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TORONTO - As Toronto FC prepares for a challenging four-game road trip, manager Ryan Nelsen and his braintrust face some troubling questions. Make no mistake, the big picture remains positive. Toronto (7-6-5) is headed for its best ever season and first trip to the playoffs. The roster and team culture have been smartly remade. But injuries and suspensions have made it difficult to find the right mix of pieces to complete the puzzle. And mentally, Toronto has yet to show that it can kill off a game on a regular basis when it has its foot on the other teams neck. The officiating stole many of the headlines in Saturdays 2-1 loss to Sporting Kansas City, but the inability to finish and some sloppy defending cost Toronto more than the decision-making of referee Ted Unkel. "Two very soft goals and we havent got our balance right yet in that midfield," said Nelsen. "Maybe (we were) missing a couple of key players, but our balance wasnt right on the two goals. We were spectators. In a time when we had to be urgent and our intensity had to be focused, we just hoped somebody would do their job and that was unfortunate." Sadly soft goals have been a common theme of late, with the backline losing its shape and getting punished. Toronto was missing star striker Jermain Defoe (suspension), captain/centre back Steven Caldwell and right back Mark Bloom (knee) against the MLS champions. Defoe will be back when Toronto kicks off its road trip against D.C. United (10-5-4) but Toronto will be without centre back Doneil Henry on Wednesday due to accumulation of yellow cards. Toronto then plays at Montreal, Columbus and Kansas City. Torontos defenders were all over the place on Kansas Citys goals (in the 48th minute by Graham Zusi and 80th by former TFC midfielder Jacob Peterson). Brazilian winger Jackson had opened the scoring for Toronto in the 16th minute. Kansas City players flooded into the penalty box on the first goal by the visitors, with the ball eventually ricocheting back to Zusi who curled it into the top of the goal with Joe Bendik stranded out of position. On the second, Toronto was unable to defend a deflected cross and Kansas City forward Dom Dwyer flicked the ball back to Peterson, who beat Bendik from close range. Nelsen complained some of his players had settled for spots that would have worked out well had their teammates won the ball back. But they did not. "They were some guys that were spectating and getting into nice comfortable position but werent influencing the game, they werent helping out their teammates," he said. "Thats a hardness that we lost, I think," he added, "(and) that we need to get back." Nelsen played a midfield of Jackson, Michael Bradley, Collen Warner and Dominic Oduro against Kansas City, Oduro terrorized the KC defence and Jackson, making a terrific run to take advantage of a marvellous Oduro pass that split the defence, scored one goal and could have had three on the night. But the Brazilian winger was one player who seemed to be lying in wait for a possible counter-attack on one of the Kansas City goals. And Oduros mind set is offence not defence. On a micro level, Nelsens frustration Saturday was that his team got it right for most of the game other than two lapses of concentration. On a larger level, he sees a good team unable yet to take the final step to becoming a very good one. "But this is why its such a great game," he said. "Nothing is given to you here, is it. Youve got to keep working, take little steps, little steps, little steps and eventually these results will go your way and youll learn from your mistakes. "Weve got some young guys, we had a couple of young players out in the backline. Weve still got some new players coming into the team. I feel bad for the guys, because we are very close." Nelsen saw plenty of positives, which perhaps made the loss more upsetting. "Our transition was just brilliant today. We absolutely destroyed them today on it." The pace of Oduro and Jackson, coupled with fine passing from Bradley and others did rip Kansas City apart repeatedly. "The bottom line is that on too many days were the team not coming away with points," said Bradley. "Over the course of a season, these games add up and mean that youre not in the position we should be. So weve to take a long hard look at ourselves at the moment and really find a way to translate at times good play and dominating games