The triumph of Michael Parkhurst: From Rhode Island to Atlanta

Credit: Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/Getty Images

Sound tends to to carry through the inner workings of MLS stadiums. Space remains at a premium. Most of the venues are tightly condensed. The developments in one room tend to filter into another. Especially when celebration yields to disappointment.

For better or worse, those memories stuck with Michael Parkhurst throughout his MLS career. He remembered the four times he tried to grapple with MLS Cup defeat in one locker room as his adversaries celebrated it another. He always wondered how he’d feel on the other side of it.

Parkhurst — the Cranston, R.I., native and former Revolution star — took nothing for granted when the moment finally arrived last December. Atlanta United hosted Portland Timbers in the decisive match. Josef Martinez and Franco Escobar scored either side of halftime to render little doubt about the outcome in the final half hour.