TORONTO – Toronto FC did not necessarily need the goal that Reggie Lambe gave them to win their fourth consecutive Voyageurs Cup.
A goalless draw in Wednesday’s second leg against the Vancouver Whitecaps would have given the Reds the Amway Canadian Championship final since they had the advantage of the away goal last week.
But Toronto FC needed the victory just the same. They needed one for their self-esteem because as well as they have done in cup play, they have been dismal in the league.
“We just needed a win just to get our confidence back up,” Lambe said.
Having earned their way back into the CONCACAF Champions League, the Reds must now look to Saturday’s league match against the Philadelphia Union next, where they hope to snap a nine-game losing streak in league play.
“We need to go into Saturday playing the same as we did today and we should get a win Saturday as well,” Lambe added.
Even though keeping a clean sheet would have earned Toronto the championship, they ended up pressing more through most of the match. They had 13 attempts at goal with three on target while Vancouver couldn't put any of their four shots on target.
“Most times, most games when we come out and look to defend we don’t seem to get good enough results so we just wanted to press forward, just keep going and get a win,” Lambe explained. “The win was a big relief. But you put your shot on target and it goes in.”
The goal came after some good work down the left side from Ashtone Morgan and Ryan Johnson. Johnson put the cross in front and Nick Soolsma nodded it back to Lambe in the middle of the box, who made a move to get free and then sent it into the bottom left corner.
Lambe said the fact that Toronto’s Julian de Guzman and Vancouver’s Sébastien Le Toux were sent off 15 minutes earlier after a midfield scuffle opened the game up.
“I think with the two sending offs the game got a bit spread out,” Lambe said. “I think the crosses into the box from us are very important and I just think our finishes need to be better.”
Not that there were any complaints about Lambe's finishing on Wednesday.
