Dwayne De Rosario scored his 13th goal for D.C. United late in the second half, but it wasn't enough as D.C. United failed to make the postseason for a fourth straight year, managing only a 1-1 draw with the Portland Timbers.
De Rosario's goal in the 73rd minute was a thing of beauty as he received a pass at the top of the area from Josh Wolff and made his way to the left side of the area. From an acute angle, De Rosario shrugged off Eric Brunner and fired high into the net with his left foot.
That goal prompted a final 20 minutes of remarkable urgency and amazing chances. D.C. United had the ball in the net in the 89th minute, but assistant referee C.J. Morgante ruled the Blake Brettschneider was just offside when De Rosario played the ball into the box. Replays appeared to confirm that it was the correct decision, but only barely.
A few minutes earlier, Brian Umony had hit the underside of the bar for Portland, but assistant official Frank Anderson correctly ruled that the ball had not bounced over the line off the deflection.
In the second minute of stoppage time, De Rosario appeared to have an open net as he rounded Troy Perkins, but the previously hapless Brunner came steaming across the field to make a sliding block on the shot for a corner kick.
United's last best chance came in the fourth minute of stoppage time, when De Rosario found the late substitute Joseph Ngwenya with a square ball, but both the Zimbabwean and Brettschneider were denied by Perkins. Seconds later, the final whistle blew, and players from both teams hit the ground in pure exhaustion.