He almost pulled off his shirt, but at the last minute, a teammate ran to him and pulled his Rave Green jersey down.

It was the only near miscue Seattle's Eddie Johnson had all night. And because of the nearly flawless game played by Johnson and the Sounders midfield, the Emerald City will faceoff in a Cascadia Clash for a spot in the Western Conference finals.

Johnson and midfielder Brad Evans each scored a goal as the Seattle Sounders downed the Colorado Rapids, 2-0 in a Western Conference Knockout Round game at CenturyLink Field. Evans scored 28 minutes in, giving the Sounders a much-deserved 1-0 lead nearly a half hour into the match that featured plenty of pressure on Rapids goalkeeper Clint Irwin. Still, it wasn't until Johnson sealed the win with a goal three minutes into stoppage time that the Sounders could breathe easy.

But this game won't be remembered for the goals; it was all about the discipline.

Both teams combined for several fouls as whistles constantly interrupted play, including the showing of seven cards. Johnson took a yellow for dissent in the 89th minute, but that was mere moments after one of the most bizarre plays of the MLS season. 

Holding a 1-0 lead and facing a Rapids onslaught of shots, Seattle goalkeeper Michael Gspurning stepped a foot outside of his 16-yard box to pull down a ball and land outside of the area. The first-choice 'keeper then shoved Colorado's Edson Buddle as referee Silvio Petrescu was handing out a straight red card to Gspurning. Marcus Hahnemann entered the game, replacing winger Lamar Neagle, and Seattle was forced to play the final five minutes, plus stoppage time, down a man.

That wasn't any problem for Johnson. The speedy U.S. international blitzed down the right sideline and calmly put away a pass by Clint Dempsey on the counter attack to lift the Sounders into the Western Conference semifinals against heated rival Portland. The Timbers, who finished first in the West, will open the two-leg series at Seattle. Real Salt Lake faces the LA Galaxy in the other semifinal.

What did you think of Wednesday night's theatrics? Were you impressed with Seattle's win, breaking a string of disappointing postseason results? Did Colorado deserve to win that match? Who has the advantage in the Cascadia Cup: Postseason Edition?