right to Guevara, who turned it home while all alone in front of goalkeeper Kevin Hartman.
• If there was some question about the first goal, there was none about the second. After a foul set up a free kick some 20 yards straight out from goal, Guevara curled the ball perfectly over the bar and off the inside of the left-hand post, the second goal in as many matches directly from a free kick for TFC.
• It was the first time in Toronto FC club history a player had scored twice in one match and it led to the first three-game winning streak in club history. In the inaugural season for the Reds, they didn't win their third game until June 2.
• Here's Carver's team (4-4-1-1): Greg Sutton - Marvell Wynne, Tyrone Marshall, Marco Velez, Jim Brennan - Rohan Ricketts (Todd Dunivant 78), Maurice Edu, Carl Robinson, Laurent Robert (Jarrod Smith 83) - Amado Guevara - Danny Dichio (Jeff Cunningham 65). Substitutes Not Used: Brian Edwards, Kevin Harmse, Julius James, Olivier Tebily
• Here's Onalfo's team (4-4-2): Kevin Hartman - Chance Myers, Jimmy Conrad, Tyson Wahl (Eloy Colombano 76), Michael Harrington - Jack Jewsbury, Kurt Morsink, Kerry Zavagnin (Carlos Marinelli 61), Roger Espinoza (Sasha Victorine 61) - Ivan Trujillo, Claudio Lopez. Substitutes Not Used: Aaron Hohlbein, Eric Kronberg, Jonathan Leathers, Scott Sealy
TORONTO FC
Toronto FC returned home and returned to their winning ways, defeating the Colorado Rapids 3-0 last Saturday evening at BMO Field. TFC has 20 points from 12 matches, moving into third place in the Eastern Conference to open the week, two points behind the Columbus Crew and six in arrears of the New England Revolution.
LAST MATCH
• Toronto FC were back home, where they were unbeaten on the campaign, after losing for the second time in three weeks -- both on the road. The Rapids had alternated wins and losses for six consecutive rounds, last a loss to the LA Galaxy on the road.
• The Reds took a deserved lead in the 37th minute. A deflected clearance looped into the air and fell straight to Danny Dichio, and he curled a perfect volley inside the right-hand post for his fifth goal on the season.
• Rohan Ricketts had not scored a goal for more than three years. But within 10 minutes in the second half, he had two. In the 58th minute, he latched onto a long goalkeeper clearance after a Rapids defender misjudged a header, strolling unmolested to the edge of the area before stroking a low shot past Colorado 'keeper Preston Burpo.
• Then he made the TFC lead 3-0 in the 67th minute. Receiving a pass from Dichio in the area, Ricketts twisted and turned to wriggle away from a pair of defenders before lashing a rising drive under the bar, doubling his goal haul from his entire professional career.
• The Rapids pulled a goal back 10 minutes from the end. From a free kick at the top of the arc, Christian Gomez whipped a low curling effort under the wall and inside the left post for his third goal for the Rapids, his first not from the penalty spot.
• TFC boss John Carver made four changes to the team that lost 3-1 to the Houston Dynamo the previous weekend. With Greg Sutton and Jim Brennan on national team duty, Brian Edwards and Olivier Tebily returned to the lineup. Laurent Robert also made a return to the first XI, in place of Julius James as Todd Dunivant moved to fullback, and Danny Dichio was preferred to Jarrod Smith up top.
• Here's Carver's team (4-4-2): Brian Edwards - Marvell Wynne, Olivier Tebily, Marco Velez, Todd Dunivant - Rohan Ricketts, Kevin Harmse, Carl Robinson, Laurent Robert - Jeff Cunningham, Danny Dichio (Jarrod Smith 78). Substitutes Not Used: Nana Attakora-Gyan, Tyler Hemming, Julius James, Andrea Lombardo, David Monsalve, Tyler Rosenlund
TEAM NEWS
• The 25-year-old Ricketts' last professional goal came on April 30, 2005, as a member of Wolverhampton Wanderers of the English Championship. In his career, which had also included stints at Tottenham Hotspur and Barnsley. Ricketts had scored just two professional goals.
• "I can't believe I'm [talking about] scoring two goals," Ricketts said. "It's crazy. I believe in myself, but people have always said that with my talent I should be scoring more goals, and they're right. So now I've just got to keep coming and capitalizing on the chances that I do get."
• Said Carver: "I'm delighted for him because ... the longer it goes on, the more frustrated he gets at not getting goals, and he got two great goals today which I'm pleased about. But I spoke about this through the week -- when he first arrived he was playing on adrenaline and he did quite well for two or three games, then he took a dip and he takes a dip because he's not had a preseason, so his fitness is not the same level as the rest of the group. I stayed with him, I was patient with him ... and he's not started to come back and pop his head above the water now. Today I thought his performance was the best he's had since he's been here."
• The win extended TFC's unbeaten streak at BMO Field to nine games dating back to Sept. 22. The Reds now have 20 points in 12 games, less than a year removed from amassing just 25 points in their inaugural season.
• "It's probably the slowest we've started at home," Carver said. "To be honest, usually when you start a game so slowly, you can't recover from it. But we seemed to weather the storm and we got away with one or two opportunities and grew into the game. That's a sign of a team that doesn't give up and is prepared to fight until the end."
