Missed PK motivates TFC’s Morrow
Defender has had a full year to ponder ‘what if ’ scenarios after final shot hit crossbar
For Justin Morrow, the difference between Toronto FC and the Seattle Sounders in last year’s MLS Cup final could be counted in inches.
The stalwart defender was coming off a career year last December when he stepped up to take Toronto FC’s sixth, and ultimately final, penalty in the shootout that decided who would take home the league championship.
Morrow, always known for his solid defensive work, had five goals and five assists over the course of regular season and the playoffs in 2016, his best offensive output ever.
But at the 11th hour, Morrow’s penalty shot bounced off Seattle goalkeeper Stefan Frei’s crossbar, the ensuing ping devastating the BMO Field crowd. Sounders defender Roman Torres then scored to hand the visitors the title.
Shooting the ball down the middle of the net was Morrow’s intention all along, he said a few days after the final. The shot just rose on him, hitting the underside of the crossbar and bouncing down as Frei dove right.
“I just knew that if it came down to it, I was going to step up,” Morrow said back then of volunteering to take the shot. “I just didn’t want to let the moment pass me by and think about it in the future that I didn’t step up.”
Looking back on that time this week, as Toronto prepares for another Cup final against the Sounders on Saturday afternoon, Morrow said he found comfort in the fact that Toronto was set up for success both in 2017 and beyond.
“After the loss last year, it was devastating but I know that we were going to have another good year this year,” he said.
“I knew that the team was still intact and that we added some key pieces and got better. That was very encouraging in the off-season, to know that in 2017 we were going to have another strong run at it.”
In 2017, Morrow has once again stepped up. The wingback scored eight goals in the regular season. He was a finalist for Major League Soccer’s Defender of the Year award and was included in this year’s Best XI, alongside teammates Sebastian Giovinco and Victor Vazquez.
Morrow has long prided himself on getting better each season, no matter that age is working against him. Building on last year’s success wasn’t in response to the loss that ended the season; it has always been a mantra the 30-year-old ascribes to.
“To be able to come this year and push it again, push the envelope again and do what I did this year, it’s encouraging,” he said. Now that Morrow has achieved many of his individual goals for the year, his team has one big one left to cross off its list.
He is finding this year’s road to MLS Cup different than last year’s — he now knows what to expect when it comes to the “show” surrounding the game, including media, people coming in from out of town and getting tickets for loved ones.
It’s inevitable that the Reds will think of last year’s defeat heading into Saturday’s match, Morrow said. The loss still weighs on their minds. But besting Seattle isn’t the ultimate objective — hoisting the Cup is. The Sounders just happen to be the last hurdle along the way.
“It was a goal of ours at the beginning of the year to win and we didn’t say, ‘Oh, we want to beat Seattle in MLS Cup,’” Morrow said.
“We said, ‘We want to win MLS Cup.’ It just happens that now it’s Seattle. And we’ll revisit all those feelings, but we need to win.”