The fans did not notice the writing on the wall: it was possible. For these three reasons:
1. Montreal chose not to bring its best side. See, the Whitecaps (who had the unfortunate honor of watching the game from the bleachers), were praying to King Neptune that the Impact would bail them out and deny TFC the Voyageurs Cup.
And the Impact would face Vancouver in a USL First Division game later in the week.
The resulting lineup? A suicidal one, in spite of Tony Donatelli and Joey Gjertsen starting.
No Leonardo Di Lorenzo. And no Roberto Brown. The same Roberto Brown who denied Toronto their trophy.
Even worse, Marc dos Santos made the ill-advised decision of starting Srdjan Djekanovic in goal against a desperate TFC side.
2. Toronto knew that they needed to throw everything—and the kitchen sink and stilettos—at Montreal to jump past the Caps. And with the memory of last year still fresh in their minds, revenge in the pouring rain by the St. Lawrence River could not have come at a better time.
So they had the likes of Dwayne De Rosario and Amado Guevara in the lineup. The firepower that was facing Montreal was at the ready.
3. The Impact had been so dominant in the history of the Cup, that it was time that someone else hoisted it. And it could have been Vancouver. But someone other the Impact was going to have their name on it.
In the 24th minute, a penalty by Donatelli seemed to erase the writing and instead put Toronto FC in the coffin.
But that goal would be the last straw for the Reds.
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