Final Score: Toronto FC 8-1 CS Saint-Laurent (11-1 agg.)
Goalscorers: Kerr 12′ 14′ 43′ 72′, Mailula 50′, Etienne Jr 56′ (pen.), Goulet 62′ (o.g.), Owusu 80′; Aristilde 89′
2024 TELUS Canadian Championship — Quarter-Final (Leg 2)

Match in a minute or less

Toronto FC booked their spot in the Canadian Championship semifinals on Tuesday night, beating CS Saint-Laurent 8-1 at BMO Field to win the two-legged tie 11-1 on aggregate.

Deandre Kerr opened the scoring for the Reds in the 12th minute, hammering a volley into the back of the net from close range after a pinpoint cross into the box from Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty. Kerr doubled the lead two minutes later, finding the back of the net again, redirecting a low pass across the box — again from Marshall-Rutty — into the top right corner.

Kerr completed his hat trick in the 43rd minute, beating Konstantinos Maniatis with a low shot that the Saint-Laurent goalkeeper got a touch to but couldn’t keep out of the back of the net. Things went from bad to worse for the visitors moments later, when Oussama Boughanmi, one of Saint-Laurent’s best players in the tournament, was sent off for kicking Alonso Coello in the face when attempting to clear the ball.

TFC wasted no time at the start of the second half, with Cassius Mailula finding the back of the net to make it 4-0 in the 50th minute, before Derrick Etienne Jr. made it five from the penalty spot six minutes later. An own-goal from Nathan Goulet made it 6-0 just after the hour mark, redirecting in a cross from Kobe Franklin. Kerr scored Toronto’s seventh in the 72nd minute, his fourth of the game, with a low shot that found the bottom right corner.

Prince Owusu made it eight in the 80th minute, breaking the Canadian Championship record for the biggest margin of victory, set just a few weeks prior when Atlético Ottawa beat Valour FC 7-0 at TD Place.

Rickson Aristilde beat Luka Gavran with one of the last kicks of the game, getting Saint-Laurent on the board with a memorable goal for the club, beating the TFC goalkeeper with a low shot.

Toronto will have to wait to find out their semifinal opponent, as the four remaining teams will be redrawn into a pair of two-legged semifinals following the conclusion of the quarter-final round.

Three Observations

Toronto FC advance to Canadian Championship semifinals with commanding victory

Toronto FC set a new club record on Tuesday night with their eight goals, something that was a target for the team coming in. Head coach John Herdman said it was a goal for their preliminary round match against Simcoe County Rovers after they beat them 5-0, but this time they were able to achieve it with the 8-1 win over Saint-Laurent.

After Tuesday’s match, four-goal hero Deandre Kerr said that he was “laser-focused” on breaking that record, and it was his goal that made it 7-0.

Remarkably, Toronto FC scored 13 goals this week against teams from Montreal, with Tuesday night’s eight coming after a 5-1 win over MLS rivals CF Montreal on the weekend. Per Toronto FC fan and record keeper Martyn Bailey, that equals the number of goals they scored in the final 25 matches of what was a dismal 2023 campaign.

Fun @TorontoFC fact:

Goals this week v. teams from Quebec: 13

Goals in the final 25 matches of 2023: 13 https://t.co/4TELPOsJe2

— Martyn Bailey (@martyn_bailey) May 22, 2024

Toronto are now off to the semifinals of the Canadian Championship, with their opponents to be determined by a draw of the remaining teams following the quarter-final round. 

The Reds are the most successful club in the competition’s history with eight wins, but haven’t won it since 2020 (in a final rescheduled to 2022 due to the pandemic). Winning a trophy soon is a priority for the club, and they’re hoping this tournament is where they can get it done. 

GOAL 🦉 x 8#TFClive go up 8-0 over CS Saint Laurent as Prince Owusu makes it 11-0 on aggregate in this 2024 TELUS #CanChamp clash 🇨🇦

🔴 Watch LIVE on OneSoccer pic.twitter.com/rBbcxiom0u

— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) May 22, 2024

Saint-Laurent bow out of Canadian Championship, but fight to the final whistle

Down 3-0 coming into Toronto, it was always unlikely that CS Saint-Laurent were going to advance from this Canadian Championship quarter-final, and an 8-0 defeat on the night is a bitter pill to swallow, but the Montreal side should hold their heads high knowing that they didn’t back down from a tough test against significantly stronger opposition.

In just the third minute, TFC skipper Lorenzo Insigne tested Konstantinos Maniatis with a curling shot that forced an early save from the Saint-Laurent netminder. Moments later, Oussama Boughanmi went through Cassius Mailula with a hard challenge, setting the tone that Saint-Laurent were going to give their all to try and pick up a result.

