So, on Sept. 1, with two months of regular-season soccer left to play, TFC is a single point from being mathematically eliminated from the playoff chase. That is the result of Saturday's 2-1 loss to Sporting Kansas City.

Renteria was left wide open in the penalty area to direct Higuain's cross over Impact keeper Troy Perkins in the 92nd minute. And Higuain was given acres of space down the left side in which to engineer a cross, as veteran Alessandro Nesta inexplicably decided to lay off rather than take away the Argentine's space on the wing. It

And, on Wednesday, the team announced that it would be dropping ticket prices for the 2013 season, something owner Joey Saputo hinted at on Twitter the day before. Tickets have dropped 15 per cent on average, while season-ticket holders will get what the Impact is calling a “10 per cent rebate” on 2012 packages.

"There's no way that was a 3-1 game," said TFC head coach Paul Mariner. "I thought we were a little tentative in the first half and in the second half we played much better… We matched them for 89 minutes."

Whitecaps’ midfielder Dane Richards will leave MLS at the end of the season and join Canadian David Edgar and his Burnley teammates in the January transfer window.

So far this season, the Whitecaps have played five matches against these four teams. And the Caps have two draws and three losses to show for those efforts.

Goals from Franck Songo'o and Darlington Nagbe gave the Portland Timbers a 2-1 victory Saturday night over their Cascadia rivals at JELD-WEN Field in front of 20,438 fans.

Despite running the balance of play and looking like they were on their way to locking up a relatively easy three points, the Dynamo and their fans looked stunned the Reds escaped with a 1-1 draw at Houston's BBVA Compass Stadium on Saturday night.

Local product, Patrice Bernier, had a red-letter day on the pitch, earning Player of the Game notice for his efforts, which included a brace and an assist for a scoring line that he probably hasn’t put up since his days in junior hockey.

But, for 60 minutes of Wednesday’s 2-1 loss in Columbus, TFC looked like a team that was going through the motions, even though coach Paul Mariner handed keeper Freddy Hall his MLS debut and centre back Dicoy Williams his first MLS start of the season.