Final Score: Toronto FC 5-0 Simcoe County Rovers FC
Goalscorers: Owusu 18′, Mailula 30′, Long 33′, Osorio 39′, Spicer 76′
2024 TELUS Canadian Championship —  Preliminary Round

Match in a minute or less

League1 Ontario side Simcoe County Rovers FC made their first appearance in the Canadian Championship on Wednesday night at BMO Field, falling 5-0 to Major League Soccer club Toronto FC.

Although Simcoe County managed to hold off TFC for almost the first 20 minute of the game, and nearly scored first when an Alex Zis free kick hit the post 13 minutes in, the MLS side ultimately proved too strong for their semi-pro opponents.

Prince Owusu opened the scoring for TFC in the 18th minute with a strike that caromed off a Rovers defender, and Cassius Mailula, Kevin Long and Jonathan Osorio all contributed to a run of three goals within 10 minutes that put the Reds up 4-0 at halftime.

Things stayed a little tighter in the second half after both managers made some key substitutions, but Tyrese Spicer added one more with just under 15 minutes to play as Toronto completed a decisive victory to advance to the quarter-finals, where they’ll see either Halifax Wanderers FC or CS Saint-Laurent.

Three Observations

Hard-working Simcoe County bow out despite best efforts

It was always going to be a difficult ask for Simcoe County to get a result against a fully professional Major League Soccer side in midseason form, and it’s not too surprising when cup matches between clubs at different levels unfold this way.

Matchups like these often do highlight the gap between levels of the game, and that much was clear in the speed of Toronto FC’s play, the crispness of their passes, and the intent of their movement up the pitch. The hosts won 5-0, had 64 per cent possession, won the shots battle 36 to seven, and had 69 touches in the box.

“First half was difficult for them; the occasion’s always going to be tough for lads when you come up against this quality here and the pace of MLS, it’s different,” Toronto FC coach John Herdman said postmatch. “I thought they adapted in the second half, when they went to a back five and started to get numbers to manage our width and our switch in play, it was better, but in the first half we just knew we had to kill the game.”

However, despite the lopsided scoreline, Rovers coach Zico Mahrady can surely take positives from the effort his side gave. Despite having not played a competitive match since the League1 Ontario final at the beginning of September, they certainly managed to cause issues for TFC at times; Mahrady revealed postmatch that Herdman complimented him after the final whistle on the Rovers’ halftime tactical change, where they moved to a back five with CJ Smith and Tajay Reid coming on and took away much of TFC’s wide attacking threat.

This could have been a very different match had luck smiled upon Simcoe County, too. Alex Zis hit the post with a free kick with the score 0-0, and Orlenis Benítez (who was outstanding for much of the game, by far Simcoe’s most dangerous attacker) drew an outstanding save out of TFC keeper Luka Gavran when it was just 1-0; both times, a few inches’ difference could’ve put Rovers on the scoresheet and made Toronto panic more.

“Without a doubt there’s going to be some learnings and takeaways, but the reality of it is Toronto FC is a bigger beast than we could imagine,” Mahrady told reporters after the game. “We knew it was going to be a difficult situation coming into this game, especially given the fact they’ve already had lots of matches in their season.”

He later added: “The experience Toronto FC has, and the tempo they were able to play with, is a good learning experience for us. We have to keep building from here and I think postmatch we were able to come together and have a strong collective message. We’re all on the same page in terms of, how do we build forward from here?”

Rovers will, therefore have plenty of memories and experience now to take into the club’s third League1 Ontario season, and they’ll be exceptionally motivated to defend their championship and return to this stage.

CanChamp icon Osorio dazzles again, becomes joint all-time appearances leader

With this, his 29th appearance in the Canadian Championship, Jonathan Osorio moved into a tie with Russell Teibert for the most appearances by any player in this tournament. He was already the competition’s all-time leading scorer before he added his eighth goal on Wednesday night.

Osorio has lifted the Voyageurs’ Cup four times, and on Wednesday night he reminded the Canadian soccer world — as if they needed it — that he is going to go down as perhaps this tournament’s greatest player. The 31-year-old Toronto FC captain was a class above the rest in his 45-minute shift, doing more than enough to help put TFC 4-0 ahead by halftime, when he was substituted out.

He assisted Kevin Long with a corner kick delivery for Toronto’s third goal and he scored the fourth himself, and he was the tireless midfield presence that he often has been for club and country against any opponent. Osorio had 73 touches in the first half and made 27 passes into the final third, winning possession seven times. He operated all over the pitch, dropping deep when necessary but also operating mostly in the right half-space, consistently playing incisive through balls toward the box and out to Kobe Franklin on the right.

