TFC 2, WIZARDS 0 Third time the charm Toronto FC on longest win streak of franchise's short history -------------------------------------------------- LARRY MILLSON TORONTO As the victories mount, there is a palpable building of confidence in Toronto FC, no longer Major League Soccer pushovers. It began with a 3-2 away victory over the Los Angeles Galaxy two weeks ago, and continued with the 1-0 win over Real Salt Lake last week in TFC's home opener. Now, the team has won three in a row for the first time after defeating the Kansas City Wizards 2-0 on Saturday. "When you have confidence you're going to have success," goalkeeper Greg Sutton said. "I think that's what we're starting to breed now, a sense of confidence. Once we have that we know we'll be successful. The guys are starting to show that. "Obviously playing at home is such a big advantage for us. We get motivated that extra degree when we're playing at home in front of our fans. We want to make this place a tough place to come into and win. I think we're starting to do that." TFC, 3-2, does not have much time to savour its recent success, which was secured by Amado Guevara's two-goal performance Saturday before 20,045 fans at BMO Field. Preparations will begin today for Thursday night's home match against the New York Red Bulls, 1-1-1, who are in last place in MLS's Eastern standing. "I think you've seen a lot of improvements over the last few games, if we keep playing like this, we'll be a tough team to beat," said Sutton, who made a big save on Ivan Trujillo after TFC defender Marco Velez gave the ball away in his own end to Claudio Lopez, Kansas City's designated player. This is an important time for TFC as it has three matches left in a run of five in a row at home. The schedule will not be so friendly later and there will also be the expected departures for international fixtures later in the year, including the Olympic competition that will claim, at least, Maurice Edu and Marvell Wynne from TFC. That is why acquiring depth in players is important. Defender Olivier Tebily was signed last Thursday but did not play in Saturday's game, although he did play part of the reserve game. TFC head coach John Carver said Tebily won't be playing in international competitions so he will be here during those times when others are gone. But for the moment, things are going well for TFC and not even a transit strike in Toronto and a forecast of rain that never came could dampen the supporters' spirits on Saturday, some of whom made the trip from downtown pubs on a double-decker bus provided by the club, a rather nice touch. They also were in good voice for O Canada . Guevara, who has just completed a year playing in his native Honduras after an MLS stint that included winning the league's most-valuable-player award in 2004 when he was with New York, scored his first two goals in his third match with TFC. The first goal came in the 56th minute after Wynne carried the ball into the penalty area. Wynne lost control but a Wizards player's attempt to clear the ball hit a teammate and it bounced to Guevara, who was behind the defenders. The Wizards' claim of offside was denied. Sutton made his big save 12 minutes later and, in the 77th minute, Rohan Ricketts of TFC was fouled by Carlos Marinelli outside the penalty area. Guevara and Laurent Robert lined up on opposite sides of the ball. Last week, Robert took the free kick in a similar situation and scored with his left foot. This time, the two decided Guevara had the better angle and he scored with his right foot. "I actually thought Laurent was going to take it," Carver said. "This is why I give players the responsibility. They decide, they're in the situation, they know who feels good and on this occasion Amado fancied it. It was a delight when I saw it hit the back of the net."