and turn that into points and wins." The league will no doubt review Saturdays officiating and the comments that followed. "Its by no means an excuse, it was the same for both teams, but the referee was absolutely awful," Bradley said after carefully choosing his words. "The people at the MLS (head) office in New York, when they talk about wanting to improve the league, the first thing that needs to be improved is the refereeing, bottom line. "That shouldnt come across as sour grapes because thats just the reality. And it was bad for both teams and Im sure theyre sitting in their locker-room saying the same thing to themselves but theyve got three points with them and that certainly makes it a little easier to swallow." Unkel issued eight yellow cards, including five to Toronto. Kansas City was reduced to 10 men in the 75th minute when captain/defender Matt Besler got a second yellow. Foremost on Torontos list of complaints was a no-call in the 23rd minute when Unkel waved play on after Kansas City defender Aurelien Collin, chasing Brazilian striker Gilberto after a deft through ball from Bradley, appeared to clip the Brazilians leg. Gilberto, who had a clear path on goal, went down and Bradley went after the referee imploring for a call, which should have garnered Collin a red card. The French defender went unpunished and Toronto got the first four yellows of the night. "Collin should have been sent off. I mean an under-12 ref can pick that one," Nelsen said with disgust. "Thats pretty basic." Kansas City coach Peter Vermes had a different view of the officiating. "I thought the referee did a good job tonight, that is my personal opinion," he said. "I dont think it was an easy game to ref. "I really liked his management of the game, the things that you can control the ball going out of bounds and the guy trying to steal 15 yards. Those are the things that drive us nuts as coaches, the little calls you might miss or might get, but those things he did a good job of and kept the game going on both sides. Toronto hit the woodwork twice in the first half. Nike Blazer Shoes Online . -- Floridas smothering defence returned to form just in time for the third-ranked Gators to keep their winning streak going. Wholesale Blazer China . City, fielding a depleted team having already qualified, was twice pegged back by the plucky Czech champions but substitute Negredo tapped home in the 78th minute and Dzekos header made sure of victory in the 89th. The result kept City three points behind Bayern Munich ahead of their meeting in Germany in two weeks. http://www.wholesalenikeblazer.com/. - No matter the lineup or location, the San Antonio Spurs are rolling through the NBA again this spring, just the way they have for most of the last two decades. Nike Blzer Cheap .C. -- Duke sophomore Rodney Hood is entering the NBA draft. Nike Blazer Clearance . “The shootout, theres nothing wrong with it, I think its an exciting part of the game but its just one small aspect,” said Chicago Blackhawks GM Stan Bowman. “Its a skill exhibition. If you can get it back closer to regular hockey and have it decided that way; that would be my preference.” “I dont think its a knock on the shootout, I think more of the managers would like to see it end in overtime,” added Washington Capitals GM George McPhee.PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. -- Calder Brooks and Leon Draisaitl scored 13 seconds apart in the third period as the Prince Albert Raiders edged the visiting Brandon Wheat Kings 3-2 on Saturday in Western Hockey League action. Dakota Conroy also scored for the Raiders (33-30-5), who jumped over Brandon for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference with a game in hand. Rihards Bukarts scored both goals for the Wheat Kings (31-29-0), who are on a four-game slide with three regular-season games remaining. Nick McBride made 21 saves for Prince Albert while Jordan Papirny turned away 34-of-37 shots for the Wheat Kings. --- WARRIORS 4 OIL KINGS 1 MOOSE JAW, Sask. -- Sam Fioretti and Jack Rodewald each had a pair of goals as the Warriors downed Edmonton. Brayden Point and Tanner Eberle each chipped in with two assists for Moose Jaw (20-40-9). Curtis Lazar scored for the Oil Kings (47-18-3). Justin Paulic made 31 saves for the Warriors as Edmontons Tyler Santos stopped 21-of-25 shots in a losing cause. --- HITMEN 2 BLADES 1 SASKATOON -- Chris Driedger stopped 43-of-44 shots as Calgary slipped