MLS Regular Season | Match #17
Toronto FC at D.C. United
Saturday, June 1 | 7:30 p.m. ET
Audi Field | Washington, D.C.
TV: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV
English (Apple TV): Neil Sika (Play-by-Play) and Lloyd Sam (Analyst)
Spanish (Apple TV): Moisés Linares (Play-by-Play) and Pablo Mariño (Analyst)
Toronto FC (7-7-2, 23 pts) visit D.C. United (4-6-6, 18 pts) at Audi Field for their 17th match of the 2024 MLS regular season on Saturday evening. The Matchday 18 encounter kicks off at 7:30 p.m. ET and can be viewed globally on MLS Season Pass on the Apple TV app.
With seven victories and a tie in the club’s last 11 matches across all competitions, the Reds, currently sixth in the Eastern Conference, enter the matchup in the nation’s capital looking to build on the road point earned against Philadelphia Union on Wednesday. Historically, TFC hold a 12W-17L-11T record through their first 40 regular season meetings with the Black-and-Red.
BEHIND ENEMY LINES
Toronto FC’s 2024 Major League Soccer campaign continues with their ninth road match of the MLS regular season and the first of two regular season meetings with D.C. United on Saturday evening. Following their first eight away MLS games in 2024, the Reds hold a 52W-160L-70T all-time record (226 points) in MLS regular season matches played on the road.
AN ODE TO THE PAST
Toronto FC visit D.C. United, one of only ten original MLS teams in 1996, for the 41st encounter in the all-time series between the two clubs. Historically, TFC hold a 12W-17L-11T record through their first 40 regular season meetings with the Black-and-Red. The two clubs have previously faced off in Washington on 19 separate occasions, with the Reds holding a combined 4W-8L-7T record at Audi Field and RFK Stadium. TFC will be looking for their first road victory against the Black-and-Red since recording a 0-1 victory, courtesy of a Sebastian Giovinco goal after 57 seconds, at RFK Stadium on April 16, 2016. More recently, goals from Homegrown pair Deandre Kerr and Kosi Thompson lifted the Reds to a 2-1 victory over the visiting D.C. United at BMO Field on May 27, 2023.
THE CLIMB CONTINUES
Toronto FC enter Saturday’s match in the nation’s capital fresh from earning a valuable road point against Philadelphia Union on Wednesday evening. The two goalkeepers, Sean Johnson and Oliver Semmle, played key roles in the goalless draw at Subaru Park, with TFC’s Johnson making an important reflex save to deny Alejandro Bedoya in the second half while Union’s Semmle was on hand to deny Derrick Etienne Jr., Federico Bernardeschi and Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty the opening goal on the night. Unable to break the deadlock, the two Eastern Conference sides settled for a point apiece, marking the Reds’ first road point in Philadelphia since March 2019. The defensive performance marked the Reds’ sixth Major League Soccer clean sheet and their eighth clean sheet across all competitions of the 2024 campaign. Following the Matchday 17 encounter, TFC have now picked up results (seven wins and a tie) in eight of the club’s last 11 matches across all competitions since April 20.
CENTURY CLUB
With the Wednesday night shutout, Sean Johnson became only the fourth MLS goalkeeper to record 100 regular season clean sheets, joining Nick Rimando (154), Kevin Hartman (112) and Stefan Frei (108). The clean sheet, Johnson’s tenth for Toronto FC, also moved the Lilburn, Georgia native into fifth on the club’s all-time clean sheet charts alongside Miloš Kocić.
NATIONAL DUTY
Six Reds have been called up to represent their respective national countries during the upcoming international window in June. Toronto natives Jonathan Osorio and Richie Laryea were named to the Canadian Men’s National Team roster for upcoming friendlies against France and the Netherlands. Goalkeeper Sean Johnson was named to the U.S. Men’s National Team Training Camp Roster for upcoming friendlies against Colombia and Brazil. Tyrese Spicer, TFC’s 2024 MLS SuperDraft first overall pick, was named to Trinidad & Tobago’s provisional squad for upcoming 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers against Grenada and the Bahamas. Deybi Flores was named to the Honduras National Team for upcoming 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers against Cuba and Bermuda. Derrick Etienne Jr. was also named to the Haiti National Team roster for upcoming 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers against Saint Lucia and Barbados.
ONCE A RED
The Reds will encounter a familiar face between the hosts’ sticks in Alex Bono on Saturday. The Syracuse, New York native was selected sixth overall by Toronto FC in the 2015 MLS SuperDraft and made 157 appearances across eight seasons (2015 – 2022) for TFC, helping the Reds win an unprecedented domestic treble in 2017 with the MLS Cup, Supporters’ Shield and Canadian Championship. In addition to conceding zero goals through TFC’s Eastern Conference final and MLS Cup matchups against Columbus Crew and Seattle Sounders in 2017, the American shot-stopper holds a number of the Reds’ all-time goalkeeping records including most goalkeeper wins (67), most clean sheets (35) and most shutouts in a single season (13). Bono joined D.C. United as a free agent in December 2022 and has been an ever-present between the sticks for the Black-and-Red this season, recording 51 saves through 16 MLS matches in 2024.
