“I think today we lost because of me,” he said after the match. “I had to block the cross and then I didn’t and they got their first goal. And the first goal makes everything different.”

But, in MLS, by the middle of the first round, you are already dealing with crapshoots. A good No. 7 pick is a great value.

The Brazilian’s conversion from the spot was a relief given he’d missed a pile of opportunities, especially in the first half. On the play, Camilo slotted the ball into the bottom left corner as Nick Rimando dived to the right side.

For the second time in a row, someone named “Johnson” from the Portland Timbers has won the MLS Player of the Week award. Last week, it was Canadian Will Johnson, who scored twice. This week, it’s former Toronto FC forward Ryan Johnson, who scored two second-half goals to give the Timbers a 2-0 win over the Houston Dynamo. Johnson got …

Mike Magee, who scored three times Sunday in that win over Chicago, won in a landslide in the first ballot of the season for the members of the North American Soccer Reporters.

With the MLS season moved up to its earliest start ever, forgive us if we don’t feel 100 per cent totally prepared for First Kick. Judging by the way many MLS teams finished preseason, with tentative matches and still looking at trialists with a week to go before the games count in the standings, a lot of coaches aren’t quite ready for the early start, either.

The Whitecaps announced the signings of three men Wednesday who fall very much into the “project player” category: Paulo Jr., Tom Heinemann and Corey Hertzog.

If Friday was your first day following MLS, all you’d need to do is look at the second stage of the Re-Entry Draft to comprehend just how many players have called Toronto FC home over the club’s relatively short six-year existence.

Like a good neighbour, Justin Braun is there.

Canadian Silviu Petrescu has been named MLS Referee of the Year.