Landon Donovan will retire at the end of the Los Angeles Galaxy's season, which the American soccer icon is not letting come to a close.

For the first time since 1999, Major League Soccer (MLS) saw a hat trick in the postseason, thanks to Donovan. The Galaxy dismantled Real Salt Lake 5-0 with the soon-to-be-retiree scoring three times and assisting another.

According to the Los Angeles Times, losing or tying RSL would have been it for the Galaxy, but the team is now in the Western Conference final awaiting the semifinal winner of Monday night's contest between FC Dallas and Seattle Sounder. If the latter wins, Donovan would face longtime Team USA teammate Clint Dempsey for a chance to play for the MLS title.

"Last night and today I was thinking a lot of this through and the reality was... this could have been my last game ever," Donovan told the Times. "There's a lot of things that were out of my control tonight. The one thing that was in my control was how I played."

His three goals were all different, scoring on a header in the 10th minute, a breakaway strike in the 54th and a masterful touch shot off a beautiful set up from Robbie Keane in the 72nd.

Donovan already held the MLS record for goals in the postseason (25 in 38 games), but his assist to Keane in the 20th minute was his 13th in the postseason, one away from the record held by Mauricio Cienfuegos.

"I wanted to have fun tonight," Donovan told the Times. "If this was going to be my last game, I wanted to enjoy it. And more often than not when I enjoy the game, I play well.

"A night like tonight, when people are playing that way and things are clicking, it's fun. You don't want the game to end."

With the game all but won, Donovan left the match in the 83rd minute to a standing ovation, which he will expectedly get in his final few games, win or lose.

The latter has not occurred to him yet, though, because he does not want his career end right now.

"No sir," he said, smiling. "Not yet."