Two weeks ago, the Union might have been considered dead on the Eastern Conference table.
Eight games without a win forced them nearly out of the playoff picture and their captain and All-Star goalkeeper Faryd Mondragon was pushed out of the lineup for a month with a broken finger.
The Union needed a life line, a leader, and with goals in a 1-0 win over the Columbus Crew on Sept. 17 and hard-fought 1-1 draw against Sporting Kansas City on Friday night at Livestrong Park, they received exactly that in Sebastien Le Toux.
My confidence is good, said Le Toux, who has turned a warm streak into a scorching hot one with his seventh goal in as many games, the game-winner on Friday on a perfect cross-pass from Michael Farfan. Its nice for me to get seven goals in seven games, and its good for my team, but right now my own goals are not as important.
Yet, Le Touxs production is importantits fueling the Unions recent success that has the former downtrodden squad in a two-point, four-team race for the conference lead.
While the Unions defensive side was responsible for the teams early success and back-line faltering the reason for their mid-season funk, now that the Union, led by rookie Zac MacMath in net, are back on track defensively, its been Le Toux who has paced them with offense consistency.
Fridays 63rd minute comeback was a primary example of this.
I believe that every point at this stage is very valuable whether you play home or away, said coach Peter Nowak. We see the standings are tight right now. We are happy with our effort. We have been preaching the whole season long that we need to be consistent with our game. I think this is another game that we play good full 90 minutes of a high intensity game. We didnt back down today.
With one of the youngest teams in the league, the second-year squad is in uncharted territory in the thick of a playoff race with just five games remaining in the season. And though the Union were without second leading scorer Danny Mwanga and creative midfielder Freddy Adu for the heated conference match-up because of injuries, Le Touxs offensive presence and leadership shone though and powered the young group.
We showed character, Le Toux said, who leads the team with eight goals, and thats good to see.
Though the Union have put on display their flawed play in the past couple months, the team, led by Le Toux, have endured by using that noted character to grind out points. For Nowak, thats simply the result of playing with no excuses and high expectations.
Expectations are always high, Nowak said. We have to raise the expectations of our team regardless of their age or experience. We have to go into the game with the mentality to win the game or that we are able to win the game. It is a good sign for them and it is good for their confidence and I am looking forward to the last five games of the regular season.
And with the 27-year-old Frenchmans hot streak burning through the competition with a chance to send the Union to the top of the table on Thursday against DC United at PPL Park, the surge has energized more than just the coach.
E-mail Ryan Bright at ryanbright13@gmail.com