For as long as MLS has existed, the MLS Cup final has been at least in part a safe refuge for the old guard. At least one team involved in the league’s initial creation spasm in 1996 had been in the final game of the league season every year. It was perhaps a nod to how difficult the road through the postseason was, or maybe the lasting power of experience drilling into the core of the league’s first days.
Whatever the reason, the league’s original class held an iron grip on the league’s biggest game.
As of this year, that run is now footnote in the record books.