This was Osorio’s 350th match for Toronto FC in all competitions, having made his first team debut in 2013. He has quickly become an icon of the club as well as a fan favourite for the Canadian national team, and he’s been a strong advocate for the sport in this country.

Many of the younger Rovers players will have grown up cheering for Osorio, whether for TFC or for Canada. Once again, he demonstrated through his workrate how much it means to him to compete for the Canadian Championship.

Rovers demonstrate value of developing Canadian pyramid

The gulf in quality on the pitch in this match was evident, but expected given the levels these two sides play at. What was, perhaps, most significant about the game, though, was the fact that it’s even possible in the first place. Fifteen years ago, Toronto FC won their first Canadian Championship, but the tournament had just three teams.

There are 14 clubs in the 2024 tournament — including three League1 Canada teams, which means more than 50 clubs in this country can theoretically dream of playing for the Voyageurs’ Cup one day. Now, this feels a lot more like a proper domestic cup competition, where clubs from all over the country, at a wide variety of levels with differing resources, can go toe-to-toe. Herdman quipped after the game that he’d been nervous heading into this, having seen plenty of Davids beat Goliaths in domestic competitions like this — including, for instance, his beloved Newcastle United falling to League One side Cambridge United in 2022.

This occasion was a celebration of the game, really; Simcoe County had 2,000 fans supporting them from behind the north stand goal at BMO Field, their cheering unabated by the scoreline. They were in attendance to mark a historic moment for their club, and to show their affection for an organization that’s made a serious impact in its community of Barrie.

“It’s a beautiful thing, and it’s great for Canadian soccer,” TFC captain Osorio said in his postmatch press conference.

“To think a few years ago, League1 teams weren’t even in this competition, and the fact that League1 itself is a very young league that just started not too long ago, and it’s giving kids and players another pathway to get seen. What better way for these guys on the other side to come to BMO Field and to play in a stadium like that, on a big stage, and feel the level, see where they rank and how far or close they are. There’s a great opportunity for them to show themselves.”

Of course, Osorio also pointed out that playing against Rovers — a club co-owned by some of his personal friends from the Canadian national team like Cyle Larin, Doneil Henry and Atiba Hutchinson — was particularly special for him.

Now, TFC move on in the tournament and have taken one small step on the increasingly arduous road to the Voyageurs’ Cup. No matter what, they’ll be playing the quarter-final against a club that they could not possibly have played in competition a few years ago.

Another club — be it Halifax Wanderers or CS Saint-Laurent — will now have a similar opportunity to Simcoe County; a chance for players to test themselves at a higher level, and to prove their abilities against very high-quality opposition.

That, alone, is part of the magic of the cup.

CanPL.ca Player of the Match

Jonathan Osorio, Toronto FC

As discussed earlier, Osorio was outstanding for TFC and proved again why he’s one of the true icons of the Canadian championship. He was all over the pitch and the most effective creative presence for his side, with a goal and an assist in a strong evening of work.

Box score

Lineups

Toronto FC: Gavran; Thompson, Mabika, Long (Rosted 46′); Franklin, Coello (Flores 58′), Longstaff, Marhsall-Rutty (Gomis 66′); Osorio (Dumitru 46′), Owusu (Spicer 46′), Mailula

Simcoe County Rovers: Olatunji; Portal, Thomas, DaSilva, Barclay (D’Agostini 58′); Halley (Smith 46′), Kagramayan (George 62′), Zis (Reid 46′), Lawson (Karagiannakos 72′); Benítez, Layne

Goals

18′ — Prince Owusu (Toronto FC)
30′ — Cassius Mailula (Toronto FC)
33′ — Kevin Long (Toronto FC)
39′ — Jonathan Osorio (Toronto FC)
76′ — Tyrese Spicer (Toronto FC)

Discipline

13′ — Yellow: Kosi Thompson (Toronto FC)
27′ — Yellow: Jordan Barclay (Simcoe County Rovers)

What’s next?

Toronto FC now move on to the quarter-finals of the Canadian Championship, where they’ll contest a two-legged tie against either Canadian Premier League club Halifax Wanderers FC or Ligue1 Québec side CS Saint-Laurent. Simcoe County’s attention will now turn to the upcoming League1 Ontario season, which they’ll kick off on Sunday, April 28 against Vaughan Azzurri.

Watch all TELUS Canadian Championship matches live on OneSoccer. In addition to its website and app, OneSoccer is now available on TELUS channel 980 and on Fubo TV. Call your local cable provider to ask for OneSoccer today.