Toronto FC returns to MLS action after a two-week layoff against a familiar foe. Much has happened away from league play since TFC fell 0-2 to DC United fourteen days ago at BMO Field, a pair of cup matches, a modicum of success, something to hang one's hat on and begin to build the confidence required to turn around a lost season.

A strong two-goal performance and a clean sheet at home against Montreal saw the Reds progress to the final of the Voyageurs Cup even after Richard Eckersley was lost to a red card in the first quarter of an hour.

The weekend off and some time away from the pitch proved fortuitous to Toronto allowing them to take the lead in Vancouver in the first leg of that final series. Were it not for a last-minute thunderbolt of a strike from Eric Hassli, they would have enjoyed that return even more, as is; an important away goal may still stand them in good stead.

But on Saturday night a new challenge awaits. Will this be the match that begins the slow ascent? Or is the time still not right for an opening win to the season?

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DC has been busy these last fourteen days. A week after defeating Toronto they endured a trying match in Houston losing 1-0 and as Toronto was preparing for their match in Vancouver their midweek fixture against Colorado was just finishing, 2-0 to the good at RFK.

The loss in Houston was foreseeable. It was one of those unwinnable games: Sometimes the sense of occasion surrounding a match - in this instance the opening of the long awaited BBVA Compass Stadium - is simply too much to overcome. It was an emotional day for the Houston soccer community; finally a home to call their own and several of their heroes of yesterday in attendance.

A difficult task made tougher by the Texan weather. Granted it is still early in the year and the full weight of summer has yet to descend on North America, but for a team yet to confront some heat, an obstacle nevertheless.

Virtually the same DC team that faced Toronto - save a few minor changes: Robbie Russell returned to right-back and Andy Najar shifted into the left midfield spot at which Lewis Neal had underperformed - did well to navigate a difficult opening half, neither threatening nor really being threatened. A couple of half-chances fell the Dynamo's way in the first half, while DC was limited to one good opportunity in the match.

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Toronto FC head into Vancouver to play the first leg of a final, hoping to win the Voyageurs Cup for the 4th consecutive year, having defeated their local rivals, and with an 11 day unbeaten streak on the line. Heady times indeed for Aron Winter and his squad, newly shuffled coaching staff and all, in the context of this season so far, can they keep the good times flowing with a decent result at BC Place that gives them a chance to finish the tie off next week, and keep the season alive?

If you look at the evidence so far from the MLS season, with TFC at a record breakingly bad 0-8, and the Whitecaps sitting comfortably in a playoff position with 17 points, you'd have to say it would be unlikely, but hey TFC are clearly saving it for the cup games this year, and maybe they're just playing a really long game to absolutely perfectly troll Vancouver fans once again. We've already done the ridiculous win against the 'surrender monkeys' B team, and a lightning related abandonment and win the replay, what other ways are there to really drive Whitecaps fans nuts? How about be absolutely fucking terrible for months beforehand, and still manage to somehow beat them to ensure their name doesn't sully the Voyageurs Cup? Sounds perfect to me, well played Aron, well played.

It won't be easy of course and will be made harder by the absence of Torsten Frings (and Miguel Aceval. Oh No. Not Aceval. Why?) whose shoulder apparently hasn't reacted well to the decision to play against Montreal so soon after injuring it. Hopefully that won't be a long term issue that causes Frings to miss too many games. Richard Eckersley will also be missing after his red card, but Danny Koevermans flew out there and will apparently be good to go, as will presumably Nick Soolsma, giving TFC some sudden depth and options in the forward line.

Will this be another parking of the bus from TFC to try and 'keep the zero' as they seem to be calling it (if so, please have that conversation with Ryan Johnson ahead of the game so he's not as surprised and frustrated) or will they try and take it to the Whitecaps and snag themselves an away goal?

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The final series of the 2012 Voyageurs Cup begins on Wednesday night in Vancouver. Toronto FC, last year's champions, opted to have the second and decisive leg at home and will therefore travel across the breadth of the country to continue their defense of that title.

Semifinal hurdles for each side were dispatched easily enough, Vancouver winning both matches against FC Edmonton handily in the end. Toronto meanwhile, bunkered for the result they wanted in Montreal - a dire scoreless draw - before transforming into a dynamic attacking side that would not even be undone by the early dismissal of Richard Eckersley, shutting out the Impact and scoring two goals of their own at home.

A foreseeable rematch, one energized by the ill-will that has accumulated over the years.

In 2009, a dramatic, unbelievable five-goal win in Montreal against a second-choice Impact side saw TFC pip the Whitecaps at the post. In 2011, a lightning-affected cancelation forced a controversial replay, negating the score, stripping Vancouver of their one-goal lead, and eventually - following a 2-1 win - seeing Toronto through to the Champions League, once again at Vancouver's expense.

Such misfortune has caused some angst among the Vancouver faithful and the organization.

In league play, Vancouver have enjoyed far more success than Toronto this season. But this is cup action, league results go out the window and rivalry is taken to another level. Just how will circumstance - both past and present - manifest itself on the pitch in Wednesday night's match?

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Well, after a short break, Waking The Red's now infamous (okay, not really...but hey) CoverIt Live chats are back, and we'll be on hand for three huge events.

First, we'll kick off a week of madness with coverage of the first leg of the Voyageurs Cup final between TFC and the Vancouver Whitecaps on Wednesday. Our chat will begin at 9pm Eastern that evening, and you'll be joined by myself in the commentator's chair, with other WTR writers on hand to provide their commentary. And of course, you, the reader, is always welcome to chip in with your two cents!

