Toronto wins MLS Cup, is 1st Canadian champ
Jozy Altidore opened the scoring in the 67th minute and Toronto FC beat the Seattle Sounders 2-0 on Saturday in the MLS Cup to become the first Canadian champion in league history.
Toronto avenged a penaltyshootout loss to Seattle last year in the title game.
In the 67th, Se- bastian 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. Victor Vasquez made it 2-0 in injury time when from close range after substitute Armando Cooper’s shot rebounded off the post. Altidore scored in Toronto’s 1-0 victory over Columbus Crew in the Eastern Conference final.
Altidore, who injured his right ankle minutes after scoring against the Crew, was replaced by Nick Hagglund in the 86th minute.
Toronto won the title in its 11th season. Seattle was seeking to become the fourth back-to-back champion in league history, joining D.C. United (1996 and 1996), Houston (2006 and 2007) and the Los Angeles Galaxy (2011 and 2012). Toronto outshot Seattle 22-7 and had 11 shots on target compared to two for the Sounders.
After going without a shot on goal in last year’s MLS Cup, Seattle struggled to find the target in the opening 30 minutes Saturday, finally ending its dubious streak when defender Joevin Jones fired a tame effort into the arms of goalkeeper Alex Bono.
Vasyl Lomachenko beat Guillermo Rigondeaux at the Theater at Madison Square Garden when Rigondeaux’s corner stopped the fight after six rounds because the boxer was complaining of pain in his left hand.
Lomachenko was easily winning boxing’s first pro match between two-time Olympic gold medalists when Rigondeaux and his trainers jointly called for the match to be stopped.
Promoter Dino Duva said Rigondeaux first felt pain in the second round and hurt it more significantly in the third. Duva said doctors believed the hand could be broken and were sending the 2000 and 2004 Olympic gold medalist from Cuba to the hospital for X-rays. Lomachenko (10-1, 8 KOs) earned his seventh straight victory by stoppage and defended his WBO 130-pound title. And for the fourth straight time, his match ended with his opponent quitting.
“I guess I should change my name now to NoMaschenko,” Lomachenko said.
Rigondeaux lost for the first time in his 18 pro fights and was loudly booed afterward by a crowd that was supporting both fighters early in the match. But it was quickly apparent that Lomachenko was too much for the 37-year-old Rigondeaux, the 122-pound champion who was moving up two weight classes for the historic match. Long one of boxing’s best defensive fighters, even he couldn’t find a way to defend himself against Lomachenko’s onslaught. USA TODAY SPORTS