Toronto FC clinches 1st-ever playoff spot with win vs. New York Red Bulls

It's over. Eight years of despair, agony, and heartbreak finally undone.

With a 2-1 victory against the Eastern Conference-leading New York Red Bulls, Toronto FC has, for the first time in franchise history, qualified for the Major League Soccer postseason at long, long last.

Fittingly, it was Sebastian Giovinco, the 5-foot-4 Italian who has put the 6ix on his back since TFC kicked off its season on March 7, who scored the goal that allowed the Canadian club to punch its playoff ticket.

Only seven minutes after he took the pitch, Giovinco, who woke up in Rome, Italy this morning and landed in Toronto at 3:45 p.m. local time, committed quadruple homicide, taking out four opponents before rocketing a left-footed shot into the side netting and busting out Lil B's signature cooking dance.

However, it would be criminal to omit Herculez Gomez's heroics from any summary of the match.

It was Gomez, making only his second start of the season, who opened the scoring in the 51st minute after the Red Bulls suffered a defensive collapse, allowing him to take two touches to tally his first MLS goal in almost seven years.

Related: VIDEO: Herculez Gomez helps Toronto FC clinch 1st-ever playoff berth

The win, which came exactly one hour and 20 minutes after the Toronto Blue Jays advanced to the American League Championship Series in the most emotional of baseball games, moves TFC into second place in the Eastern Conference with 49 points to its name.

TFC will look to retain that spot, or one of the two spots underneath it, to guarantee a home playoff date for its long-suffering supporters to enjoy.

And so comes to an end an era of pain and suffering, in a city where optimism now bleeds free. Two games remain in the regular season, but, no matter how it all ends, one thing is certain:

TFC is heading to the 2015 MLS Cup Playoffs.