Loïc Kwemi tested Luka Gavran from distance in the tenth minute, forcing a diving stop from the TFC goalkeeper, but it was the hosts that would open the scoring shortly after. Deandre Kerr found the back of the net in the 12th and 14th minutes, ending all hopes of a Saint-Laurent comeback, but they didn’t show any signs of quitting.

Riad Bey tried to respond quickly for Saint-Laurent, forcing another save out of Gavran, and three minutes later Kwemi struck the woodwork with a low shot that had the goalkeeper beat. When Josué Youta got another shot on target in the 22nd minute, Gavran not-so-subtly told his defenders to wake up and stop allowing so many chances for the visitors.

Saint-Laurent were dealt another tough blow in the final minutes of the first half, when Oussama Boughanmi was sent off for catching Alonso Coello in the face with a high boot. The visitors outshot the Reds 11-5 in the first half, but failed to capitalize on any of those opportunities, and this tie was long over by half time.

Toronto FC continued to pile on the goals after the break, but Saint-Laurent wouldn’t stop pushing for a goal of their own. As they showed throughout their run in the Canadian Championship — especially in their historic win against the Halifax Wanderers in the first round — that they wouldn’t back down.

In the 89th minute, Saint-Laurent finally got their moment, as Rickson Aristilde beat Luka Gavran with one of the last kicks of the game.

He ran over to the bench to celebrate with his teammates, and some of the home fans at BMO Field applauded as well, as the clock ticked down to the final whistle. It was the first time a League1 Canada club scored against an MLS opponent, a historic moment for both the club and competition alike.

GOAL ⚜️

CS SAINT-LAURENT SCORES AGAINST #TFClive 💥

The Ligue1 Quebec side ends the evening with a much-deserved goal as Rickson Aristilde beats Luka Gavran to finish this TELUS #CanChamp match with a goal to celebrate proudly 😎 pic.twitter.com/aeV2PLwjJf

— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) May 22, 2024

Despite the heavy defeat to their Major League Soccer opponents on a long night at BMO Field, CS Saint-Laurent should be able to hold their heads high. Even reaching this stage of the Canadian Championship is a massive achievement for the club, and one that they will be eager to have another shot at in 2025 should they be Quebec’s entrant into the competition.

“I think it showed the quality gap between the teams, of course, and Toronto came out with a point to prove because they want to show the dominance,” said Saint-Laurent head coach Nicholas Razzaghi after the match. “After the first two goals, they wanted to take the ball out of the net and go back to the middle. They were very much here to play which is the first thing I think was a sign of big respect for our players.

“Of course, when we got the red card it complicated our life in the first half, but we had several objectives in mind. The tie was done pretty early in the game and even winning the game was out of question, but then we knew we want to score a goal, to be the first semi-pro team to score against an MLS team and thank goodness we did that at the end.

“Our guys showed huge courage playing 10 players against 11 against an MLS team for 50-55 minutes.”

Deandre Kerr takes Golden Boot lead with clinical performance

After scoring in the first leg of this quarter-final matchup, Deandre Kerr came into this second leg one goal back of the Golden Boot lead in the 2024 Canadian Championship. He left BMO Field with a three-goal lead atop that leaderboard, however, thanks to a clinical four-goal performance.

Toronto FC didn’t step off the gas pedal at any point in the 90 minutes, and Kerr was front and centre throughout. He found the back of the net twice in quick succession early in the first half, scoring in the 12th and 14th minutes, both times on crosses into the box from Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty. The first goal was a volley from close range, and the second was a redirection on a low cross into the box that found the top right corner of the goal.

GOAL 🦉#TFClive strike first vs. CS Saint-Laurent!

JMR finds DeAndre Kerr for a volley finish to go up 4-0 on aggregate in this 2024 TELUS #CanChamp clash

🔴 Watch LIVE on OneSoccer pic.twitter.com/H0NDFMKOE2

— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) May 21, 2024

Kerr completed his hat trick in the final moments of the half, beating Maniatis with a low shot that he made contact with. It squeaked through however, and hit the back of the net to double the aggregate scoring. 

As TFC kept the onslaught going in the second half, Kerr added a fourth goal in the 72nd minute, picking out the bottom right corner of the goal to extend the lead further. The 21-year-old academy product has arguably been the player of the tournament so far, and will be hoping to take some momentum into the rest of the tournament and MLS season. 

GOAL 🦉x7#TFClive make it 7-0 on the night, 10-0 on aggregate vs. CS Saint-Laurent as DeAndre Kerr adds a fourth to his tally in this 2024 TELUS #CanChamp clash

🔴 Watch LIVE on OneSoccer pic.twitter.com/ZBSgf4U8HU

— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) May 22, 2024

With the fourth goal, Kerr became the first player in club history to score four goals in a single match. 

“I didn’t know that,” Kerr admitted about his record after the match  who added that he was happy to contribute to his team’s victory.