And if you're like me and is a bit of a ditz at times, you can set an email reminder in the neat little widget below:

But wait! There's more...after the jump!

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Can we play you every week?

That must be what Montreal is thinking, rounding into impressive form and coming off a positively shocking 0-2 defeat of a high-flying Sporting Kansas City in the difficult environs of Livestrong Sporting Park on the weekend; especially given their success in the previous two meetings with Toronto FC.

To that point, it has felt like the two clubs have met regularly - and will continue to do so, this being the third of five matches - with Montreal taking the lead in the head-to-head off the strength of a 2-1 win in the league and that lifeless 0-0 draw last week in the first leg of the series.

This, the Wednesday match - both of date and of chronology - of the weeklong series between the two has all the signs of that infamous hump day. Though it has been a tough week thus far for TFC, there is still plenty of time to turn it around and prepare for a weekend celebration. As the season rolls to its conclusion this will be a vital encounter that could well define success and spark postseason aspirations.

Laboured analogies aside, should Montreal win; the opening stanza of their inaugural MLS season can be seen as a successful one and a second phase will begin with a two-legged tie with old USL and NASL rivals Vancouver before attempting to see out the summer slog with a playoff chase.

For Toronto, some would say, a loss would be cataclysmic. Aron Winter would most assuredly be out or at death's door - if he isn't already; the playoffs would appear even further from their grasp and that sense of impending doom that has built since the conclusion of the CONCACAF Champions League could well come to a head, both on the field and in the stands.

But to win against the old enemy, well that could be just the spark that sees the Red's year turn around.

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The season is just barely two months old and come Wednesday evening Toronto FC and Montreal Impact will be meeting for the third time already. This will be the first time this season that the two have met at BMO Field and despite only being May it is possibly the most important game of Aron Winter's time at the club.

The run to the Champions League semi-finals was great and filled with all kinds of biggest games ever but with the club falling flat on their faces out of the gate to start the MLS season that run is not going to be enough to save Winter's job for much longer. The Dutchman is in year two of his three year plan but with the MLS season already getting away from his side after 8 straight losses, that leaves the Voyageurs Cup as the last hope. I have no clue what the higher ups at the club are thinking but you would have to imagine a defeat to Montreal would all but seal the coach's exit from the club.

In the first leg it was clear that Toronto set out to defend and try and either steal a 1-0 win or come away with a 0-0 draw. They got that 0-0 draw but really showed nothing at all going forward and if it had not been a for a total lack of quality in the final third from the Impact things would have been looking a whole lot worse.

The Reds hung on thanks to some poor finishing and some very good work in goal from Milos Kocic but the clean sheet came at the cost of having no attack at all. For most of the game Ryan Johnson was a completely isolated figure up front and his frustration was evident as he rarely saw the ball.

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Well, here we are again. Last year saw all sorts of bad records broken by Toronto FC, both at club level and league wide, but at least we could all tell ourselves that it was growing pains towards a brighter future. #preseason2012 I said, it's all good. Now it's 2012, and as you all know, we're on the verge of adding another dubious record, longest losing streak to start a season.

Regular readers may think that that clip looks familiar. I busted it out last year before the Portland away game when TFC were on the verge of losing their 5th straight game, which would have been a team record. That seems like such a simpler happier time in hindsight (for those of a superstitious bent, TFC didn't actually lose that day, here's hoping).

We have of course already claimed that record (and then some) this year, now we get to go for the league record, and poetically enough, it's Dwayne de Rosario who'll have the chance to ensure that Aron Winter, Tom Anselmi and anyone else he feels have wronged him get their names associated with that little bit of infamy. I imagine he'd get a certain satisfaction out of that. Of course we all knew De Ro would be a super motivated force to be reckoned with, but who's that playing up front and banging in all sorts of goals? Maicon Santos? Really? There's plenty of other offensive threats as well who'll probably be licking their chops when looking at TFC's comical recent defending.

The good news is that with Emiliano Dudar injured, DC's defence is also looking a bit weak these days, so there'll hopefully be plenty of chances at the other end for Ryan Johnson, or Danny Koevermans if he's back as media reports from training suggest he might be. So what sort of game and lineup will we see from TFC today? I'll take a random stab at that after the jump.

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A couple of old friends return to Toronto this weekend, as Dwayne De Rosario and Maicon Santos head north with new club, DC United.

The pair of former captains, re-united in the offseason, are now enjoying a new lease on life in the American capital.

History tells us that when former Reds return, it spells trouble for TFC and safe money is on either or both having a major influence on the proceedings.

Toronto, on the back of an underwhelming, if necessary, 0-0 draw in the first leg of their Voyageurs Cup series with Montreal, will need to keep the two in-form attackers in check should they hope to end that historic streak of losses.

The Lineup

Under manager Ben Olsen, United have principally used a diamond 4-4-2 formation and after a bit of early season tinkering have found a dynamic attacking quintet.

Injuries, however, have wrecked havoc on an otherwise solid backline.

The projected lineup for Saturday's match has Joe Willis in goal; from right to left: Robbie Russell, Perry Kitchen, Brandon McDonald, and Daniel Woolard across the back; Marcelo Saragosa stationed in front of the defense; Danny Cruz, De Rosario, and Nick DeLeon across the midfield; with Chris Pontius and Santos paired up top.

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