Saad Abdul-Salaam maintains, to this day, that he thought it was going in.



It was late on the evening of Oct. 29, 2015, when Abdul-Salaam strode to the penalty spot at Providence Park with the opportunity to fire Sporting Kansas City into the Western Conference semifinals. Though only a rookie then, he looked loose, bouncy and confident as he walked up.



He rounded the ball, taking short, choppy steps. Timbers goalkeeper Adam Kwarasey dove to his left; Abdul-Salaam went the other way, to the keeper’s right. He made clean contact, and started to wheel away in celebration. He thought it was in.



“100 percent,” he said. “It is unbelievable that the ball didn’t go in.”



The physics of it astound, even years later. Abdul-Salaam’s shot struck the inside of one post, ricocheted straight across to glance off the inside of the other, and spun out, having somehow never crossed the line.



The Timbers won the...