Toronto beats Seattle in MLS Cup
TORONTO — This wasn’t the kind of MLS Cup performance the Seattle Sounders were hoping for.
Far from it.
Jozy Altidore opened the scoring in the 67th minute, and Toronto FC beat Seattle 2-0 on Saturday to become the first Canadian champion in Major League Soccer history, denying the Sounders a second straight title.
Toronto avenged a penalty-shootout loss to Seattle last year in the championship match.
“Lifting this trophy has been an obsession for the last 364 days, not just for me but for every single guy on our team,” Toronto captain Michael Bradley said. “There’s no other word for it.”
Sounders coach Brian Schmetzer pointed to a single statistic, duels won, to illustrate the disparity between the teams. Toronto won 58 duels to Seattle’s 24.
“We picked the wrong time to have a game that was below our standards,” Schmetzer said. “We put our best attacking lineup out there, but we weren’t able to keep the ball in any part of the game. That was not one of our stellar performances.”
In the 67th minute, Sebastian Giovinco’s pass from just inside the Seattle half helped Altidore split a pair of defenders. Altidore took a few steps to his left and fired the ball over goalkeeper Stefan Frei, setting off a wild celebration among the 30,584 fans that left BMO Field shaking.
Altidore’s goal snapped Seattle’s lengthy streak of keeping opponents off the scoreboard. The Sounders had not been scored upon since a 2-0 loss to Philadelphia on Oct. 1, going six games without conceding. Victor Vasquez made it 2-0 in injury time when he scored from close range after substitute Armando Cooper’s shot rebounded off the post.
Altidore was selected MLS Cup MVP.
“To cap it off the way we did,” he said, “shows what this team is all about.”
Toronto won the title in its 11th season and just two years after making the playoffs for the first time; 2015 was also the first season the club avoided losing more often than it won. Toronto’s 69 points this season were the most in the history of MLS, which launched in 1996.
“In terms of seasons, I think we had the greatest season in the history of the league,” Toronto coach Greg Vanney said. “I don’t think it’s debatable.”
Toronto outshot Seattle 22-7 and had 11 shots on target compared to two for the Sounders.
“At some point, if you’re going to rely on your goalkeeper that often and in that many critical moments,” Schmetzer said, “one of them is going to get through.”