Toronto FC's Sebastian Giovinco celebrates after scoring his team's second goal against Colorado Rapids during first half MLS action in Toronto on September 19, 2015.Chris Young/The Canadian Press
Another 6,800 kilometres and Toronto FC's marathon eight-game trip to start the MLS season is done.
Greg Vanney's team, which has turned heads with its stingy defence and disciplined play, looks for win No. 4 on its travels as it visits the defending champion Portland Timbers (2-3-3) on Sunday. That would give Toronto a 14-point nest egg, with 17 of its next 26 games at home.
"Going to Portland is always a tough task," Vanney said. "Great crowd, good stadium. Obviously it's [artificial] turf, which is a little bit different a surface – and a tough team.
"But we're looking forward to it. We have a nice little run going. And we're going to keep doing what we're doing."
Toronto (3-2-2) will have travelled some 19,500 kilometres before it opens up shop May 7 against FC Dallas at newly renovated BMO Field.
At the start of the 2015 season, Toronto picked up nine points with a 3-4-0 record on a seven-game league road trip – it also lost 1-0 in Montreal in the Amway Canadian Championship – because of the first round of stadium renovations.
On that trip it scored 11 goals and conceded 11, showing early signs of a potent offence and leaky defence. Toronto finished the 2015 campaign tied with Chicago and New York City FC with a league-worst 58 goals.
Fast forward to today and Toronto's defence ranks first with just five goals given up in seven games (0.71 a game). In contrast, the Timbers rank 18th at 1.88 goals a game. Toronto's Clint Irwin leads all goalkeepers with that 0.71 goals-against average – and an 81.3 save percentage.
Perhaps most impressively, Toronto has yielded just one goal after the 30-minute mark this season.
"It was a very strategic approach coming into the year," Vanney said of the upgrade in defence. "Obviously knowing we had some things that we needed to attend to."
The arrival of Irwin, defenders Drew Moor and Steven Beitashour and midfielder Will Johnson, a former Timbers captain, has added experience and resolve. Moving captain Michael Bradley to a more defensive role in midfield was another key part of the puzzle.
But Vanney drilled the whole team on defence for weeks in the preseason, knowing that discipline was needed given the team's demanding schedule.
"We're going to run with it. We've got to maintain that as our mentality as we continue to move forward," he said. "Even as we get home. We have to still prioritize that we want to be a team that's very stingy in the goals-against average. … We want to make sure it becomes a part of our DNA, no matter where we play."
It's taken some 10 seasons but Toronto is finally forging an identity under Vanney.
The offence continues to hinge on Sebastian Giovinco who has had a hand in all of Toronto's goals, scoring six and assisting on the other two.
Vanney says he believes Jozy Altidore and others will come to share in the scoring. Altidore has already drawn a penalty and done his bit to set up Giovinco.
"There's no way that Jozy's not going to score his fair share of goals this year … I think there's going to be [other] contributors along the way," he said.
Giovinco, who is both scorer and provider, will continue to lead the way, however.
After Portland, Toronto will look to bring its new-found grit back home where the team's all-time record is a less-than-modest 55-45-45. The club's marketing department was reaching when it called BMO Field "our fortress" in a full-page ad this week.
Despite a sluggish start, Portland will offer a stiff test as its full roster is restored.
Rising star Darlington Nagbe is back after missing two games due to an ankle injury suffered in a nasty tackle by the Galaxy's Nigel de Jong on April 10. Influential midfielder Diego Valeri returns after a one-game suspension in the wake of a red card. Veteran defender Liam Ridgewell (hamstring) is also expected back.
The Timbers have been doing some travelling of their own. While they were on a bye last weekend, they had to go to Boston in mid-week for a 1-1 tie with the New England Revolution.
Toronto will be without attacking midfielder Jonathan Osorio, left at home after rolling his ankle in practice. Osorio, who has developed a useful rapport with Giovinco, has been effective of late playing at the tip of Vanney's midfield diamond.