TORONTO – A late season match against the New York Red Bulls with history on the line... there is something achingly familiar about that. 

It was just a little under two years ago that Toronto FC clinched their first-ever playoff berth on October 14 against the Red Bulls. An epic night, one that Tim Bezbatchenko pointed to as a milestone in the club's forward progression. 

In 2009, it was the Red Bulls who ended TFC's bid for the post-season on the final day of the season at Giants Stadium. 

Now, Toronto sit on the cusp of a first-ever Supporters’ Shield as the two prepare to meet at BMO Field once more on Saturday night.

“It was an amazing night,” recalled Greg Vanney on Wednesday. “[As] always with the Red Bulls, a highly-contested match with tempo and pace. They're trying to press; we're trying to keep the ball moving fast.”

Added Ashtone Morgan, who was on the field that night: “The fans were ecstatic. We had a lot of rotation in the team, guys on the pitch who weren't getting a lot of minutes; had to step up, play like it was our last game, to clinch our first playoff spot.”

Herculez Gomez opened the scoring in the 51st minute, when a ball in from Jackson got past Ronald Zubar, falling neatly for the striker to pounce. 

But the star of the night was undoubtedly Sebastian Giovinco, shining brightest with a piece of individual brilliance in the 78th minute after coming off the bench.

“He had travelled back in the last 24 hours from playing with Italy, so we didn't start him. We knew we could get 20-30 minutes out of him,” said Vanney. “He comes in, makes an incredible play that only Seba makes, dices up a couple guys and whips one to the back-post.”

Giovinco received the ball from Jonathan Osorio on the left, blew past one defender, surged past another before shading inside, only to leave two more Red Bulls in his dust as he cut back outside to beat Luis Robles with a beautiful strike. 

“I remember as it hits the net,” recalled Vanney. “The goalkeeper's towel is hanging in that side like a perfect, little target for him to hit.”

Oh my word, indeed. 

“Sebastian scoring that wicked left-foot goal. Seba and the fans,” smiled Morgan as he gestured stirring the pot, just as Giovinco did that night. “I remember I was right there, screaming for the ball, give it to me so I could cross it in. He decided to shoot.” 

“Seba being Seba,” continued Morgan. “At a crucial time, put the team on his back; helped us get to the playoffs.”

New York would pull one back late through Shaun Wright-Phillips, but Vanney knew their ticket was punched before that 86th minute consolation: “For me it was all about the eruption of the crowd, the emotion you could see as the crowd realized that moment that we were in, we were going to lock this down, going to win.” 

“I think I had tears in my eyes, a little bit, I was numb for a little while; very excited for our group,” added Vanney. “It was an amazing moment.”

There was something special in the air that night.

“The energy of the city, the fans, everything got vamped up,” said Morgan. “It was like the volume turned up, went to the highest max of energy and excitement. It was contagious.”

It foreshadowed what would come the following season in the playoffs, the BMO Field crowd turned up to eleven.

Now, the club enters such a match with the Supporters’ Shield within reach.

“What is incredible is how far we've come,” remarked Vanney. “We didn't even talk about when we solidified our spot in the playoffs this year. The conversation was about so many other things beyond that. That moment was truly one of the special moments in the last couple years.”

Said Morgan: “A lot of growth since that first year we qualified. A lot of pieces have come into our team, as a team we've been getting better each game we play. Look at us now, we're competing to win the Supporters’ Shield – before just trying to make the playoffs. That shows where we were, where we are, and where we're trying to get to.”

But as is so often the case, Michael Bradley remains focused on what lies ahead. 

“The Supporters’ Shield has been a big goal of ours all season, something we've been after since the first weekend. We want to step on the field tomorrow, in our stadium, in front of our fans, and be ready to win a big game, win the shield, and really move into this last part of the season in a strong way,” said Bradley. “And make sure that we're ready to go for the big games that are coming.”