Hours after Allen Chapman blew full time in Frisco, my mind took a walk.

With enough memories and data stowed away from years of watching the locals, it’s inevitable that my brain will begin processing things like, say, ‘Hey, Ozzie’s goal reminds me of back when…” and so on.

Truth is, the goal was very un-Ozzie. A header? Off a set play? After all, he’s usually parked near the D. Weak clearance comes out, and he bashes it.

Rather than the look and feel of the goal, what struck a chord was who hit it. Ozzie rarely scores, let alone with a lil nudge from his noggin. Then, at the end of the night, there’s Frei saving the day on Castillo. Frei, a guy who’s never been involved in playoffs before, nor much of anything the past two seasons, due to injury.

My head was telling me, Hey, maybe, just maybe, this is kismet. That is to say, these random acts of fineness may not be random at all. Rather, Seattle may have finally found that special someone, or two, to take us all the way.

In Sounders lore, there are a handful of guys who have risen from the ranks to ignite a playoff run. More often than not, they were supporting cast members who stepped forward, out of the shadows and into the spotlight, to deliver something unexpected, some measure that made all the difference.

Take Tommy Ord. A journeyman striker who in ’77 suddenly got hot. Ord scored four goals in seven matches, sending the Sounders through to the final.

Same thing in ’82. Kenny Hibbitt was a solid pro. But the reason Hibbitt’s name is etched in my skull are his two extra-time game-winners–in three days!–versus Fort Lauderdale. He sent us to another final.

A couple more contemporary legends were born in Sounders championships. Marcus Hahnemann was practically unbeatable in ’95 and ’96. Make no mistake, it was a team effort. But in nine games only four shots eluded him. As a result, Seattle won back-to-back titles.

Roger Levesque didn’t win hearts just with his smile. That helped. But it was the difference Rog made in ’05 that began fashioning him into a folk hero. Four goals–featuring series-winning scores against both Portland and Montreal–made him unforgettable.

While Ozzie might be six times more likely to score a goal in the playoffs than regular season, it’s ridiculous to think he might bag two more en route to the Treble. Then again, maybe one did the  trick. Got to believe defenders will pay him special attention from here on out, and maybe that loosens the shackles on Neagle or Evans or Marshall or Scott.

Keepers, as Hahnemann proved, can become bigger than life at times. A night like Frei’s can feed confidence to the beast. A couple more like the Castillo stop and suddenly it’s like a forcefield effect, if not in the physical world then certainly in the minds of opponents and the beholder.

My point: Teams achieving something special, something great, first draw inspiration from individuals doing something exceptional. Ord or Roger, Hibbitt or Hahnemann: they were simply fulfilling their roles, but doing so to the fullest and at the moment they were needed most.

It remains to be seen, but Ozzie and Frei may have started something now, something that we can all watch together as it rolls into December.

Anyway, that’s the way my mind’s working these days, and I like the way it thinks.