“It was Ritchie Jones who reached out,” said Eckersley. “And I wanted something a bit different for my family. And my little brother has played in Canada, for Toronto, and he had nothing but good things to say about Canada.”

Technically, the Reds didn't even beat THE United side who have struggled to just 15 points in 30 games. Of the 11 men who have played the most minutes for DC this season, only two were in Saturday's Starting XI, as the Red-and-Blacks were clearly saving their regulars for Tuesday's U.S. Open Cup final against Real Salt Lake.

Toronto FC began the post-Kevin Payne era with a resonating 4-0 loss to the host Portland Timbers. Yes, Whitecaps supporters will be unhappy to see a Cascadia and conference rival pick up maximum points and also pad the vital goals-for column. But, if this game was any indication of how Toronto FC will play out the string, the Whitecaps have to be hopeful that they can maximize their draft position in 2014.

"I think it was the wrong decision by the ref. It certainly wasn't a foul," Caldwell said. "It was a good ball by Bob… and I scored. I was in the area first and held my ground, and it was very disappointing that I didn't get a goal."

"It was just two silly goals, two silly errors," Nelsen said. "I'm very disappointed in the first goal….The boys have three or four seconds to get back and commit to it and normally they're very good about it. They're devastated that a goal like that was conceded since we pride ourselves on not giving up soft goals."

But a two-game winning streak? Start the parade. And, for the long-suffering supporters of this franchise, they shouldn’t try to analyze things too much. Just enjoy it — they deserve some triumphs, after all. And, for a franchise that has suffered so many suckerpunches late in games, maybe it’s time for a karmic shift, to see the opposition blow so many chances they should have converted.

"It was very important for us to come back like that," midfielder Jeremy Hall said. "It was a game we should've gotten three points out of….We're at home in front of our fans and we wanted a good showing."

It went like this: You could put the entire team in a sack, then have someone punch it. No matter which player took the punch, “you’d be right.”

Darel Russell has only been a member of Toronto FC for a few weeks, but he joins an ever-growing list of Reds’ players whose late-game mistakes have cost the team points.

We looked back at Toronto FC’s disastrous 2012 campaign, but we broke down the games minute by minute. From that, we came up with a goal difference for every player on the Reds, similar to a plus-minus in hockey.