A late meltdown cost the Vancouver Whitecaps a win Wednesday night, as the Los Angeles Galaxy scored twice in the final 10 minutes to salvage an unlikely draw.

Aron Winter outmanaged and outcoached Arena in the second leg. Winter made the right decisions, while Arena struggled to adjust. And the coaching decisions could very well have been the deciding factors in the quarters.

"The city definitely delivered tonight and they felt like a 12th man," said midfielder Terry Dunfield. "It's too bad, the script was waiting for us to hold on and take that 2-1 score to L.A."

“It’s OK. It’s not desirable,” said Galaxy Head Coach Bruce Arena. “Obviously, neither team would prefer to be on this surface but they’ve done a good job getting it ready.”

Danny Koevermans: “We’re underdogs. We’ve got everything to win and they have everything to lose. They are the champions. They won it all last season so it’s a nice game for us to see where we stand.”

His teammate, David Beckham, was named MLS Comeback Player of the Year on Monday; but you could make an argument that it should have been Dunivant, not Becks, who should have got that nod. At 30, Dunivant had his best-ever season in Los Angeles, playing in 33 of 34 games with one of the stingiest defences in North American soccer.

But, we need to look at the Galaxy in a truly North American sports context — after all, MLS is a North American league — where regular-season success means very little compared to playoff excellence. The Galaxy, until it wins MLS Cup, has to be compared to the likes of the San Jose Sharks or San Diego Chargers, talented teams who consistently lose when it counts.

Saturday’s match between the Vancouver Whitecaps (last overall in MLS) and the Los Angeles Galaxy (first overall) played out a lot like a mid-round FA Cup match. That is, the kind of FA Cup match that pits the Blue Square Premier club, or even a semipro factory team, that made a Cinderella run through the early round having to face one of the Premiership big boys.

The significance of Toronto FC’s 6-2 home loss to the Philadelphia Union can’t be ignored. Through five coaches and three GMs/directors of soccer/technical directors, TFC fans have heard of long-term plans, rebuilding processes and the continuing pleas to fans for patience. Philadelphia was a raw expansion franchise last season. It has played a third of its schedule in year two of its existence, and it’s in first place in the East. You could make the argument that the Union is at a better point now than TFC has been any time in its history. When the Union faced TFC — on TFC's home turf — it was men vs. boys.

There is one honour that belongs to Geoff Aunger that no other Canadian soccer player can ever take from him. Aunger, the Red Deer, Alta. native who was capped 44 times by the national team, was the first Canadian to ever play on an MLS Cup winner, the D.C. United side of 1999 that some would argue is still the greatest team to ever play in the league. “Making it in that league at that time was very difficult,” said Aunger, who now works in New York as a private banker. “At the time, we, the Canadian players, counted as import players."