Hainault, who was not invited to the Canadian national team camp for next week’s two upcoming World Cup qualifiers against St. Kitts and Nevis, scored the opening goal as the Dynamo beat Sporting Kansas City 2-0 in the Eastern Conference Final.

But, we need to look at the Galaxy in a truly North American sports context — after all, MLS is a North American league — where regular-season success means very little compared to playoff excellence. The Galaxy, until it wins MLS Cup, has to be compared to the likes of the San Jose Sharks or San Diego Chargers, talented teams who consistently lose when it counts.

Matt Stinson has the chance to make his debut for the Canadian men’s national team. The Toronto FC youngster is one of just two changes national team coach Stephen Hart has made to his roster ahead of World Cup qualifiers Nov. 11 and 15 against St. Kitts and Nevis.

Hainault’s goal was the highlight of a day filled with MLS playoffs incidents that would turn the heads of Canadian soccer fans.

Well, how did Toronto FC respond? Houston Dynamo keeper Tally Hall is one of the best young keepers in the game, but this was maybe the easiest clean sheet of his young career. Hall didn’t have to stop a shot as Houston won 2-0.

The time for talking is over — in just over 24 hours, Canada will look to upstage its rivals from the Unites States as both teams begin their Gold Cup campaigns in Detroit. Whenever the U.S. and Canada play each other it’s a big game, but when the neighbours take to the pitch on Tuesday night, the Red and White will also have revenge on its mind.

Tosaint Ricketts picked a fine time to score his first goal for Canada — an injury time strike to rescue a 2-2 result against Ecuador. Trailing 2-1 at the 90-minute mark, Canada was desperate to push forward for the equalizer.

Coach Stephen Hart won’t have a lot of time to prepare his Canadian men’s national side for the June 1 friendly against Ecuador and the June 7 kickoff of the Gold Cup schedule. Hart named Canada’s 23-man provisional roster Monday; those players will be available for selection for the June 1 Ecuador match at BMO Field. From that, 20 will …

It was played in an empty stadium in Antalya, Turkey. There was no television coverage. Fans had to follow the game through Sportsnet’s live chat or on Twitter. But this is what we know: despite coach Stephen Hart putting together a lineup that was heavy on European-based players, an MLS man got the goal that gave Canada a 1-0 win over Belarus in a friendly on Tuesday.

In a game filled with trialists, some old problems haunted Toronto FC. Despite twice taking the lead, TFC lost 3-2 to the Houston Dynamo Thursday in their opening match of the preseason Walt Disney World Pro Soccer Classic in Orlando, Fla.