TORONTO -- So much of Saturday evening's MLS Cup rematch between the Seattle Sounders and Toronto FC inspired deja vu.
The pre-match buildup at BMO Field was just as raucous, if not even more so, than it was last December. The a cappella version of O, Canada from the home crowd brought familiar goosebumps to the fore.
Just as in the 2016 final, TFC controlled the game but struggled to turn that dominance into an actual breakthrough. For an hour, the reigning title-game MVP, Seattle goalkeeper Stefan Frei, was on track for a repeat award following a series of increasingly outlandish saves, and the energy inside the building was infused with a "here we go again" sense of dread.