TORONTO – With the regular season having come to an end and their Audi 2017 MLS Cup Playoffs opener on the horizon, Toronto FC are faced yet again with overcoming that which has come before.
Last Sunday's dramatic 2-2 draw at Atlanta United saw TFC break the record for most points collected in an MLS season with 69, one of myriad league, club and personal marks set by the Reds in 2017.
Toronto also claimed the first Supporters’ Shield in club history, running away from the rest of the league en route to the trophy. Finishing with the league’s top regular season record hasn’t always panned out in the playoffs, however. In the 21-year history of MLS, only six teams that finished with the best regular season record went on to win MLS Cup. None have managed the feat since the 2011 LA Galaxy.
Toronto are intent on bucking that trend in 2017, starting on Monday in the first leg of their Eastern Conference Semifinal series against the New York Red Bulls (7 pm ET; FS1 in the US | TSN4, TVAS in Canada).
“To do something that other people haven't done, to be bold and do some of the things we set ourselves out to do, it's going to take having to buck the trend, having to face some pretty strong odds,” said veteran defender Jason Hernandez. “We have the guys that are capable of doing it.”
If the curse is not real, as Drew Moor contends, why the incongruity between the best team in the regular season and the MLS Cup champions?
“The playoffs are a lot different,” said Moor. “The season is a marathon. You pick up points in March and April that don't seem that important, but at the end of the season mean a lot. The margin of error is bigger. Once you get into the playoffs, it's not. A switch has to be flipped."
Head coach Greg Vanney, who won the shield with D.C. United in 2007, emphasized that difference.
“A cup competition is about form,” he said. “Going into the playoffs [with D.C. in 2007], the leading scorer of the league, Luciano Emilio, took an injury. You go in not having your number one striker. We made a couple mistakes, didn't score at the rate we were before; a couple defensive lapses and in a 3-2 series aggregate [against the Chicago Fire], we were out.
“Playoffs are about the form you're in in the moment, finding that rhythm, and making plays when plays are there to be made. Everybody is going to be good at this point, everybody is going to come in with intensity, with their game plan set. It's about executing; the team that executes will win.”
Hernandez noted: “The playoffs are a very unique animal, more about [timing and] momentum than who is the better team.
“The margins are so close that all it takes is one or two guys to be in great form, one or two on the other end who aren't playing their best; that could change a game, change a series, could end your season. Over the season the best team can show itself. But when you have two weeks, two games, you can catch lightning in a bottle.”
TFC are aware of the history, and are focused on writing their own this postseason. Hernandez knows all about how difficult it can be to carry regular season success into the playoffs, falling victim to the so-called Shield curse after winning the regular season title with San Jose in 2012. The Quakes were bounced in the first round of those playoffs by eventual champions LA.
“We played LA three times in regular season, got two wins and a draw, and then the first leg we won [1-0] at their place. So, we [had] gotten four results against these guys; we just need to keep doing what we're doing.”
“Leading into the second leg, we picked up one or two injuries, on their end they had Landon Donovan, Robbie Keane and David Beckham,” recalled Hernandez – LA won 3-1 in San Jose, taking the series 3-2 on aggregate. “These are guys that when the lights shine the brightest, they're playing at a very high level. That is what the playoffs are all about; that's what makes it so fun.”
This time around, Hernandez feels the deck is stacked in favor of Toronto, with stars Sebastian Giovinco, Michael Bradley, Jozy Altidore and Victor Vazquez set to lead the way.
“When the lights are on and the games mean that much more, I'm excited to see the performances we can put together,” said Hernandez. “This time around, I have those guys in my locker room.
