Championship-Caliber Crew

There is a new king of the hill in MLS, as the Seattle Sounders' bid to repeat as MLS champions fell short with a 3-0 shutout loss to the Columbus Crew.

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And in the process of Columbus winning the Cup on Saturday night, there was history made on multiple levels.

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Here are three takeaways from the 2020 MLS Cup.

1. Lucas Zelarayan's big night caps Crew's journey

The star of the night was Columbus attacking midfielder Lucas Zelarayan.

Zelarayan got the scoring started early for Columbus with the first goal of the game.

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And he officially closed the door on the Sounders with his second goal to give Columbus a 3-0 lead.

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Zelarayan's two-goal performance made him only the third player in MLS Cup history to score two goals in the same game.

And, of course, with the performance he was named MVP of the MLS Cup.

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The big night from Columbus' midfielder capped an incredible story for the Crew, who just over three years ago appeared to be on the move to Austin.

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But the city and supporters rallied around their side, leading to the team staying in Ohio. In fact, 19-year-old fellow midfielder Aidan Morris was a product of the Crew Academy and even took part in the #SaveTheCrew movement himself.

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Now, 12 years after their first Cup win, Zelarayan, Morris and the rest of the Crew are champions once again.

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2. Sounders go quiet

The Sounders ended the season as the second-highest scoring club in the Western Conference, with a scoring average of 1.77 goals per game.

For their past eight games they had managed to score at least one goal, scoing three in the West Final against Minnesota United FC.

But they were outplayed in the Cup by a historic margin.

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And even with the Sounders playing in four of the last five MLS Cups, and winning two, there is a chance that they missed their chance to belong among the all-time MLS dynasties.

Cobi Jones believes that this loss will keep the Sounders out of the dynasty conversations.

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3. History is made

And it wasn't just by the Crew winning their second MLS Cup on Saturday.

With more and more women breaking barriers in men's professional and collegiate sports, Kathryn Nesbitt etched her name in the history books when she officiated the MLS Cup.

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This comes on the same day Sarah Fuller became the first woman to score in a Power 5 college football game, kicking an extra point for Vanderbilt.

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With sports serving as such a key point in the fabric of America, it's important to see women being respected and breaking through in every facet of the games.