Folks all around our soccer bubble are still buzzing from the Seattle Soundersmanic Monday night rally to boot a stunned Minnesota United side out of the Audi 2020 MLS Cup Playoffs, which means it's a great time to consider where it might fit among the best postseason comebacks in league history.
Semi-spoiler alert: It landed very high on the list. In fact, for my money, it's one of three playoff rallies that stand well above the crowd. This trio of gutsy fight-backs are so close in quality, I would have been happy to name them all as tied for first place and call it a day. But that's not the mission here, so the tiniest of nits had to be picked to somehow separate them. And yes, you might get a different top three order if you asked me on another day (it's a cliché because it's true).
Feel free to offer up your own ranking in the comments, I'm always up to outside interpretations when the choices are all premium.
5: Philadelphia Union 4, New York Red Bulls 3 (2019 First Round)
Until the other night, this barnburner was like a new kid among old fogies. Though it hasn't had time to age like a few other comebacks below, the Philadelphia Union'sdogged 4-3 Round One ouster of the the New York Red Bulls is worthy of making the cut.
The visitors scored twice in the opening 24 minutes, but Alejandro Bedoya fired Philly into the game moments later. The Red Bulls restored a two-goal advantage on the very edge of halftime, only to have a nifty Jack Elliott nod slice the lead again.
The Union finally pulled even with a forceful Fafa Picault header on 78 minutes.
Every good story needs a good ending and the home fans got one in the 106th minute, when Marco Fabian's deflected cross nestled into the far top corner. Believe it or not, that rally currently stands as the club's lone MLS Playoffs victory.
4: New England Revolution 3, New York/New Jersey MetroStars 2 (2005 Conference Semifinals)
Things looked grim for the East's regular season kings after the Big Apple bunch posted a 1-0 win in the home leg, and then doubled their aggregate edge when Youri Djorkaeff got loose on the hour in the frosty Foxborough return.
Just when it looked like the Revs were on ice, Jose Cancela answered moments later to stoke hope. Shortly thereafter, Pat Noonan nodded the hosts level from a corner. With seven minutes to play, Khano Smith raced down the left to bag the decider. Bing, bang, boom, drive home safely.
This was an outstanding fightback win, no doubt. It should feel no shame in sitting behind the three that follow, which each had that extra something special to elevate it above the pack.
3: D.C. United 3, LA Galaxy 2 (1996 MLS Cup)
Major League Soccer fans certainly didn't need to wait long for some big moment "rise from the dead" drama. Bruce Arena's high-powered D.C. United side capped the league's debut season by snatching MLS Cup with a late, late show.
Goals near the start of each half had the Galaxy up two through 71 minutes, but then Tony Sanneh got to the end of a free kick to get the Black-and-Red back in the game. With eight minutes to go, Shawn Medved cleaned up a spill in the area to level matters with his first, last and only MLS playoff tally. Of course, Marco Etcheverry would wreak restart havoc for the third time in extras, when Eddie Pope drove home the first MLS Cup winner golden-goal style.
As I alluded to above, this entry could easily stand as a legit No. 1 in this ranking, and not just because it's the only rally listed that directly kicked off title celebrations.
2: Seattle Sounders 3, Minnesota United 2 (2020 Conference Final)
Full disclosure: I nearly put this in first place. The Loons did very well to stake themselves to a 2-0 lead midway through the second half, but it was a lead that never felt safe. Not with the Sounders pushing forward, wave after Rave Green wave.
They finally got on the board when playoff killer Will Bruin happened onto a kind carom with a quarter hour to play. Seattle kept coming, kept coming, and pulled level with a minute left. Minnesota forgot to take stock of Raul Ruidiaz (also a Sounders postseason master), and he gobbled up another fortunate deflection.
Were Brian Schmetzer's boys satisfied enough to enjoy a breather before extras? Nah, they kept the pressure on, breaking Loons hearts when Gustav Svensson kissed home Seattle's 10th corner of the game deep into stoppage time.
T1: San Jose Earthquakes 5, LA Galaxy 2 (2003 Conference Semifinals) & San Jose Earthquakes 3, Kansas City Wizards 2 (2003 Conference Final)
On their way to a second MLS Cup triumph in three seasons, San Jose produced very special Goonies episodes back-to-back. This is a cheat pick, but it's a reasonable one — the first rally, which saw them claw back from four down to bounce the hated Galaxy, is good value on the top spot by itself.
Having already suffered a 2-0 tie-opening loss in Los Angeles, the Earthquakes found a much deeper hole to climb into after Carlos Ruiz and Peter Vagenas struck inside the first quarter hour of the Spartan Stadium leg. Jeff Agoos and Landon Donovan pulled a couple goals back before the break, and Jamil Walker notched another shortly after it, but San Jose still had work to do.
The determined hosts turned up the heat, but it seemed like they might run out of time until midfield sub Chris Roner rose highest to head home the tying goal in the dying seconds. After the long march to even matters, San Jose needed just six minutes to conjure Rodrigo Faria's tie winner.
And if that wasn't sublime enough, the Quakes did it again in the Western Conference Final. The hosts twice cancelled out second half Kansas City leads before Donovan ended the game in the 117th minute. Who doesn't love cake with a nice bit of icing?
