Colorado advanced to the MLS Cup conference finals thanks to a goal from Conor Casey. Los Angeles scored the all-important first goal in its victory over Seattle through Edson Buddle. In its triumph over Salt Lake, Dallas got off to a fast start because of Jeff Cunningham. And San Jose was able to stave off New York when Golden Boot winner Chris Wondolowski scored the goal that clinched the Quakes' 3-2 aggregate win over the Red Bulls.

The point? Forward play can never be undervalued.

"If you don't have good forwards in the playoffs," said Eric Wynalda (one of the best forwards ever produced in the U.S.), "then it's free kicks, free kicks and free kicks. But if you have a forward who is in good form, a guy who goes on a run, or better yet, two guys, who can stretch a defense …"

Think of Brian Ching and Houston's dynasty. New England was always a threat to win so long as Taylor Twellman was scoring. Real Salt Lake rode on Robbie Findley's back through the playoffs last year. Sometimes it's not even about goals. Sometimes all a forward needs is a reputation for scoring goals that will force other teams to focus on him, which then opens up space in and around the box for other attacking players. "Remember Miklos Molnar?" Wynalda asked me. "He had five goals in seven playoff games for Kansas City in 2000 and they won the Cup. Where's that team without him?"

As we head into the conference finals, it's a good bet that the team with the best play up top is going to advance (unless, of course, Dallas gives Beckham a look at a dead ball inside 30 yards).

So, who's it going to be, Waldo?

"Conor Casey and Omar Cummings are the best combination the league's had in a long time," Wynalda said. "Cummings is the run-guy and Casey is the finish guy. When you find a good combination like that, it's always going to be a weapon. Colorado could very well walk away with this, and it would be because of those two guys."

But …

"Chris Wondolowski is the kind of guy you make the false assumption that he's been lucky," Wynalda said. "But every single time the guy pops up in a place, the execution is there. Do I think he'll score 18 goals every year? No. But the way he's finished this season, he could carry them the whole way."