Toronto FC coach Greg Vanney hopes his team’s Canadian Championship will provide a spark as it returns to MLS play.
Toronto, which faces the San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday at Avaya Stadium in San Jose, beat Vancouver 5-2 on Wednesday to claim the Voyageurs Cup for the third consecutive year and bring a glimmer of hope to an otherwise forgettable season.
“It was a final, but it was also for us an important night to win a championship, get that back under our belt, to use it as a way to build confidence and momentum down this final stretch of 11 games,” Vanney said. “If you don’t win it, that’s another kick in the gut to a group that has had a lot of challenges to deal with this year.”
Toronto (6-12-5), the defending league champion, sits in 10th place, seven points out of the playoffs.
“Tonight was a really important night in our season,” said Vanney. “League-wise, we haven’t been able to take off the way we would like to. That was one of the reasons tonight was even more important.”
With the win, Toronto earned itself a spot in the next CONCACAF Champions League.
Toronto was unbeaten in three straight league games (2-0-1) before a 3-2 home loss to New York City FC on Sunday.
San Jose, at 3-13-7 the league’s worst team, played to a draw with Real Salt Lake and picked up its second road win of the season, 3-1 at FC Dallas, before returning to its losing ways last weekend.
Nana Boateng scored in added time to lift the Colorado Rapids to a 2-1 victory over the Earthquakes on Aug. 11. San Jose played with 10 men after Shea Salinas picked a late red card. Salinas is suspended for Saturday’s game.
“It was an equal game. We lost in the very last minute, but I thought we deserved a tie in this game,” Quakes coach Mikael Stahre said, according to the (San Jose) Mercury News. “It’s a fine line between winning and losing, and we were really close to scoring a few times.”
The Earthquakes have struggled with that line: The win in Dallas was their first since May 12.
While Toronto has struggled on the road this season with just two wins in 12 tries, it catches a break in San Jose. The Earthquakes are 1-5-4 at Avaya Stadium with the lone win coming in the season opener against Minnesota United.
