THOUGH LARGELY FORGOTTEN by American fans, Jonathan Bornstein scored a goal Sunday that Querétaro FC fans will remember for quite some time. The left back's left-footed rocket gave his club a 2-0 victory over Pachuca and lifted the club to its first-ever Liga MX final. 

Querétaro entered the match with a two-goal deficit after losing the first semifinal leg 2-0. Because it finished ahead of Pachuca in the Clausura standings, however, Los Gallos Blancos only needed a tie to advance.

Querétaro dominated the game from the opening whistle despite the fact that its high-priced import, Ronaldinho, remained as an unused substitute for the entire game. In the opening leg, the former Brazilian World Cup champion was so furious after being substituted out of the game that he left the stadium before the game was over. Querétaro scored its first goal when Angel Sepulveda made a nice run up the middle and finished with a hard shot from 12 yards out.

Early in the second half, it was Bornstein’s time to shine. Brazilian midfielder Danilinho spotted Bornstein making a run and delivered a beautiful pass over Pachuca’s defense that sent Bornstein in alone on goal. The 30-year-old California native hit a well-placed and powerful shot into the lower corner of the goal to even the score on aggregate.

Bornstein was mobbed by his teammates following the strike, which proved to be the winning goal in the series. It was his first league goal since arriving in Mexico from MLS in 2010 when he joined Tigres UANL. He is currently with Querétaro on loan from Tigres.

The goal will no doubt stand up as one of the highlights in Bornstein’s career. In 2009 he scored a dramatic equalizer for the United States national team in a 2-2 draw that was filled with emotion after the near-fatal car crash involving Charlie Davies. He also put in two solid shifts at the 2010 World Cup against Algeria and Ghana.

This goal displayed both speed and skill and it lifted his team to new hieights. Next up for Bornstein and Querétaro will be the first leg of the Liga MX final against Santos Laguna on Thursday—and perhaps we'll see Bornstein in the forthcoming ASN 100.

Brian Sciaretta is an American Soccer Now columnist and an ASN 100 panelist. Follow him on Twitter.