past the Blades. Colby Harmsworth and Alex Roach supplied the scoring for the Hitmen (45-17-7). Jordon Thomson scored for Saskatoon (16-47-5), which dropped its eighth game in a row, and Troy Trombley kicked out 30-of-32 shots in defeat. Calgary and Edmonton are tied with 97 points apiece. The Oil Kings remain first in the Eastern Conference because they have a game in hand. --- ICE 3 PATS 1 CRANBROOK, B.C. -- Jaedon Descheneau scored once and set up two more as Kootenay downed Regina. Jagger Dirk and Luke Philp also scored for the Ice (39-25-4) and Sam Reinhart had two assists. The Pats (38-25-6) got their lone goal from Morgan Klimchuk. Mackenzie Skapski made 27 saves for Kootenay while Reginas Dawson MacAuley stopped 28-of-30 shots in defeat. ---- BRONCOS 5 HURRICANES 3 LETHBRIDGE, Alta. -- Graham Black and Jay Merkley each had a pair of goals as Swift Current handed the Hurricanes their 11th loss in a row. Codo Gordon had a goal and two assists for the Broncos (35-25-9) and Julius Honka chipped in with three assists. Jamal Watson, Brady Ramsay and Tyler Wong scored for Lethbridge (12-52-5). Swift Currents Landon Bow made 22 saves for the win. Teagan Sacher gave up five goals on 33 shots in two periods of play for the Hurricanes. Stuart Skinner stopped all nine shots he faced in relief. --- TIGERS 5 REBELS 3 MEDICINE HAT, Alta. -- Curtis Valk had three goals and an assist as the Tigers defeated Red Deer. Blake Penner and Anthony Ast also scored for Medicine Hat (42-23-4) and Trevor Cox had two assists. Wyatt Johnson scored once for the Rebels (33-31-5) and assisted on goals by Scott Feser and Adam Musil.dddddddddddd Marek Langhamer made 20 saves for the Tigers while Red Deers Patrik Bartosak turned aside 40-of-44 shots in defeat. --- WINTERHAWKS 4 GIANTS 1 PORTLAND, Ore. -- Adin Hill stopped 28 shots and Oliver Bjorkstrand and Brendan Leipsic each had a goal and an assist as the Winterhawks toppled Vancouver. Chase De Leo and Keegan Iverson also scored for Portland (50-13-5). Joel Hamilton scored the lone goal for the Giants (31-27-10). Vancouvers Payton Lee turned away 30-of-34 shots in defeat. --- CHIEFS 8 COUGARS 0 PRINCE GEORGE, B.C. -- Mitch Holmberg had three goals and an assist and Mike Aviani scored once and set up three others as Spokane crushed the Cougars. Markson Bechtold, Jason Fram, Marcus Messier and Riley Whittingham also scored for the Chiefs (38-24-6) and Keanu Yamamoto had three assists. Spokanes Eric Williams made 28 saves for his fourth shutout of the season. Adam Beukeboom allowed three goals on 19 shots for Prince George (26-36-8) while Ty Edmonds stopped 13-of-18 shots in his 31 minutes of action for the Cougars. --- ROCKETS 7 AMERICANS 0 KELOWNA, B.C. -- Jordon Cooke made 20 saves and seven different players scored as the Rockets blanked Tri-City. Madison Bowey, Damon Severson, Nick Merkley, Rourke Chartier, Kris Schmidl, Marek Tvrdon and Ryan Olsen supplied the offence for Kelowna (54-10-4), which went 4 for 4 on the power play. Evan Sarthough turned aside 39-of-46 shots for the Americans (28-32-8), who have just one win in their last 10 contests. Tri-City has a four-point lead over Prince George for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference with two games in hand. --- SILVERTIPS 5 THUNDERBIRDS 2 KENT, Wash. -- Joshua Winquist scored twice and Austin Lotz made 31 saves as Everett downed Seattle. Patrick Bajkov, Dawson Leedahl and Zane Jones also scored for the Silvertips (36-23-9), who are 8-0-1 in their last nine games, and Ivan Nikolishin added two assists. Shea Theodore and Russell Maxwell responded for the Thunderbirds (39-22-6). Seattles Taran Kozun allowed four goals on 27 shots before giving way to Danny Mumaugh, who stopped both shots he faced in 16 minutes of relief. --- ROYALS 3 BLAZERS 2 VICTORIA -- Taylor Crunk kicked off three straight goals for the Royals with a goal nine seconds into the game en route to downing Kamloops. Brett Cote and Tyler Soy also scored for Victoria (47-17-4), which won its fifth game in a row. Matt Revel and Matt Needham scored in the third period for the Blazers (13-51-5), who are on a seven-game skid. Patrik Polivka made 18 saves for the Royals while Bolton Pouliot stopped 29 shots for Kamloops. Wholesale Hoodies NFL Shirts Outlet Jerseys NFL Wholesale Cheap NFL Jerseys Free Shipping Wholesale Jerseys Cheap Cheap NFL Jerseys China Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap NFL Jerseys ' ' '