May was the hero for the Black Knights, with the substitute equalising twice in the 67th and 90th minutes in front of 16,661 fans at Allianz Stadium.
But falling short of victory meant Auckland's finals fate rested on whether Melbourne City could keep Adelaide United at bay in Sunday's second top-six clash.
City failed in the final home-and-away game, with Luka Jovanovic scoring a double to fire Adelaide to a comeback 2-1 away win.
The result means Auckland finished third (42 points) and will host sixth-placed City (38) in an elimination final, while the Reds (43) enjoy a bye ahead of a two-legged semi-final.
Adelaide's triumph also sets up an elimination final reunion between interim Sydney FC coach Patrick Kisnorbo and his former club Melbourne Victory.
Kisnorbo left Victory in December 2024 to take up an offer in Japan with Yokohama F. Marinos as an assistant, just seven ALM games into a three-year contract.
Also a decorated Melbourne City coach, Kisnorbo said he wouldn't be leaning on his inside knowledge.
The Big Blue elimination final between fifth-placed Sydney (39) and fourth-placed Victory (40) will be Kisnorbo's fifth game at the helm since replacing Ufuk Talay.
"I don't really look at it like that. I just look at what we can do," Kisnorbo said before the City-Adelaide clash.
"There's a lot of talk, talk, talk, but the main focus is what we do inside here and how we go about it.
"That's the only thing you can control, that's the main thing. Whatever happens after that really is irrelevant."
Ben Garuccio's 55th-minute strike had given the Sky Blues hope of leapfrogging Auckland on the table, as had Alexandar Popovic's 85th-minute strike to restore Sydney's lead.
Sydney had to win by at least three goals for a chance to finish second.
The Sky Blues have now been winless in all six matches against Auckland, including an Australia Cup clash.
A week off would have come in handy for Auckland, who were forced to add midfielder Felipe Gallegos to their injury list.
The Chilean midfielder, who has played 23 matches this season, went down with a left hamstring issue in the 22nd minute.
Star defender Frances De Vries (calf) won't be ready for Auckland's elimination final, with midfielder Jake Brimmer (calf) and centre-back Nando Pijanker (shoulder) also on ice.
The Black Knights have struggled without De Vries, heading into finals winless in their last five matches.
Resigned to their fate, Auckland boss Steve Corica was optimistic before the City-Adelaide clash.
"We conceded, and we responded to that, and conceded again and then had to respond again," Corica said.
"It's great to see the character from the players to do that.
"It's going to be important come finals time, but obviously, we still wanted to win this game."
The visitors managed just two shots before halftime, with English forward Sam Cosgrove unable to add to his league-best haul of 11 goals.
Though sharing the honour with Jovanovic, Cosgrove at least becomes the first international player to win the golden boot since Wellington's Fijian striker Roy Krishna scored 18 goals in 2018/19.
14°C