TORONTO – There’s already a lot to like about Reggie Lambe.
You can start with 21-year-old’s first two goals in a Toronto FC uniform last Saturday in a loss to the Chicago Fire, the first of which was a rocket from outside the penalty area into the upper left corner.
But maybe just as impressive is the way Lambe pointed the finger at himself after the loss, in part because he left Chicago defender Gonzalo Segares unmarked in the box on the Fire’s 41st-minute equalizer that cancelled out Lambe’s two first-half goals.
“Really it was my error for losing my man,” he told MLSsoccer.com after training at BMO Field on Tuesday. “So I take responsibility in that. I just think we need to work on set pieces a bit more. We’ve been working on them recently in training but just the passion to clear the ball and prevent the other team from scoring, that’s what we really need to work on.”
Despite his mistake, however, it’s tough to shake the first impression he made in the match. There was perhaps no better goal in MLS last week than Lambe’s first, a strike from distance that caught Fire goalkeeper Sean Johnson flat-footed and sent the BMO Field crowd into a frenzy.
“I have to say that’s the best goal I’ve ever scored,” Lambe said. “It would have felt much better if we came away with the win, obviously. Because I scored two and we still lost it’s still disappointing that we couldn’t get our first win.”
Instead Toronto FC are trying to avoid matching the worst start in league history of 0-7-0 set by Kansas City in 1999. They’ll play at Real Salt Lake on Saturday (9 pm ET, watch LIVE online).
“The losses haven’t really affected us emotionally or anything like that,” Lambe said. “It’s just that we need to get off the mark and we just need to get that first win. Once we get that first win I’m sure we’ll go on a winning streak.”
WATCH: Lambe hits a stunner
