Toronto FC coach John Carver said it best, I thought, when he said Toronto FC’s edgy 1-1 draw in Columbus on Saturday was a game which, last year, his team would have lost.
In the end, it took gutsy goaltending from both Stefan Frei and Greg Sutton, and a fated own-goal deflection of a well-struck Dwayne DeRosario free kick to win the point for the Reds, bringing them into Saturday’s home opener against Seattle with a win and a tie from their two-game road trip.
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Have you noticed how much more time the ball is spending in the other team’s half of the field? Even with the creative Amado Guevara and midfield defensive anchor Carl Robinson away on international duty, Toronto FC used persistence, opportunism and hard, hard work to earn their share of the ball.
Yes, the Columbus Crew created more. Sure, this could easily have been a heavy loss.
But after seeing last year’s edition of TFC cough of endless late goals, turning wins into draws and draws into losses, it was quite thrilling – if nail-bitingly tense – to see Carver’s Cut-Throats pirate a point in a match where most MLS sides might have been caught, boarded, pillaged and sunk.
And despite Frei taking a knock that sidelined him for the second half, it appears Toronto will be completely healthy for the big match Saturday.
Against an undefeated, untied Seattle Sounders squad. Sure, they drubbed a desperately short-handed New York squad in their opener. But then they sprinted to a 2-0 shock win over Salt Lake, most people’s pre-season pick to romp to the MLS West crown.
Toss on another huge crowd at Qwest Field – 28,000! – and Seattle is throwing down a double gauntlet to Toronto this weekend … on the field, and in the stands!
Not that Seattle fans will be a huge presence on the Lake Ontario waterfront. Not with three intervening time zones, and the pesky fact that Toronto FC has already sold out the season. It will be interesting to hear the Seattle players, after the game, comparing MLS’s two most loud and boisterous stadiums.
A couple of thoughts, going forward:
1) Chad Barrett isn’t that bad. He needs to calm down, re-focus, and get a ball played to his feet that he can kill. Things should settle down for the badly struggling TFC striker after that.
2) Pablo Vitti was much better off the ball than on it. That’s something Carver can certainly work with. TFC has the midfield to support Vitti’s diagonal adventurism. Saturday would be a fine time to show off.
3) I love the way Greg Sutton hangs in there when he’s been abandoned. Clutch, crucial saves on wide-open Columbusers made the draw possible throughout the second half. He’s not going to be abandoned nearly as much this season. I love the guy’s heart.
4) I know I’m about the 60th scribe to say this, but DeRo needs to shoot low occasionally. I listened to most of the game on the radio, and when play-by-play man Dan Dunleavy (fine work, by the way!) said that DeRo put a ball over the bar and into the Toronto fans, I knew what was quite a miss. Having stood in the front row there a year ago, you need some considerable lift to get a football up that far.
Overall, this was always going to be a tough match to win. The draw was difficult, which makes it a good and useful result.
Now it’s all waiting and anticipation. How will it feel to see hometown hero DeRo take BMO Field as the home side’s go-to guy? How will this rebuilt roster mesh with the frantic, frenetic energy in the building? Can TFC be the first team to unlock the expansion Sounders?
After talking with super-blogger Ives Galarcep on “It’s Called Football” this past weekend, I’m even starting to worry less about all the youth on the Toronto bench. Galarcep called Frei “a once-in-ten-years goalie,” and top draft pick Sam Cronin “MLS-ready.” Based on early results, he may indeed be right on both counts.
Comments section, fans! What’s your prediction for Saturday?
Onward!