To say that Toronto FC coach John Carver was not pleased with his team's performance against USL First Division Charleston Battery might be the understatement of the year.
Randi Patterson scored two goals and limited Toronto FC to just two quality scoring chances as Charleston beat Toronto 2-0 in the final night of the Carolina Challenge Cup at Blackbaud Stadium.
The Battery finished the week long, round-robin tournament with a 1-1-1 mark and outscored the three Major League Soccer opponents 4-3 during the event. Toronto FC went 0-2-1 and managed just one goal in the tournament.
San Jose wrapped up the tournament title Wednesday night with a 2-0 victory against Charleston after defeating Toronto FC 1-0 last weekend. It was the second Carolina Challenge Cup title for the Earthquakes, who captured the event in 2005.
Carver, who has been with the club less than two months, was left nearly speechless after watching his team's performance against the Battery.
"We're very, very, very disappointed," Carver said. "In all my years in the game, that's the probably the worst performance I've ever seen. The only consolation is that there's no Marvell Wynne, no Maurice Edu and no Carl Robinson. To me that's the only consolation to take out of this game. I could be here a month trying to explaining that poor performance.
"The standard is not good enough. Whatever I do I want to win and the players have to feel the same way. If you're a winner, you're always a winner. I wanted a reaction from the players and it's been five minutes of silence in the locker room."
Carver said the team's lengthy preseason road trip might have been a key contributor to their lackluster outing against their USL First Division opponent.
"I'm not going to make an excuse for the way we played," Carver said. "Our all around play was poor. We didn't pass the ball. But let's face it, we've been out on the road for a long time. I know I'm ready for a couple of days off. I think the players are as well. I think we've been on the road for one or two games too long."
Probably no Battery player was more pleased with the result Saturday night than Charleston defender Marco Reda, who played for Toronto FC last season.
"If you're a professional soccer player you try to go out and prove something every game," Reda said. "The most important thing is that it shows that we're improving and building for the regular season.
"It doesn't matter who we were playing against, it just happened to be Toronto FC tonight and I was very pleased with the performance tonight. We play like this the rest of the season, we'll be OK."
Toronto FC had the first real scoring chance in the 17th minute. Striker Jeff Cunningham, who has 96 career goals in MLS, got the ball just outside the 18-yard box, dribbled to his left and got around Reda. Charleston 'keeper Dusty Hudock came storming off his line for the challenge and made a diving save to stop Cunningham's shot attempt.
"Jeff is very tough to mark," Reda said. "He's very quick, quicker than most guys in MLS. You just try to keep him in front of you and limit his chances. Our shape was good. We cut out a lot of balls from defenders coming up to forwards, which means we had good shape and that makes it easier for defenders in the back."
The Battery took a 1-0 lead on Patterson's goal in the 38th minute. Midfielder Alonso Osualdo got the ball on the right side about 35 yards out and served a ball into the box. Patterson got just enough of Osualdo's pass to knock it past Toronto FC keeper Brian Edwards for the score.
"It was a great cross and I got a toe on it," Patterson said. "I got just enough of it to get it past him."
Patterson gave the Battery a 2-0 lead with his header in the 50th minute. Midfielder Darren Spicer got the ball on the right side and served a beautiful ball into the six-yard box. Patterson's diving header beat Edwards on the left side for the score.
"Another great cross and I just dove to get a touch on it," Patterson said. "Luckily I got a goal."
Toronto FC appeared to score a goal in the 55th minute, but Cunningham's shot that deflected off of Battery defender John Wilson into the net was disallowed after the Jamaican striker was negated for offside.
Toronto nearly scored in the 83rd minute, but Hudock made a nice diving save on Kevin Harmse's header from just outside the six-yard box.
Charleston Battery 2, Toronto FC 0
Scoring Summary:
CHL: Randi Patterson (Osvaldo Alonso) 38
CHL: Randi Patterson (Darren Spicer) 50
Toronto FC: Brian Edwards, Marco Velez, Tyrone Marshall, Pat Phelan, Jim Brennan, Martin Brittain (Jarrod Smith 67), Joey Melo (Todd Dunivant 67, Gabe Gala 89), Kevin Harmse, Collin Samuel, Jeff Cunningham (Danny Dichio 77), Kevin Gall
Charleston Battery: Dusty Hudock, Tim Veltan, Marco Reda, John Wilson, Nelson Akwari, Darren Spicer, Osvaldo Alonso, Pato Aguilera, Mike Richardson, Lester More(Aaron King 59), Randi Patterson (Kendall Jagdeosingh 84)
