As Toronto FC head coach John Carver addressed his team prior to Saturday night's 2-1 loss against New England, he said that Saturday's game against the Eastern Conference leaders would serve as a benchmark for his improving team.
"I'm standing here now really disappointed because I thought we could have gotten something from the game and we deserved something from the game and we haven't gotten it," Carver said. "That's the sign of a good side that can go and win the championship."
It wasn't a performance for the scrapbook, as the visitors had to scratch and claw their way into position to grab a point in the last 10 minutes of the game.
"When they were under pressure, they headed things and kicked things and gone on with it," Carver said. "But I'm not going to fault them in there because they've done everything for their coach today. They've showed me some good signs."
That pressure boxed Toronto in from the opening whistle. After Steve Ralston scored 11 minutes into the game, the Revs continued to create chance after chance even though TFC pushed further up the field and tried to create some offensive opportunities. Ralston's second goal appeared to seal the contest with a half-hour left in the contest.
But a stroke of luck, found in the form of Shalrie Joseph's glancing header into the far corner of his own net with 11 minutes to play, brought TFC back into the contest. Matt Reis' save from a Jim Brennan effort, then a Michael Parkhurst goal line clearance from a Jarrod Smith header on the resulting rebound, kept out the visitors and ensured the team wouldn't head back with a passing grade for this particular benchmark.
"I just tried to put it across him and hope for the best," Brennan said. "Maybe it'll go in or maybe it'll bounce back out to someone. That's what it did and Smitty was just unfortunate to not stick it in the back of the net. But all that was in my mind was to get it across the goal."
Carver said his team needed a little bit of extra quality in order to get over the hump on nights like these and vault the hurdle he has set for his rapidly improving side.
"We've got players that can win games for us if we get players in the right areas," Carver said. "For long periods of the game, we didn't get them in the right areas. We had chances. If we've got a guy who can put the ball in the back of the net, it might be a different story."
Kyle McCarthy is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
