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.