Real Salt Lake: Triumphant in Seattle

Looking back on the MLS Cup, things couldn't have started out any worse for Real Salt Lake, which merely adds to the mystique of a championship few thought possible.

One midfielder was slowed by food poisoning, another sprained his knee in the opening 15 minutes, both contributing to a lopsided first half the L.A. Galaxy dominated en route to 1-0 halftime lead. It seemed inevitable that David Beckham would get his fairy tale ending in Seattle.

It never unfolded that way, though, as RSL seemed to flip a switch at halftime. It dominated the run of play and the bulk of scoring opportunities the rest of the way, eventually equalizing on a Robbie Findley goal and then coming so-so close to winning it in regulation and overtime as fatigue kicked in for the Galaxy.

"For me it wasn't so much about the switches we made, it was just about the mentality of the group being able to calm down and play soccer," said RSL coach Jason Kreis.

Two months ago no one would've believed RSL could flip the switch away from Rio Tinto Stadium, but an improbable playoff run changed all of that. The players believed they could turn things around and did just that in front of 46,000 fans at Qwest Field — including roughly 2,000 fans who made the journey from Utah.

The game ultimately went to a shootout, and Nick Rimando was the hero again.

The week before he'd made three saves in a shootout victory over Chicago to claim the Eastern Conference title, and against the Galaxy RSL's keeper made two saves as RSL won the shootout 5-4 to claim the MLS championship.

The shootout went to the seventh shooter, a fitting conclusion to a quality final. Not only did Landon Donovan shank his penalty, the first time he's missed the target on a penalty kick in his MLS career, but both keepers made a pair of saves in thrilling shootout.

Robbie Russell buried the winning kick, but it was always supposed to be Andy Williams' moment. At least that's how Kreis envisioned it.

As he was picking the order of his shooters, Kreis purposely put Williams at No. 5. He just had a feeling RSL would win on the fifth kick, and with everything Williams has endured in his wife's battle with leukemia the past two years he wanted Williams to be the hero.

"I wanted him to win the game for us. Not only is he fantastic penalty kick taker, he's a player that doesn't feel the nerves that a lot of the other players do and I thought it would be a story book ending," said Kreis.

That's exactly how the events unfolded — except Williams missed.