TORONTO — After five straight games without a win, Toronto FC finally got itself back into the win column with a 3-2 victory over the Chicago Fire on Sunday. But perhaps even more important was the timing of the win, as TFC heads into the postseason later this week having tasted victory in its regular season finale.
Some say a team is only as good as its most recent result, and if that's the case then Toronto can feel good about its comeback victory.
"We wanted to win the game, go into the playoffs with a win, [and] go into the playoffs scoring some goals," TFC head coach Greg Vanney said. "It's good to have that little bit of confidence and feel that winning sensation again as we get into it."
The "it" in question is Wednesday night's knockout round game against the Philadelphia Union at BMO Field, which grants the winner a berth in the Eastern Conference semifinals. Both Toronto and Philadelphia have been in poor form in recent weeks, which made TFC's win on Sunday all the more important, according to the players themselves.
You don’t want to miss this.https://t.co/gwJBlOk2kP pic.twitter.com/Utjh4wVUB3
— Toronto FC (@torontofc) October 23, 2016
"Momentum counts for a lot this time of year, so we wanted to finish in a really positive way in front of our own fans and get ourselves ready for a big week in the best possible way," said TFC captain Michael Bradley.
Defender Justin Morrow, who scored his fifth goal of the year on Sunday, echoed his teammate's sentiments.
"It was important for us to go into the playoffs with a win," Morrow said.
And while TFC has had the better of Philadelphia over the past two seasons —Toronto recorded four wins and a draw against the Union in the teams' past five regular season meetings — Vanney and his players warned that the postseason represents a clean slate for all involved.
"When we go into the playoffs it's hard to take regular season too much into account, in terms of performances," Vanney stated. "I think there's some [personnel] matchups we could look at that we think are decent or in our favour, but it comes down to managing the moment and dealing with the increase in intensity and making sure that on the night that you're up for it. That's first and foremost."
Morrow was even more direct.
"It is going to be a tough matchup," the defender said of Philadelphia. "From here on out, they are all tough and Philadelphia has caused us some problems in the past, but I think we have handled them well in certain situations as well.
"We will take a look at the past games and go from there.”