When one has only scored three professional goals in an eight-year pro career, it is no exaggeration to say that scoring a brace is a career day. For Rohan Ricketts, his two goals on Saturday night didn't just solidify Toronto FC's 3-1 win against the Colorado Rapids, but represented a personal milestone.
"Oh man, best day of my life so far," Ricketts said. "I never saw it coming and I've been dying to score. I've been close a few times but fortunately today it went in."
Ricketts' last professional goal came on April 30, 2005, as a member of Wolverhampton Wanderers of the English Championship. Wolves won the game 2-1 against Reading, which helped elevate West Ham into a playoff position and, ultimately, a spot in the Premiership. So while Reading fans may curse Ricketts' scoring prowess, they were the only ones, as the midfielder went goalless for more than three years.
Since signing with TFC on April 11, Ricketts has started all nine games he has played for the Reds, and at time been a force on the wing. But after a strong start in his first few games, Ricketts' performance began to suffer from his lack of a full training camp and lack of match fitness after only playing in 10 matches for Barnsley in the 2007-08 season.
TFC head coach John Carver kept Ricketts in the starting XI, however, and had faith that his midfielder would eventually play himself back into form. The end result was strong showings in Toronto's last two games, and the double against Colorado was the somewhat unlikely capper.
The goals were of the highlight-reel variety, as well. On the first score, Ricketts latched onto a long goal kick from Reds goalkeeper Brian Edwards and had some space after Rapids defender Stephen Keel found himself off-balance trying to head away the ball. Ricketts had time to aim a hard shot from just outside the penalty area that got past both a defender and Colorado 'keeper Preston Burpo.
Ricketts' second goal, just nine minutes later, was even more notable. Ricketts used some spectacular ball-handling skills to evade two Rapids defenders inside the box and then sent a well-placed shot that sailed just under the Colorado crossbar.
"The second one was just my individual skill. Brilliance," Ricketts joked.
For Ricketts, who has long played a pass-first style, the concept of two goals in a game was almost inconceivable to him.
"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."
Carver was particularly impressed by Ricketts' second goal and hopes that this game will get the 25-year-old to trust in his scoring ability.
"He's got great feet, he can go left and right [footed]. It didn't surprise me when he twisted and turned in the box," Carver said. "He's got to do that more, he's got to get inside the box more and believe that he can score goals ... we've seen today how he can strike a goal."
The win elevates Toronto to third place in the Eastern Conference and extends their 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 entire 2007 season.
It is a sign of how far TFC has come, however, that Carver found plenty to be upset about after his side's 3-1 victory. The coach was displeased by a number of turnovers committed by the Reds in the opening minutes, which could've led to an early deficit.
"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."
Carver was also not pleased with what he saw as a let-up in intensity after TFC got the three-goal lead. Colorado's Christian Gomez scored in the 80th minute on a freekick to break the shutout, and Carver said he spoke to several players after the game about continuing the pressure at all times.
"What frustrates me is you get into a lead of 3-0, and against good sides they punish you," Carver said. "I've seen sides come back from that before, and we got complacent, we got sloppy, we got lazy and I told them that. I'm not happy with that because I wanted to keep a clean sheet and win the game 3-0. We've got to be professional enough to drive it home when you take a lead, a decent commanding lead of 3-0 and punish the opposition as much as you can. I'm not a happy coach because we've conceded a goal."
Colorado's goal was just the second allowed by the Reds this season at BMO Field, compared to a league-worst 14 goals allowed on the road. Last Sunday, TFC were on the wrong side of a 3-1 score in Houston that was arguably the worst game the Reds have played all season.
"We know we have a good side, we just had one bad day in Houston," said defender Marco Velez. "If we keep working hard, we can do good things. We had a good week in training and good things happened as a result."
TFC has another home match next week against the league-leading New England Revolution, and it will require a big effort from the Reds to defeat a team that outscored them 9-2 in two losses and a draw last season. But this is certainly a different Toronto team than the one that took the field in 2007 for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that they may have a new goal threat at winger.
"Next game hopefully I can get into the same situation and try to score again," Ricketts said. "I kind of broke a mental barrier for myself."
Mark Polishuk is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