• It was also an important result given TFC was missing no fewer than five players to international duty. It could have been six, but defender Marco Velez has been sent off in Puerto Rico's first-leg loss to Honduras in their World Cup qualifying series, and so missed the second leg that ended Puerto Rico's dream of a first-ever World Cup finals appearance.
• "It's another good sign for us. We've had some players missing lately, it happened against the Galaxy as well you know and we stepped up a lot of guys that haven't played at that point and stepped in and did a great job and no different tonight. It shows the depth of this team and that was a big concern for us in the offseason, and you can see we've addressed that," said Todd Dunivant.
• But the international glut is receding. Guevara will be back, Maurice Edu was released by the USA after their heavy win against Barbados, and Jim Brennan and Greg Sutton could be available with Canada's second leg against St. Vincent & Grenadines set for Friday in Montréal. Canada carries a 3-0 lead from the first leg.
• "If they are not involved in the game, then hopefully we can use them in the squad at the weekend. I've got to pick a side that I think can win the game, but I've got to be fair to the lads here as well," said Carver.
KANSAS CITY WIZARDS
The Kansas City Wizards returned home for the first time in more than two months but saw their recent slide continue, their winless streak reaching six games in a 3-0 loss to the Columbus Crew at CommunityAmerica Ballpark. The Wizards have 12 points from 11 matches, falling into seventh place in the Eastern Conference with the result, sitting three points behind the New York Red Bulls.
LAST MATCH
• Both teams came in trying to put an end to recent misery. The Wizards were playing their first home game for more than two months, ending a six-game road swing winless in their last five. The Crew had been shutout for a club-record four consecutive matches.
• But it didn't take the visitors long to put an end to their goalless streak. In just the third minute, Chad Marshall rose up in the heart of the Kansas City penalty area to head home a Guillermo Barros Schelotto corner kick, the first Columbus goal in 370 minutes.
• The Crew doubled their lead in the 21st minute. Danny O'Rourke sent a high cross-field ball from the right touchline, and Alejandro Moreno tracked it down outside the left corner of the box. With Kevin Hartman ranging well off his line to try and clear, Moreno hooked a shot back across his body and inside the right post for his first goal since April 26.
• Columbus finished off the match at the three-quarter mark of the contest. Schelotto took a pass from Rogers and chipped it into the area, it falling to the left of goal. Moreno steamed in and hammered a first-time drive inside the near post, past Hartman, for his sixth goal on the campaign.
• Wizards head coach Curt Onalfo made two changes to the team that played to a scoreless draw against Real Salt Lake the previous weekend. Carlos Marinelli came back into the midfield for Ryan Pore, and Scott Sealy started up top in place of Ivan Trujillo.
• Here's Onalfo's team (4-4-2): Kevin Hartman - Jonathan Leathers, Jimmy Conrad, Aaron Hohlbein (Ryan Pore 71), Michael Harrington - Davy Arnaud, Jack Jewsbury, Kerry Zavagnin (Sasha Victorine 57), Carlos Marinelli (Ivan Trujillo 75) - Scott Sealy, Claudio Lopez. Substitutes Not Used: Eric Kronberg, Kurt Morsink, Chance Myers, Tyson Wahl
• "We shot ourselves in the foot. We gave a goal away in the third minute, and then gave another silly goal away in the 21st minute. You put yourself behind the 8-ball three minutes in at home in front of a sellout crowd -- absolutely so disappointing," said Onalfo. "A game we just absolutely [gave] away. The league is too good. Columbus is too good of a team to do that with. We couldn't have put ourselves in a worse situation."
TEAM NEWS
• In front of a sellout crowd at CommunityAmerica Ballpark, in their first home match since April 12, the Wizards were looking forward to putting their road woes behind them.
• "I've been through a lot worse things in my life than losing a 3-0 game at home. [But] I never want to lose a game again 3-0 at home," Onalfo said. "It's just a matter of plugging away, continuing to try and solve the issues we have as a group. We have a resilient bunch of guys. We have a good bunch of guys. We have a bunch of guys who will rebound fine, but it's a bit of a gut check."
• The Wizards were shut out for the second consecutive match and have not scored more than a single goal in a game since the second game of the year. They have hit for just five goals over their last nine games.
• "Obviously a disappointing performance. We wanted to come here in our first game back on a big night, the fans, everybody was here to support us," said Sasha Victorine. "I think we were just struggling. We gave up an early goal and I think a team like Columbus is very good defensively and always has good shape. They are very tough to break down."
• "Eleven games already gone, and we're not a very great offensive team right now," forward Scott Sealy said to the Kansas City Star "You got to hope it's going to get better. You're not going to win games if you concede goals. Especially at home."
• After back-to-back shutouts in May, the Wizards have now allowed 11 goals in their last six games, including three twice in the last three games.
• "We were ready to come back and play in front of our fans. We were energized, we were ready to go coming into the game," said Kerry Zavagnin. "Unfortunately when you give up an early goal you start chasing the game. I thought Columbus did a better job with their gameplan adjusting to the size of the field and the way the game is played."
