Rollins Responds
Toronto FC played to a 2-2 draw in a short friendly against Rollins College at Winter Park, Florida on Sunday, roughly 24-hours after playing in the Walt Disney World Pro Soccer Classic in Orlando.
The idea of the match was twofold, the coaches wanted to get some more minutes for signed first team players Danny Califf, Kyle Bekker, Reggie Lambe, Andrew Wiedeman and Justin Braun, all played less than a half on Saturday. It was also a chance to watch and evaluate trialists as Toronto heads into the last week of preseason in Central Florida.
Bekker certainly benefited from his rest on Saturday, scoring both of Toronto's goals in the first half. His opener on a free kick from 25-yards at the 14th minute before a volley with the outside right foot four minutes later put Toronto comfortably ahead.
As intermission approached, Rollins proved itself resilient, scoring a surprise goal from outside the box, then leveling the match during the late stages of a curtailed second half (15 minutes) as Toronto felt a 60-minute run was sufficient for its training purpose on another cool afternoon in Florida.
The full TFC lineup featured Quillan Roberts in goal; Daniel Fabrizi, Derrick Bassi and Justin Davis alongside Califf at the back; Lambe and Wiedeman joined by Jonathan Beaulieu-Bourgault and Carlos Martinez at midfield; and Bekker with Braun up top. Braun left the match with a small knock to the head and was replaced by Henrik Robstad, who came in to play wide left allowing Wiedeman to go forward.
Davis and Martinez joined Toronto on trial Sunday, one day after Beaulieu-Bourgault and Robstad arrived at camp.
Toronto will play Kansas City in a training scrimmage on Wednesday before finishing at the Disney Classic on Saturday in the fifth place match against D.C. United at 1 p.m. ET.
"Pretty as I'll ever get"
Goalkeeper Stefan Frei suffered a broken nose and had surgery following the first match of the Disney Classic on February 9. Good news for Frei and TFC fans who missed his services over the last season (he missed 2012 with a broken ankle) is that bandages are off and he is eager to start training when he receives medical clearance. When asked how he was feeling, Frei quipped "pretty as I'll ever get."
