TORONTO FC vs. MINNESOTA UNITED FC
BMO Field | Toronto, Ontario
05.13.17 | MLS Week #11 | MLS Game #11
2:00 p.m. CT (My29, MNUFC Radio on 1500 ESPN)

2017 Records:
MIN: 3-5-2; 0-3-2 on the road
TOR: 6-1-4; 4-0-2 at home

After a successful homestand that saw MNUFC defeating Sporting Kansas City and the Colorado Rapids and getting narrowly edged by the San Jose Earthquakes, the team heads south (yes, south) to face the current leaders in the East, Toronto FC, at BMO Field. Even with their confidence high and a burgeoning sense of belonging in MLS, the Loons will face a tough test in Toronto against the dynamic attacking combo of Sebastian Giovinco and Jozy Altidore. Kickoff is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. CT and coverage begins at 1:30 p.m. on My29 and MNUFC Radio on 1500 ESPN.

When MNUFC upset visiting Sporting KC at home last week, it was catching a team coming off short rest. SKC faced a tough New York Red Bulls team and won 2-0 on Wednesday before falling to Minnesota by the same margin last Saturday. Toronto faced Columbus Crew SC Wednesday night and won in a stunner of a comeback, but will now have to deal with MNUFC a scant three days later. Minnesota might be reaping the benefits of the schedule right now, but they too will eventually have to face the short turnaround.

“You try and prepare as best you can,” said Head Coach Adrian Heath. “All the stuff that's in your control: the travel arrangements, time you eat, after games, what you start to do to prepare to get yourself ready. And also I think it depends on the depth of your squad. Toronto went away and put four or five reserves in and won in Seattle at the weekend. That's what happens when you're eight and nine years into MLS. Each year, your squad gets a little bit deeper, so that would help. Everybody's going to go through it at some stage. I think we're in Vancouver on a Wednesday and in Montreal on a Saturday later in the year, so there you go: both sides of Canada. But you can't use it as an excuse.”

The last time MNUFC squared off against Toronto was in the preseason down in Florida during a rainy match that ended with a 3-0 Loons loss. But that team was a much different one than the one that will take the pitch on Saturday, and not only because of trades and signings. With a head coach who was hired in November and a squad that only truly began to come together in January, Minnesota United this season was and still is a work in progress.

“I think I used the line that I have a lot of faith and people might have thought it was blind faith in the beginning,” said Heath. “But when you work with a group of guys every single day, you know what they're capable of and what they're not. Early on in the season, we were nothing like what I knew we could be. I thought given a fair crack of the whip that somewhere along the line, this group will start to bring it together. But even now, we're still a long way from where I want us to be and where I think this group will eventually end up.”

While the team has built chemistry and understanding together, individual players have been gradually coming into their own, from Brent Kallman — who stepped into a starting center back role in Week 3 and has since provided stalwart defense — to Ismaila Jome — who came on against San Jose and provided a burst of late energy. Abu Danladi got his first MLS start and first MLS goal last week against Sporting KC.

“I'm delighted for him because of all the work he's put in,” said Heath. “He has trained so well the last few weeks. What he has to understand is now it's a start. He had his first start, he got a goal. He can't rest on his laurels, he has to make sure he maintains the intensity of his training and hopefully stays in the side and keeps getting better. This game has a cruel way of putting you back down to where you came from if you take things for granted.”

It’s taken Miguel Ibarra some time to get back to match fitness after playing sporadically for Club Leon in Mexico over the last 18 months. But after a match-winning goal against Colorado and assists on both goals in a full 90 against SKC, he’s gaining confidence and is — according to Heath — not yet near the peak of what the team expects of him.

“I was actually telling Christian today I couldn't move [the day after the match],” Ibarra joked. “It's probably a year or a little bit more since I played a 90-minute game, so now it's kind of painful. I was here four years and I left and now coming back to Minnesota, them being in MLS and being part of it is amazing. It's a dream come true. I always wanted to play in MLS, especially now with Christian.”

“We all knew this was going to be a process for him to actually get himself up to real match fitness,” said Heath. “You can train out here six or seven hours a day. It's nothing like the cut and thrust when that whistle blows on a Saturday.”

Once they’re done in Toronto, the Loons will head north (yes, north) to face LA Galaxy at home in Minneapolis on Sunday, May 21. Kickoff is set for 4:00 p.m. at TCF Bank Stadium and the match will be broadcast on ESPN, with pre-match coverage beginning on MNUFC Radio on 1500 ESPN at 3:30 p.m. Get your tickets now at MNUFC.COM or by calling 763.4SOCCER.

INJURY REPORT

Minnesota United
OUT: M - Bernardo Anor (left lower leg injury)
OUT: D - Thomas De Villardi (left achilles)

Toronto FC
OUT: D - Drew Moor (cardiac arrhythmia)
OUT: D - Ashtone Morgan (stress fracture in foot 2/16, out 6-8 weeks)
QUESTIONABLE: F - Sebastian Giovinco (heel injury)

DISCIPLINARY REPORT

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FIRST TOUCHES

• Miguel Ibarra has played with Michael Bradley and Jozy Altidore on the U.S. Men’s National Team. He has shared the field twice with each player. All three played together once on February 8, 2015 against Panama.
• Toronto assistant Nick Theslof was born in Minnesota and faced Loons Sporting Director Manny Lagos as a member of Columbus Crew SC during the 1998 MLS season.
• Toronto Head Coach Greg Vanney had an extensive MLS playing career, playing against Minnesota technical staff members Manny Lagos, Amos Magee and Mark Watson as a member of LA Galaxy.
• Both Toronto Assistant Coach Robin Fraser and Loons’ Sporting Director Manny Lagos retired as players in 2005 and were teammates on Columbus that season.
• Nick Hagglund and Marc Burch are natives of Cincinnati, Ohio.
• Bobby Shuttleworth made seven saves last weekend, breaking the club’s single-match record of five. It is the second week in a row he has broken the record.
• Miguel Ibarra had his first multi-point match last week with two assists against Sporting Kansas City.
• Both Ibarra and Shuttleworth earned MLS Team of the Week honors for Week 10. It is Ibarra’s first time being named to the team and Shuttleworth’s second. Both of Shuttleworth’s have been on the bench.
• Christian Ramirez and Jozy Altidore are tied for the second-most goals in MLS with six.
• Toronto and Minnesota have clashed in top-level soccer in the past. The Minnesota Kicks and Toronto Metro-Croatia met in the original NASL’s Soccer Bowl ’76. Toronto defeated the Kicks 3-0.
• Toronto has just one loss this season, the fewest in the Eastern Conference. Only undefeated FC Dallas has fewer than Toronto.
• This will be Toronto’s second double-match week in a row. After the final whistle on Saturday, they will have played four matches in 11 days.
• Toronto’s midweek victory over Columbus Crew SC was the club’s fifth consecutive win, setting a new club record.