Photo Gallery // Philadelphia Union vs Seattle Sounders

Just when you think you've got them all figured out, the Philadelphia Union find ways to surprise you. The match against the Seattle Sounders was sure to be a loss, right? The Union are all but mathematically eliminated from the playoffs and the Sounders are jockeying for position in the Western Conference. The Union have been rather dreadful lately, Seattle has lost one in their last fifteen. No way the Union come out of this one alive.

Oops.

The Union came out hot against a depleted Sounders team and didn't let up, displaying a tenacity and unwillingness to allow complacency to settle in that has sorely been lacking for much of the season. After Marcus Epps' goal you just knew they were going to grab all three points, Clint Dempsey be damned.

Perhaps it's fair to ask where this team has been all year. Why couldn't they take a game by the throat and not stop pressuring and imposing their will until the final whistle sounded? Why couldn't the plays in the final third that have let the Union down so often this season be run like they were against Seattle? Why can't Roland Alberg show up like that every game?

At this point though, it probably doesn't matter. The clock is nearing midnight for Cinderella, and the promise of a second postseason berth is about to turn back into a pumpkin for us to dissect in hopes of being able to continue to dance long into the night next season.

Then again, the one thing we learned about this team this past weekend is to expect the unexpected.