Toronto FC II ended a four game losing streak and recorded their first win at the Ontario Soccer Centre, defeating Charleston Battery 1-0 on Friday in an entertaining clash between the two Eastern Conference clubs.
Skylar Thomas scored the game winner in the 89th minute, the first goal scored by Toronto at their home stadium.
With the win TFC II improves their record to 4-9-3 on the season.
Similar to the first half against FC Montreal, Your Reds were able to control possession but struggled to create anything offensively in the final third.
Charleston’s game plan was to counterattack with Ricky Garbanzo and Dane Kelly as outlets and it was working. Forward Dane Kelly had multiple chances to punish the Reds but goalkeeper Quillan Roberts was phenomenal, making countless big saves to keep TFC II in the game.
Toronto’s goal came in the 89th minute off a free kick taken by Mo Babouli. Babouli, on the right side of the pitch, curled in a cross that was met by Skylar Thomas who towered over the Charleston defense and headered it home.
Quillan Roberts had a player of the week performance against Charleston and received lots of praise from his coach and teammates.
“He had a great performance today. There were a few times he came up really big, especially in the first half,” said Skylar Thomas following the victory.
“You don’t like to single out players but Quillan Roberts and Skylar Thomas I mean, some performance today,” said Head Coach Jason Bent.
TFC II Debut
Forward Sal Bernal made his USL debut for Toronto FC II after he was subbed in at halftime.
It was a long time coming for Bernal, the 70th overall pick in the MLS SuperDraft, as visa issues delayed his arrival.
Head Coach Jason Bent was pleased with his overall performance after being away from the team for quite some time.
“He came in and brought some good energy and some attacking threat,” said Bent.
“He still has to understand the system. Obviously he hasn’t been with us so that’s understandable,” he added.
Scoring Summary
TFC II – Skylar Thomas 89’
Misconduct Summary
TFC II – Adam Bouchard 21’ (caution)
CHS – Zach Prince 58’ (caution)
TFC II – Daniel Fabrizi 76’ (caution)
CHS – Jarad van Schaik 88’ (caution)
Records:
Toronto FC II: 4-9-3 15pts.
Charleston Battery: 9-3-7 34pts.
Lineups
Toronto FC II – Quillan Roberts ©; Gabriel Boakye, Skylar Thomas, Adam Bouchard (Daniel Fabrizi 65’), Mark Serjeant (Anthony Osorio 78’); Raheem Edwards (Liam Fraser 72’), Luca Uccello, Manuel Aparicio, Malik Johnson (Sal Bernal 45’); Mo Babouli, Massimo Mirabelli (Kevin Timachy 45’)
Substitutes Not Used: Alex Bono, Marcos Nunes
Charleston Battery –Kevin Corby; Quinton Griffith, Emmanuel Adjetey (O'Brian Woodbine 45’), Shawn Ferguson (Taylor Mueller 45’), Forrest Lasso (Justin Portillo 87’); Zach Prince (Dante Marini 59’), Jarad van Schaik©, Memo Rodriguez, Sebastien Thuriere; Ricky Garbanzo (Austin Savage 70’), Dane Kelly
Substitutes Not Used:
