Ahead of Sunday's 2015 MLS Cup at Mapfre Stadium, we caught up with Earthquakes great Troy Dayak to reflect on San Jose's 2001 MLS Cup victory, the last time the league championship was held in Columbus.
As Troy Dayak emerged from the player’s tunnel inside the newly constructed Crew Stadium in Columbus, he made sure to stop, take a deep breath and soak it all in.
A few months earlier, the Walnut Creek native was locked in a neck brace and staring up at the ceiling, wondering if he could ever step foot on a soccer field again.
Fast forward to Oct. 21, 2001 where Dayak, the MLS Comeback Player of the Year, was set to lead the San Jose Earthquakes to their first-ever MLS Cup appearance against their rival LA Galaxy.
“That same year, doctors told me that my soccer career could be over,” Dayak said. "For me to be there, standing on the field at the MLS Cup was just the pinnacle of a Cinderella story."
The 2001 MLS Cup would be the first final held in a state of the art, soccer specific stadium. When Dayak and his San Jose teammates arrived to Crew Stadium before the match, they were taken aback by the venue.
“Now that I think about that stadium in Columbus, it was a modern day Avaya Stadium,” Dayak admitted. "Back then, we didn’t have soccer specific stadiums, so playing in a full venue like that was just an unbelievable experience. It was just great to see the game, at that time, move in that direction and it became evident during the build up to the match."
In front of a sold-out crowd of 21,626, the Galaxy took an early 1-0 lead behind Luis Hernandez’s thundering strike in the 21st minute.
Both team exchanged chances in front of goal before San Jose youngster Landon Donovan sent his one-time thunderbolt past Galaxy goalkeeper Kevin Hartman in the 43rd minute.
“Going into the locker room during halftime, we felt really confident that we were going to win that game,” Dayak admitted. "For some reason, we just had that confidence that, ‘Hey, we can do this.’”
As the second half started to unfold, Dayak and his teammates were itching closer to game’s go-ahead goal. Whether it was Jeff Agoos’ free kick deflecting off of the far post or Ronald Cerritos’ point-blank shot skipping just wide of goal, these near misses seemed to build up the anticipation towards Dwayne De Rosario’s magical moment in the 96th minute.
“I remember this play so vividly,” Dayak explained. "Ronnie [Ekelund] pinged a ball over the Galaxy backline ahead to Dwayne [De Rosario] and as he started going at [Danny] Califf, I knew what was going to happen. For me, I’ve seen it a hundred times in practice because he would do the same thing on me.”
What happened next would forever live in Earthquakes’ championship lore.
"You know when you see something unfold and it just seems to happen in slow motion? That’s what happened with Dwayne’s goal,” Dayak said. "I just remember seeing the ball curl to the back post and ripple against the net. Once I knew it was in, we all just jumped on one another to celebrate. All i could do was take my shirt off - It was the first thing I though about.”
And just like that, the Earthquakes were MLS Cup champions. San Jose captain Jeff Agoos hoisted the trophy to the sky and Dayak and his teammates paraded around the field to celebrate with the traveling supporters before capping off a memorable celebration on their way back to San Jose.
"Of course we celebrated in the locker room with the champagne and the trophy,” Dayak laughed. "After that, I will never forget getting on the bus with all of the players chanting ‘Earth-quakes’ from one side to the other.
"Midway through the chant, our team manager at the time informed us that our family members were invited on a charter plane home with us. Back in those days, that was big time."
That historic day in Columbus proved to ignite the club’s run of two MLS Cups in three years, becoming on the second team behind D.C. United to win multiple championships.
“The stuff we had to endure as players that season just made us stronger because we were passionate about our what we did on the field,” Dayak said. "We cared about each other on and off the field and that day was huge for the club, the fans and the entire Bay Area. I will never forget it."
