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Red Bulls-Toronto FC Preview

Jun 23, 2009 - 7:00 PM By NICOLINO DIBENEDETTO STATS Writer

New York (2-10-4) at Toronto FC (5-5-4), 7:30 p.m. EDT

An outstanding, dramatic victory helped Toronto FC claim its first title. The club hopes to carry some of that momentum into MLS play Wednesday night, when it attempts to win a second consecutive game against the league-worst New York Red Bulls at BMO Field.

Toronto (5-5-4), fifth in the Eastern Conference, appeared to be headed to another disappointing exit from the Canadian Championship after losing 2-0 at Vancouver of the United Soccer Leagues on June 2. The defeat dropped TFC to 2-1-0 in the three-team, double-round-robin competition that determines Canada's representative at the CONCACAF Champions League.

However, on Thursday, Toronto got a hat trick from Dwayne De Rosario and netted four second-half goals to defeat reigning Canadian champion Montreal 6-1 on the road, and clinched the crown on a tiebreaker.

Toronto now gets a chance to build on that victory with another meeting against New York (2-10-4), which it defeated 2-1 at BMO on June 13 before taking a long layoff from league play.

TFC could use some more production from De Rosario, who hasn't factored in the scoring of Toronto's last three MLS games after netting three goals in the previous three. The midfielder has four goals and one assist in his first season with his hometown team, after arriving from Houston in an offseason trade.

Playmaking duties may also fall on the three-time Canadian Player of the Year, as midfielder Amado Guevara is struggling from an ankle injury he suffered during practice last week. Guevara leads Toronto with five goals and four assists, and found the back of the net in the final minute against Montreal.

Defender Adrian Serioux is also bothered by an ankle injury that forced him out of Thursday's victory.

Both players will be evaluated prior to Wednesday's game.

"Amado is struggling with an ankle injury and it is a similar situation with Adrian as well," said TFC coach Chris Cummins. "We will see how they are (Wednesday). Amado had a slight problem going into the game in Montreal and he just got caught again late in the game. We will assess them both and hopefully they will be fit to play on Wednesday."

The Red Bulls own an MLS-low 10 points, and are on a seven-game winless streak (0-5-2) since beating San Jose 4-1 on May 8. They haven't gone eight games without a victory since a record 12-game losing streak from July 4-Sept. 5, 1999, en route to the worst finish in league history at 15 points.

New York ended a five-game losing streak Saturday, tying expansion Seattle 1-all at home. The Red Bulls let a one-goal lead vanish with only seconds remaining in the first half, when defender Jeremy Hall attempted to dribble out of the back, only to have the ball stripped from him by Fredy Montero, who then turned and scored the tying goal.

"It cost us points and I feel terrible," Hall said. "I didn't think (Montero) was that close. I tried to clear it, and got punished for it."

The Red Bulls are 0-7-1 on the road, getting outscored 14-1 in those matches.

They'll be without veteran defender Mike Petke after the league suspended him an additional two games and fined him $500 for inappropriate conduct and comments made toward the officials after the June 13 match at Toronto. Petke served the initial one-game, red-card suspension against the Sounders.