LAFC has won MLS Cup! LAFC has won MLS Cup!!! After a match now considered the best final in MLS history, and the most intense emotional roller coaster in a 5-year history of intense emotional rollercoasters, LAFC has won MLS Cup!

The matchup was #1 in the West, LAFC, against #1 in the East, the Philadelphia Union, for the first time in an MLS Final since 2003, and it lived up to every bit of the hype and billing. The two best teams produced an all-time great match, filled with improbable moments, incredible performances, and a storybook ending that Hollywood couldn't begin to script. Say it with us one more time: LAFC has won MLS Cup!

LAFC drew first blood, as Kellyn Acosta bent a free kick off of midfielder Jack McGlynn's head and past Andre Blake for an early 1-0 lead. Philadelphia equalized just before the hour mark off a great feed from Jose Martinez to Daniel Gazdag, and the drama had just begun. LAFC looked to have won it off a bit of set magic in the 83rd minute. Carlos Vela found Jesus David Murillo with a beautiful corner kick, and LAFC looked to be on their way to glory! But just 2 minutes later, Jack Elliott found a header of his own off a set piece to level the match at 2 and send us into Extra Time. 
 
Seven minutes into the first 15-minute period, Carlos Vela came off for Gareth Bale. Yes, Bale, the Welsh superstar who had played just 176 Black and Gold minutes since September, would be asked to replace the Captain. The first 15 minutes came and went without much fanfare, but, as Samuel L. Jackson said in Jurassic Park, "Hold on to your butts."

After a horrific injury to Maxime Crepeau on a play that likely saved a sure Union goal and resulted in a straight red for Crepeau, the former Union product John McCarthy entered the match in the 117th minute of the MLS Cup Final. Because of the injury, we would see 9 full minutes of stoppage time. Four minutes in, McCarthy would make one fantastic save on Julian Carranza, but the ensuing rebound would be put home by Elliott for his second goal of the match, and one that surely looked to be a Cup winner.

LAFC, Chiqui Palacios, and Gareth Bale had other ideas, however. After a 1-2 between Ilie and Chiqui, Palacios raced to the goal line, flicked a beautiful cross into the box towards a streaking Bale, who got perfect position on the 6'6" Elliott and headed it home for a 127th-minute equalizer!!! LAFC had found a way to get it to PK's! 

On paper, it looked to be David vs. Goliath, as McCarthy, the MLS journeyman, would take on the reigning MLS Keeper of the Year in Andre Blake. But the match is never played on paper; this is Latitude 36 Bermudagrass, and this is the Cathedral of the Black and Gold, Banc of California Stadium. After a miss by Glesnes, McCarthy stoned both Jose Martinez AND Kai Wagner, and with Ilie Sanchez's successful attempt, LAFC would win the shootout, 3-0, and take home our first MLS Cup. One more time, with feeling: LAFC has won MLS Cup!