Photo by Bill Barrett/ISIphotos.com
The final at the Disney Soccer Classic will be an all-Canadian affair.
Rookie Luis Silva continued his hot preseason, scoring twice in Toronto FC's 3-0 victory over FC Dallas on Thursday. With the victory, the Reds advance to Saturday night's title game, where they'll face the Vancouver Whitecaps, as the two non-playoff teams from a year ago have shown well as they prepare for the upcoming season.
Ryan Johnson capped the scoring for Toronto, which faced a mostly reserve FCD side. As for Silva, the brace was his second of the preseason, as he is proving to be a solid fit in Aron Winter's TFC system.
FCD, meanwhile, will face the Houston Dynamo in an all-Texas affair in the tournament's consolation match.
Highlights from the match and more notes from around the league are after the jump:
TIMBERS, CHIVAS PLAY TO DRAW
Ryan Kawulok scored a 78th-minute equalizer, as the Portland Timbers came back from an early deficit to tie Chivas USA 1-1 in front of more than 15,000 fans at Jeld-Wen Field Thursday night.
Cesar Romero had finished off a cross from Alan Souza in the 21st minute to put the Goats out in front, but Kawulok rescued the result for the Portland Tournament hosts by finishing off Kalif Alhassan's corner kick.
EARTHQUAKES HELD BY AIK
The San Jose Earthquakes were held to a 0-0 draw by Swedish side AIK as part of the Portland Tournament on Thursday. The Earthquakes played the final 30 minutes a man down after defender Jed Zayner, on trial with the club, was sent off in the 60th minute.
Of note for the Earthquakes is that offseason signing Victor Bernardez, a Honduran centerback, was forced to leave the match with an apparent injury. There has been no word on the severity of the injury.
ROSTER MOVE ROUNDUP
With Thursday's MLS roster compliance deadline forcing teams to shape their rosters ahead of the upcoming season, a number of teams announced various signings:
- The Montreal Impact announced the signings of rookies Calum Mallace, Evan James and Gienir Garcia but did not agree to terms with MLS Expansion Draft pick Bobby Burling. The club maintains the MLS rights to the veteran centerback.
- Real Salt Lake made a number of signings, completing deals with Enzo Martinez, Emiliano Bonfigli, Leone Cruz, Diego de Almeida, Lalo Fernandez, Jonny Steele, Terukazu Tanaka and Sebastian Velazquez. Martinez, Almeida and Velazquez were the club's three SuperDraft picks and Fernandez is a Homegrown goalkeeper.
- The Columbus Crew agreed to deals with rookies Kirk Urso and Aubrey Perry.
- The Philadephia Union added goalkeeper Chris Konopka, who will join Chase Harrison as backups for Zac MacMath.
- The Portland Timbers came to terms with Kawulok, a supplemental draft pick and former Portland U-23 defender.
- The Seattle Sounders signed SuperDraft picks Andrew Duran and Babayele Sodade (who was just called into Canadian Under-23 camp) along with backup goalkeeper Andrew Weber.
- The San Jose Earthquakes signed supplemental draft pick and forward Cesar Diaz Pizarro.
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Do you think Silva is a candidate to be Rookie of the Year? What do you make of Thursday's preseason results? Which player signings and moves stand out for you?
Share your thoughts below.
…silva always stood out in games much like Pontius did back when I was a wee freshman
Silva will be way better…watched him here at SB and play intramural against his little bro lol
Anyone else notice how ridiculous the music was in that video?
Silva is having a great pre-season. But lets get to at least the first week of games before we start evaluating rookies for the Rookie Of The Year!
Oh, and everyone keeps mentioning it was Dallas’ reseves and Toronto’s starters. Toronto rested five starters.
LOL, yes we all said that, because we hate americans, fear they’ll take our maple syrup. Cheers no said, good one.
Yes, ALL of them definitely said that.
I still remember Toronto fans saying Silva wouldnt be a good CAM
Congrats to Weber- glad to see he’s made the squad in Seattle. He’s a pretty good shot-stopper- just needs a chance and games to improve. was always going to be 3nd choice after the Quakes won the lottery for US Player Bingham (and we’ve got some good academy talent on the way up).
Who needs some midfield help- either attacking or defensive? Quakes have like 9 central MF’s on the roster- we’ll trade one for a Center Back ASAP…
Luis Silva an exciting young player, shaping up to be another quality Paul Mariner draft selection. Eric Avila has done a good job taking him under his wing, getting him used to the routine at this level. Ironically Silva may outshine his mentor in terms of on field performance.