It all looked so promising for the Montreal Impact. The Big O was as alive as it’s ever been, especially when Andres Romero scored in the eighth minute. And after Club America hit the underside of the bar from point-blank range, it looked like the fates were on the side of the bleu-blanc et noir. Except, something changed in the second half, and Club America looked like the double defending Champions of Mexico, absolutely tearing Montreal’s back line to shreds. And with that, the magic carpet ride of the Impact ended with a resounding thud.

This is not a piece about what Major League Soccer needs to do to help its teams finally get over the final hurdle. This is not a condemnation of MLS either. This is paying tribute to a run from the Impact that in all respects probably should have been killed off before it started.

In the second leg of the 2014 Canadian Championship, the Impact needed a late goal against the NASL’s FC Edmonton to just advance to the Final. But, they were given a controversial late penalty which they converted, and took with them to the Canadian Championship when they beat Toronto FC.

With their MLS season almost totally in tatters by the time the Champions League began, they decided to focus their efforts on the continental competition seeing more fruits in it than they did in a lost MLS season. They won three games and lost one, and with the seeding, they found their way into a tie with Pachuca. The rest is history, thanks to the heroics of Cameron Porter. Getting away from Alajuelense with two away goals to make the final was impressive enough, and then to hold the mighty Club America to only 1 goal at the Azteca (with calls going against them all the same), might have been the most impressive feat of all.

To belittle the Impact by finally succumbing to the fearsome attack of Club America when they did is to completely discount their achievements as a whole. Of the five MLS teams to qualify for the Champions League this past campaign, most thought the Impact had the smallest chance of doing any damage, but given a little belief and resources, magic can happen.

The pieces about what MLS teams need to do to finally win the CONCACAF Champions League will come in time, and many of them will recycle the same tired arguments from past columns with the same subject. The decision to fully embrace the CONCACAF Champions League is a difficult one based on the MLS playoff chase coinciding with the group stages, and the beginning of a new season coinciding with the knockout stage. But Montreal’s achievements should be fully embraced by the league, as its unlikely run to the Final was. Needn’t anyone forget, Montreal finished 19th out of 19 teams last season and pushed the mighty Club America to the brink. If this was the LA Galaxy, or the Seattle Sounders, maybe the outcome would have been different.

The new season of the CCL begins in August. MLS’ five entrants are the Galaxy, Sounders, Whitecaps, D.C United and Real Salt Lake. The first two have as good a chance as any to be the team that breaks the glass ceiling, and if they are given the ability to do so by their coaches and league, they with their depth of talent can easily push Mexico’s best.

The Impact could have won this tie with more clinical finishing from Ignacio Piatti, some better officiating at the Azteca, and maybe more depth. MLS teams should now use this run as an inspiration and a basis from which to base their own when they get their chance to make a run in CONCACAF competition.

And the 2015 Canadian Championship is already underway. The winner of that gets a berth in Champions League in 2016-17. The Impact could soon be back here, however unlikely that may be.

That is odd, but then again so was the Impact’s run that so narrowly ended in defeat.