TORONTO — Josh Sargent shook his head in disbelief.
His first career Major League Soccer goal was the winner in Toronto FC’s 3-2 over the Colorado Rapids on Saturday, but the real fireworks happened eight minutes before that.
A blooper-reel own goal by Colorado goalkeeper Zack Steffen brought the game level in the second half and set the stage for Sargent’s heroics.
Leading 2-1 in the 75th minute, Rapids right back Keegan Rosenberry attempted to reset play from midfield by kicking the ball back to Steffen, the Colorado captain.
But Steffen misjudged the pass and stepped forward only to watch the ball dribble past him and into the back of the net for Toronto’s equalizer.
“I was a bit like ‘OK, what just happened? We’ll take it,'” Sargent said. “We definitely got a boost of energy from that, like ‘all right, let’s go win this thing now.'”
Sargent launched a header into the back of the net off a cross from Alonso Coello. It marked the American’s first goal in three games since joining TFC from Norwich City in February.
“Big relief. It’s been a while since I’ve scored,” said Sargent, who missed wide on a first-half scoring opportunity. “I would have been upset if I didn’t get a goal by the end of the game. So just very happy. Great to get a goal and hopefully more to come.”
Sargent played 90 minutes, subbing off just before second-half stoppage time. Toronto’s designated player logged just 65 minutes total over his first two TFC appearances.
“Josh is good at everything you need a forward to be good at and we see bits and pieces of it every time we’ve seen him play, and then we see more of it when we see more minutes,” Toronto head coach Robin Fraser said.
Sargent’s goal was the capper to a see-saw battle that saw Toronto (3-2-1) extend its points streak to four. The game featured three red cards along with momentum swings.
Colorado (3-3-0) was assessed the first red card in the 33rd minute when midfielder Jackson Travis was sent off for an illegal tackle against TFC’s Raheem Edwards.
Toronto failed to capitalize, and then took a red card of its own early in the second half when Edwards was sent off for denying a Colorado goal-scoring opportunity just outside of the box.
The Rapids converted on the ensuing free kick. Paxten Aaronson beat TFC’s Luka Gavran low to the goalkeeper’s right side in the 51st minute.
Rosenberry struck just three minutes later to double Colorado’s lead.
“It was actually quite surreal,” Fraser said. “It’s a horrible place to be and I think we got even better and even more engaged and even more intense at that point. Then it turned into this crazy game.”
Toronto pulled within one when Richie Laryea executed a top-corner strike in the 65th minute, curling the ball in from a tight angle.
There was some question as to whether Laryea’s ball was really intended to be a cross that ended up being pushed in by the wind. Only the result mattered to Toronto.
Colorado’s Miguel Navarro picked up his second yellow card and was sent off in the 74th minute.
The Steffen own goal occurred just three minutes later and led to jeers from the home fans every time he touched the ball for the rest of the game.
“For me, it was just ‘OK, now we’re even. Now let’s go win the game,’” Fraser said. “Zack’s feet are phenomenal, and it was a really unlucky situation for him, which obviously was really fortunate for us.
“It’s probably the first time in a long time that I can recall being down with that large a deficit and getting back to even and just thinking, ‘we’ve gotta win this game.’ It wasn’t satisfaction to get back to two-nil, it was really the job is still out there to be done.”
Djordje Mihailovic, who was acquired by TFC from Colorado in August, didn’t suit up for what would have been his first game against his former team due to a pelvis injury. Fraser said the extent of Mihailovic’s injury remains unknown.
Toronto defender Walker Zimmerman was substituted off in the 56th minute due to calf tightness.
Rapids defender and Toronto native Kosi Thompson — traded from TFC to Colorado in late March for up to $400,000 in general allocation money — wasn’t in the lineup for his new team either.
The match marked the third of nine straight at home for TFC before it heads on the road for six to make way for the FIFA World Cup.
Toronto hosts FC Cincinnati and Colorado is at home to the Houston Dynamo next Saturday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 4, 2026.
Myles Dichter, The Canadian Press
