After 15 minutes of scoreless golden goal extra time the teams moved on to an NASL shoot-out, which the Aztecs won, 2–1.

The second leg was played at Giants Stadium on September 1, 1979, with 44,109 in the stands and millions more watching the nationally televised match on ABC.

The affair was a dogfight that saw Willie Johnston level the score at 2–2 with a diving header the 85th minute to force extra time.

This time it however, it was Vancouver who would come out on top, 3–2, to win the National Conference title and earn a hard-fought, well-deserved spot in the Soccer Bowl.

In the conference semifinal series they went up against the upstart Philadelphia Fury, who had coolly swept the number one seeded Houston Hurricane out of the playoffs.

Tampa Bay counter punched their way to a 1–0 victory on Steve Wegerle's goal and Željko Bilecki's save of a late penalty kick on August 23, 1979.

Their opponent for this series was the Western Division winner, San Diego Sockers, whom the Rowdies had eliminated the previous year via the mini-game.

In a match played under threat of cancellation[6] due to Hurricane David on September 2, 1979, and reminiscent of the previous day's Whitecaps-Cosmos tilt, 38,766 fans witnessed a 2–2 draw that needed a shoot-out to break the deadlock.

The ensuing 30-minute mini-game had early drama as the diminutive Ivan Grnja scored in the third minute, just 27 seconds after entering the match as a substitute for the injured John Gorman.

From there the Rowdies hung on the rest of the way for a 1–0 win, the American Conference title, and their second straight trip to the Soccer Bowl.