Toronto FC blanks Seattle for MLS title

TORONTO — 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 penalty-shootout loss to Seattle last year in the title game.

In the 67th, 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.

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. He had 15 goals in the regular season, second on the team to Giovinco’s 16. 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, TFC did not reach the playoffs until 2015, the first season it avoided losing more often than it won.

Seattle was seeking to become the fourth back-toback champion in league history, joining D.C. United (1996 and 1996), Houston (2006 and 2007) and the Los Angeles Galaxy (2011 and 2012).