VAUGHAN, Ontario – Toronto-area native Luca Uccello tallied his first goal of the season and Malik Johnson scored a stoppage-time goal to edge the defending USL champion Rochester Rhinos 2-1 on Saturday at the Ontario Soccer Centre. TFC II held off a Rochester side that found a late goal from Joseph Farrell in the second minute of second-half stoppage, but that was as close as the Rhinos would get. Toronto saw an end to its five-game winless stream (0-4-1) and improved to 3-7-3 (12 points) on the season. The Rhinos fell to 5-3-3 (18 points).

Scoring:
77’ – TOR – Luca Uccello (Bubacarr Jobe)
90’+ – TOR – Malik Johnson (Brian James)
90’+ – ROC – Joseph Farrell

Three Things That Mattered:

• 1. Toronto FC II Head Coach Jason Bent hoped for a bit of an offensive jolt in the final 15-20 minutes, bringing in Luca Uccello and Raheem Edwards off of the bench in the 73rd minute. Edwards has established himself as a spark, but it was Uccello that rose to the occasion in the 77th minute. Uccello began the sequence with a dish to the right flank to Bubacarr Jobe and Uccello kept his run going forward. He received a return pass and shot low toward the left of the frame to take a 1-0 lead.

• 2. Malik Johnson scored an impressive strike shortly into second-half stoppage time. After a Brian James through ball, Johnson did the right to cut to his right and fired perfectly into the upper right corner for a 2-0 lead. It looked like it would be a comfortable advantage, but Joseph Farrell made things interesting with an immediate response for Rochester to cut it to one.

• 3. One player for Rochester that could have turned the tables was striker Steevan Dos Santos. Dos Santos had several great chances to get on the score sheet for the Rhinos. In the seventh minute, Dos Santos’ right-footed strike with the outside of his boot skipped on the surface past Toronto goalkeeper Alex Bono and caromed off the left post. In the 79th minute, when Toronto tried to push Dos Santos in an offside position, the Rhinos forward was left all alone. He tried to lob the ball over Bono, but TFC II’s goalkeeper made the stop as the defense did just enough to ward off Rochester.

USLSoccer.com Man of the Match:
Malik Johnson, Toronto FC II – Johnson fired a bullet into the upper right corner for a two-goal lead that ultimately served as the winner, and he is now tied for the team goal-scoring lead with Raheem Edwards with four on the season.

Upcoming Games:
Toronto FC II vs. FC Montreal – June 15, 11:30 a.m. ET, Ontario Soccer Centre
Rochester Rhinos vs. Louisville City FC – June 18, 6:05 p.m. ET, Rhinos Stadium