Toronto Must Win MLS Cup

Remember the Golden State Warriors’ season that set the NBA wins record? Toronto FC did the same thing this season.
The team broke the 68-point record set in 1998 by the LA Galaxy and tied the wins record number of 20 wins set in 2014 by the Seattle Sounders. It scored the most goals and had the best goal differential. It won the Eastern Conference by 12 points.
And this wasn’t even unprecedented.
It’s obvious Toronto has created an incredible team. After getting to MLS Cup last year and only improving in the offseason, it was the heavy favorite to have another impressive year.
In every position, Toronto is stacked, led by strikers Sebastian Giovinco and Jozy Altidore. Michael Bradley holds down midfield along with new addition Victor Vazquez. Its defense has been rock-solid, too, especially thanks to Drew Moor and Chris Mavinga.
Everything is in place for Toronto. This year, the team has to win.
Coming from a Portland Timbers fan, I don’t want Toronto FC to win MLS Cup. But any other result would be an embarrassment for the team.
On Monday, Toronto defeated New York Red Bulls in the first leg of the MLS Cup Playoffs, winning 2-1 in New York and bringing a huge advantage back to Canada for the second leg.
Red Bulls should be easy enough for Toronto to get past, especially playing in Toronto. As long as Giovinco plays as well as he did in the first game, this should be an easy win. Toronto could tie and get through or could even lose 1-0 to Red Bulls and still get through because it scored more away goals. Really, barring a defensive collapse or an offensive showcase from Red Bulls, this is already in the bag.
In the conference finals, at this point, Toronto’s opponent should be Columbus Crew SC, who beat New York City FC 4-1 in the first leg. The Crew is being driven by the news that the team’s owner wants to relocate the team to Austin, Texas.
This could prove to be a challenge for Toronto. Columbus hasn’t lost a game since Aug. 5. Zack Steffen, a 22-year-old goalkeeper, has been coming up huge for the Crew as well, making multiple world-class saves in the Crew’s 0-0 match against Atlanta United FC, which Columbus won 3-1 in penalty kicks.
While the Crew has been on a hot streak, losing here would not be acceptable from Toronto. The team needs to not only reach MLS Cup, but win it.
To do that, Toronto will have to get past the best Western Conference team. After the first games, Portland and Seattle are in control, although both games finished 0-0.
Portland had to use all three substitutes within 59 minutes due to three injuries while already missing starters David Guzman and Sebastian Blanco, but thanks to a defensive master class, the team escaped Houston Dynamo with a draw.
Seattle and Vancouver Whitecaps only recorded five total shots between the two, with only one shot on target. One of the teams needs to kick start its offense if it hopes to make a statement in the second game of the playoff.
The West is tough to call at this point, but being a Timbers fan, I think Portland has the best shot of getting to MLS Cup, despite injuries.
That would give us an MLS Cup final between the conference winners from each side of the league and probably a chilly final game in Toronto on Dec. 9.
Going against everything I believe, Toronto should win the MLS Cup over Portland. The team has it all: great players, home field advantage and that feeling of not wanting a repeat of last season’s finals defeat.
But this is MLS, and anything could happen in the next couple weeks. Red Bulls could come back from the 4-1 deficit, Sebastian Giovinco could get an injury or some other team could play better than it has played all season.
Toronto isn’t guaranteed a walk to the championship either—just look at Golden State in 2015. Guess it’s a good thing MLS Cup is one game, so Toronto won’t have a chance to blow a 3-1 lead.