fireworks. When you do it in the Hudson River Derby, expect something like this.
David Villa, the 2016 Golden Boot Winner, and two-time goalscoring champ Bradley Wright-Phillips put on a show in this one, a back-and-forth affair that saw not one comeback, but one comeback from each side.
Villa started things off with a goal for New York City FC just before the half-hour mark in The Bronx, only to see BWP rack up a brace – one on either side of halftime – and put the New York Red Bulls up 2-1 with just over an hour gone. Villa had two more tallies left in him, though, equalizing in the 72nd minute and then completing his hat trick from the spot in the 75th to make New York – and the Red Bulls, that day – blue.
Oct. 3: Sweet payback for the Loons in the ATL
Revenge is a dish best served in your adversary's shiny new digs – and Minnesota United had a big helping saved up, after being run out of their own field 6-1 by Atlanta United in March, in the first meeting between the two expansion sides.
The Five Stripes looked in control of this one in the waning minutes, with goals from Hector Villalba in the 67th minute and Julian Gressel in the 72nd more than making up for Abu Danladi's 48th-minute tally for the visitors.
Or so ATLUTD thought.
Christian Ramirez equalized just before the match went to stoppage time, and Kevin Molino won it for Minnesota in the sixth added minute. Atlanta went on to the playoffs in their debut season, while Minnesota finished one spot out of the Western Conference cellar – but in the moment, that didn't matter to either side.
