Photo: Barrett's 5-1 goal/cp

Jun. 19, 2009

Vancouver Whitecaps saw their dreams of winning the Nutrilite Canadian Championship go up in flames, after Toronto FC pulled off the impossible Thursday night by downing the Montreal Impact 6-1.

Forward Chad Barrett's second goal of the championship in the 83rd minute made it 5-1 and gave Toronto FC the margin it needed to overtake the Vancouver Whitecaps for first place in the standings.  TFC entered Thursday's game needing to beat Montreal by at least four goals - a number most people thought Toronto had no hope of hitting.

Toronto tripled the number of goals it scored in the first three games of the championship combined in one night.

The Whitecaps were present at rain-soaked Saputo Stadium, sitting among the announced crowd of 11,561 and watching as the title was ripped from their grasp.

Dwayne DeRosario paced the Toronto attack early on with three goals, while Amado Guevara notched Toronto's fourth and sixth goals of the game.

DeRosario jumped into the adoring arms of hundreds of Toronto FC supporters after the final whistle as the Impact dejectedly watched them celebrate on their home field.

When the Impact opened the scoring in the game's 23rd minute on a penalty by midfielder Tony Donatelli, Toronto's already daunting task seemed to be nearing impossible.

But with only pride to play for and with a league game coming up against Vancouver on Saturday afternoon, Impact head coach Marc Dos Santos decided to field a team largely made up of subs, including goalkeeper Srdjan Djekanovic.

Toronto FC took full advantage, spending the great majority of the contest in the Montreal end and capitalizing on repeated, sloppy errors by the Impact.

Toronto will host the Puerto Rico Islanders on July 28 in the opening game of the CONCACAF Champions League.

Newcomer Nick Garcia put Toronto into a deep hole when he took down Impact striker Peter Byers in the box in the game's 23rd minute.

Donatelli made no mistake on the ensuing penalty, calmly placing a low to the left of keeper Stefan Frei while he dove to his right.

The goal put Montreal ahead 1-0, but more importantly it meant Toronto would need to score five goals to win the championship.

However the visitors appeared to be up for the challenge, taking over the first half from that point onward and getting multiple chances on the Montreal goal.

Toronto finally broke through in the 29th minute when Djekanovic punched out an Guevara corner right to DeRosario, whose bicycle kick made it through a crowd of Impact defenders to make it 1-1.

DeRosario got his second of the match in the 39th minute with a low laser that glanced off Impact defender Elkana Mayard and past Djekanovic. The Toronto native completed his hat trick early in the second half when he was sent in alone in the 49th minute.

Guevara made it 4-1 on a free kick from just outside the box in the 69th minute to set up Barrett's heroics in the 83rd minute, as he headed in a corner kick. Guevara added his second of the game in extra time to make it 6-1 Toronto.