Mike Koreen, THE CANADIAN PRESS

Stumble Upon

del.icio.us

Digg

Facebook

Print

Email

Speak Up

TORONTO - His team had great chances to win and lose, so Toronto FC head coach John Carver wasn't about to complain about a 1-1 draw with the league-leading New England Revolution in Major League Soccer action on Saturday night at BMO Field.

Enlarge Photo

THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young

Toronto striker Chad Barrett (left) is challenged by New England defender Michael Parkhurst (right) during first half of the MLS soccer action in Toronto on Saturday August 23, 2008.

"I thought we deserved to get something more, yet we could have lost it at the end," Carver said after his team's entertaining game against the three-time reigning MLS runner-up before a sellout crowd of 20,461.

"(Goaltender Greg) Sutton made a great save and (defender Julius) James made a fantastic block (to preserve the tie)."

Indeed, Sutton had to dive right to make an outstanding stop on Steve Ralston before James got in front of a shot from Khano Smith in the dying seconds to push Toronto (7-9-5) within two points of a tie for the final MLS playoff spot.

But after Toronto forward Chad Barrett scored a beautiful goal to tie it at 1-1 in the 66th minute, the home side had several excellent opportunities to pull out three points.

Marvell Wynne and Rohan Ricketts both missed the net on point-blank chances, keeping the game locked up.

"I missed one," Ricketts said of his 80th minute attempt from in close that floated wide. "If I scored, it probably would have got us three points. I'm just so gutted right now. I feel like I let (the team) down."

However, Ricketts did make the pass to Barrett that evened the match, prompting a roar that probably caused heads to turn under the bright lights of the nearby Canadian National Exhibition midway. Barrett received the ball at the top of the penalty area before turning and firing a left-footer past Revolution goaltender Doug Warren.

It was Barrett's seventh goal of the season and second with Toronto in four games since he was acquired in a trade with the Chicago Fire.

Toronto landed Barrett a dangerous partner in Carlos Ruiz in a trade with the L.A. Galaxy this week, but the Guatemalan national team player didn't arrive on time after playing in a World Cup qualifier against the United States on Wednesday.

"If we have somebody like Ruiz with balls coming across the box, they're going to end up in the back of the net," Carver said.

Barrett, however, has a cramping issue to resolve. He had to leave the game with cramping in his right leg in the 78th minute, a problem that has plagued him all year.

"If I have to eat fruit my whole life, I'm going to do it," he said.

Taylor Twellman scored his 95th career goal in the 35th minute for the Revolution (11-6-4). It was the injury-plagued Twellman's third first-half goal in as many starts this season.

Limited to seven games this year because of knee, ankle and hip injuries, Twellman, marked poorly by Tyrone Marshall, re-directed a beautiful pass from Chris Tierney with his head and poked the ball past Sutton. It was Twellman's fourth goal of the year.

Toronto will now prepare for a home-and-home series against Chivas USA, beginning next Saturday in Los Angeles. When the teams return to Toronto Sept. 6, Carver figures he might be missing seven or eight players because of national team commitments.

"It only really hit me when I was watching TV (this week)," Carver said. "I was looking at all the fixtures with Jamaica, Canada and the US and I just got a fright ... It's a huge concern and it's up to us to do something about it."

Midfielder Maurice Edu, who was sold to the Scottish club for US$5 million before signing a five-year contract with Rangers, said he had mixed emotions about leaving the team that made him the top pick in the 2007 MLS draft.

"It's definitely tough to leave the guys here," he said. "I love playing for Toronto. It's a great opportunity to play and test myself (in Scotland), but at the same time it hurts to eave the team right now."

Notes: After playing one minute last week before becoming woozy, Toronto forward Danny Dichio (concussion) was held out of the lineup on Saturday. Dichio has missed five of the past six games ... Toronto made three lineup changes, inserting Wynne (coming off Olympic duty), midfielder Amado Guevara (coming off a two-game suspension) and Marshall (thigh strain) ... The Revolution is off to Trinidad today for a CONCACAF Champions League game on Tuesday before returning home Saturday for an MLS game against the Galaxy.