It wasn't a good night for New York City FC and FC Dallas.
Both teams hit the road in the first legs of the Conference Semifinal series' and lost by a combined five goals. NYCFC went down 2-0 in Toronto after two goals in the last 10 minutes of the game and Dallas conceded three goals to the Seattle Sounders in the opening 15 minutes of the 2nd half.
The bad news for these two teams is that NYCFC will have to do something that no team has done since 2004 and FC Dallas will have to do something that no team has.
In 14 attempts, only two teams have come from two-plus goals down after the first leg to win the series. Those two were a couple of the most dramatic games in MLS history.
The first one came back in 2003, when the San Jose Earthquakes lost 2-0 at the LA Galaxy. They returned home and promptly gave up two goals in the first 13 minutes, before mounting the greatest comeback in MLS history. They scored four goals to take it to extratime before winning it in the 96th minute through Rodrigo Faria.
The other team to come back from two goals down was the 2004 Kansas City Wizards who beat the Quakes 3-0 after losing 2-0 in San Jose.
For the New York Red Bulls and Colorado Rapids, the picture is a bit brighter. Teams have returned home down a goal 17 previous times. They have advanced in the series nine times.
Of course, many of these series were played under different rules as the away goals rule was introduced in MLS play in 2014.
