Next up was a two-legged affair in the Eastern Conference semifinals against New York City FC. TFC needed two late goals, from Altidore and Canadian Tosaint Ricketts, to win 2-0 in the opener at home on Oct. 30. The result still very much hung in the balance the following week at Yankee Stadium. Any nerves quickly passed when Giovinco scored in the sixth minute. The Italian went on to net a hat trick, and Altidore and Osorio also found the back of the net in the 5-0 win.

VANNEY: I go back and watch that game as much as any because I thought we were that good. The guys never let off.

BRADLEY: Over the course of two games just the complete domination, in terms of the way we played, the way we pressed, the way we defended, the way we were good in front of our attacking goal — across the board they were two very complete performances.

ALTIDORE: I felt confident going into [Yankee Stadium]. Just being able to stifle them like we did in the first 80 minutes of that first leg until we got the breakthrough, that stuck out for me. Defensively, we were so solid, we were so focused and intense. That was probably some of the best soccer we’ve played.

GIOVINCO: We worked as a whole team. It wasn’t only my good job; it was a good job for the whole team.

DAVID MILLER, former mayor of Toronto: The TFC supporters were in amazing form. At times in that game, you couldn’t hear anything from the New York City fans, just us. Some of the [New York] fans near us left after the third goal and immediately 400 or 500 people started singing, just instinctively, “Why are you leaving, is this a fire drill?” Seeing us come out so well against world-class players like [Andrea] Pirlo and [Frank] Lampard and David Villa — the game was magic.

The Montreal Impact awaited in the Eastern Conference final, where the winner of the two-game playoff would become the first Canadian team in league history to advance to the MLS Cup final. Just over 61,000 spectators jammed into Montreal’s Olympic Stadium for the first leg on Nov. 22. In an embarrassing gaffe, kickoff was delayed 30 minutes after the referee noticed that the lines of both penalty boxes were incorrectly painted.

BEZBATCHENKO: The whole thing was surreal. You’re in the playoffs, you’re in the Big O, the place is full, and then you’re forced to sit and wait. After what happened against them the previous year, this just can’t be good. A lot of questions went through my mind. Did they do this intentionally? How could the league not have sent someone earlier to check it?

VANNEY: If I’m being honest, when it was delayed, I was concerned. My concern was where our mindset would be because we have veteran guys who are very, very preparation tedious. This threw that off.

ALTIDORE: It was what it was. In professional sports, you have to be ready for anything.

When the game eventually kicked off, the Impact swarmed the Reds, scoring twice in the opening 12 minutes, and adding a third early in the second half. But TFC fought back valiantly, with Bradley and Altidore notching goals in the 3-2 loss.

VANNEY: I sat there as they scored one and then another and then another, and I thought to myself, “Really, we’re going to do this again?” They came out ready to go, our team was a little bit flat. But I had peace of mind in that this was a long series, it was one goal at a time, and we know that we can score goals.

GIOVINCO: Well, I think it was good because we were down 3-0 and we had a good response in the second half. 3-0 is difficult. 3-2 is easier to play in Toronto.