Tyrese Spicer scores in Toronto's comeback win vs Orlando

FORMER Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL) standout Tyrese Spicer scored his third goal for his new club Toronto FC on Saturday night, as they got an exciting 2-1 win against Orlando City at the Inter & Co Stadium in Florida in their Major League Soccer (MLS) matchup.

The hosts Orlando took the lead in the 37th minute when Duncan McGuire finished off a flowing team move. Orlando, currently 13th on the 15-team Eastern Conference standings, appeared to be inching closer to their third win of the season. However, Toronto had other ideas and a pair of second-half substitutes made telling contributions to help alter the course of the game.

Spicer, the top pick from the 2024 MLS Superdraft, entered the fray in the 69th minute. The TT forward wasted little time before making his impact on the game and he equalised with a close-range header in the 87th minute after Italian playmaker Frederico Bernadeschi found Kobe Franklin with a peach of a cross-field ball.

In the 90th minute, Bernadeschi worked his magic once more as he made a dazzling run down the right side before crossing for lanky forward Prince Owusu, who secured the three points with a header at the back stick to beat goalkeeper Pedro Gallese to make it 2-1.

Toronto are fourth in the Eastern Conference with 16 points from ten matches, and they will host Western Conference strugglers FC Dallas (eight points) in their next match on May 4.

The clinical header was the 23-year-old Spicer's second MLS goal, following his goal against Atlanta United in a 2-0 win for Toronto on March 23 in his first start for the club. Spicer also scored in a thumping 5-0 victory for Toronto against Simcoe County Rovers in the Canadian Championship last week.