Although Metro's 13 years have yet to bring the club a major trophy, the baker's dozen of seasons hasn't gone completely for naught. Every Metro fan should know about the 2004 La Manga Cup, when Metro became the first (and so far, only) MLS team to raise a trophy on European soil. Then there is the 2000 Eastern Division championship, though most (Nick Sakiewicz excluded) have trouble celebrating a "championship" over just three teams. Yet there is one more, even more obscure title that Metro has won. It came in the 2001 MLS Spring Training Tournament.

In 2000 and 2001, MLS decided to have an organized preseason. The league, perhaps trying to mimic Major League Baseball, had its teams convene for part of their preseason in Florida, and play in a three-game tournament. In 2000, Metro won their first two games, before falling to DC Scum on penalties in the title match. But the format changed in 2001: every team would play three games, and the team with the best record would be the winner. To make matters a bit more confusing, teams would earn bonus points for each goal scored, with the maximum of three per match.

So, Metro, coming off a couple of weeks in Portugal, were drawn with Columbus, Dallas, and San Jose. The first match, against the Crew, was scoreless until the 87th minute, when Jeff Cunningham broke through and gave Columbus the lead. But with just a minute left in regulation, Metro's Daniel Hernandez blasted home a long shot to tie the match. There was no scoring in overtime, so Metro would exit Match Day 1 with a tie and two points (one for the tie, one for the goal scored).

In the second game, Metro played the Burn, and it wasn't even close. Clint Mathis opened the scoring 11 minutes in, and Metro would pour it on in the second half, connecting four more times (twice by Petter Villegas, once by Mark Chung and Rodrigo Faria) to cruise to a 5:0 victory. After two games, they were sitting on a 1-0-1 record, with eight points (four for the victory and tie, four for goals scored; remember, the max any team could get for a single game was three).

So, with one game left, Metro had a realistic shot at this oh-so-unimportant title. Chicago was leading the standings with a 2-0-0 record, and 11 points. Metro was in a dead heat with Tampa Bay, Los Angeles, and Columbus, all at 1-0-1, all with eight points.

The Fire would play first on Match Day 3, and lost to New England 2:1, finishing with a 2-1 record and 12 points. Metro had an opening! All they had to do was beat San Jose, score a couple of goals, and hope the other three teams do worse than they did. It was a small chance, but it was a chance! (Yes, we kid with the overexcitement. It's a meaningless obscure preseason tournament. But let's go on.)

Columbus would play next, and drop a 1:0 overtime result to Colorado that put them out of contention. LA notched a 2:0 win over DC Scum (who, with a 0-3 record, finished dead last), so now the Galaxy stood at 2-0-1, 13 points. To jump over LA and give themselves breathing room over Tampa, Metro would have to not only beat San Jose, but score at least three goals against them.

And that is precisely what they did. After Manny Lagos opened the scoring for the Quakes, Metro's trio of Colombians made their mark. Adolfo Valencia knotted it from the penalty spot, Alex Comas gave Metro the lead, and Pedro Alvarez, who would never knock our socks off (sad, Nick Sakiewicz) gave the team the all-important third goal with ten minutes left in the match. San Jose would pull one back, but the 3:2 result was enough. (The goalkeeper for the Quakes for half of that match? Jon Conway.) Metro had their 14 points. It was now up to Tampa to catch them.

Since the maximum points any team can receive from a match under this system is six (three for the win, three for goals), catching Metro was the best thing Tampa could hope for. And catch them they did, beating Miami 3:2 with a last-minute penalty kick. With Metro and the Mutiny now tied at top of the standings with 14 points each, it went to the next tie-breaker: goal difference. And this is where Metro's dominant win over Dallas paid off; their +6 easily dwarfed Tampa's +2. The trophy was all theirs!

Take a look at the photo on this page: Tab Ramos holding the trophy. Pedro Alvarez, Mark Chung, Billy Walsh, Steve Shak, Petter Villegas... Everyone smiling, everyone happy. Everyone hoping that the trophy will be a start of good things to come that season and beyond.

Oh, Metro! Oh, cruel fate! Why do you have to tease us so much only to hurt us again and again! (Yes, we kid with the dramatics. It was a meaningless obscure preseason tournament.)