There are a few things in this world that put a spring in my step and make my Saturday at work go even faster; one is The Trillium Cup. The first installment of The Crew vs. Toronto F.C. goes down at BMO Field this Saturday at 4:00 PM eastern standard time. If you have not heard of the Trillium Cup before then what rock have you been living under these past couple years? The Crew is one of the first teams in MLS and TFC has been around since 2007; this rivalry has been going strong since. The first year of the Trillium Cup was in 2008 when the two mayors of these respective cities had a bet. Simply put, the losing mayor had to wear the jersey of the opposing team. The trillium is a flower that is shared by both cities and the name was born.
The rivalry between the two teams blossomed for several reasons but one game sticks out the most in the Crew fans’ minds. The first meeting between the two clubs was in 2008 at Columbus Crew Stadium. The expansion team had the nerve to bring with them 2500 of their fans to try and show up the Nordecke faithful. That was not received well by the Nordecke and they responded in kind through boisterous chants and unwavering support for the Crew. The game ended 2-0 to the Crew. Ever since the Crew has just done one thing; go unbeaten against their rivals. In the eleven meetings the Crew have five wins, no loses, and six ties. The Crew are the only team in the MLS that has not lost to Toronto FC. I call that domination. This game brings the best out of the Crew players. In 2010, to keep the unbeaten streak alive, goalkeeper William Hesmer scored the equalizer in the 90th minute. Hesmer has a unique distinction from this game in that he is only the second keeper to score in MLS history. This game is big, to say the least.
The past is the past and Saturday is now and the Crew are in top form. With a smothering defense and midfield play that is bar-nun, they are dominating opponents. Chad Marshall sums up the play of the Crew, “No one wants to let anybody down. No one wants to be that one mistake that happens in the game. Maybe that was a problem in the past. We’d give up one mistake a game and get punished. When the mistake happens now guys are busting to get over there and cover it. It’s fun to be a part of it.” Though there are a lot of new faces to the Crew they are gelling as a group and are going into Toronto riding 373 consecutive minutes of not allowing a goal. This is one minute shy of the club record. On the other hand Toronto are in a rebuilding phase according to coach Aron Winter. In this rebuilding phase Toronto have the distinction of allowing the most goals in the first fifteen minutes of the game, four. Six of their allowed nine have come in the first half. It is hard to constantly be playing from behind and no team in the MLS this season has come back to win after giving up the first goal. It would be easy to look at the stats and say that this is a sure fire win for the Crew, but this is a rivalry and everyone brings their “A” game. Look for good ebb and flow to the game and crunching tackles. In the end the Crew will win but the clean sheet streak may not be intact.
(image courtesy of thecrew.com)
