There were laughs and smiles and giggles throughout Toronto FC’s Halloween-themed player availability Monday morning inside KIA Training Ground.

Tosaint Ricketts, who capped the scoring in a momentous 2-0 win over New York City Sunday night, offered up his most memorable Halloween wear — a “scary pirate,” he recalled from five years ago.

His teammate, Nick Hagglund, seemed far more eager to partake in All Hallows’ Eve festivities, disclosing he had recently donned a “scary werewolf” costume to strike terror in the eyes of trick-or-treaters.

Then came coach Greg Vanney, who offered up a costume for Sebastian Giovinco.

“Mighty Mouse,” he said, smiling before realizing the 5-foot-nothing Italian probably would win Best Dressed as an Atomic Ant.

Asked what City star David Villa should dress as, Vanney elected to forgo any fodder heading into the return leg of this Eastern Conference semifinal.

“No comment,” Vanney said with a grin. “I might get in trouble with that.”

Allow us, coach.

Bruce Lee.

The Karate Kid.

A professional kickboxer.

Given what transpired Sunday night, the ex-Spanish international shouldn’t play a part when these two sides meet again at Yankee Stadium this weekend.

The gory details are undoubtedly grounds for a retroactive suspension.

Midway through the first half of Sunday night’s first leg, Villa lashed out at TFC’s Armando Cooper with a karate-style kick behind the right knee in an incident so egregious it’s disingenuous to debate.

Referee Silviu Petrescu, for some untold reason, didn’t see anything wrong on the play. The veteran ref motioned for both players to get up as Cooper dropped to the grass holding his leg.

That nothing was called might be the most absurd part of the play.

Regardless, there’s evidence to suggest Villa should miss Sunday’s return leg. Keep in mind Cooper — who appeared legally dead for 30 seconds following the incident — received a retroactive ban for much less against New York in September.

The Panamanian was rightfully suspended when cameras caught his semi-aggressive toe-bash into Felipe’s rear-end as the Red Bulls’ midfielder lay prone on the ground late in that regular season fixture.

Toronto’s Jozy Altidore was sent off in New England last season for “kicking out” — but missing — defender Jose Goncalves. It was an incident nowhere near as violent as when Villa — away from the ball — targeted Cooper Sunday night.

It’s why Vanney’s post-game words bear repeating:

“On any other day in any other league that player sees a suspension,” Vanney said of Villa. “For me, it was pretty blatant. It’s just not something that’s acceptable in the league.”

We’ll soon see.

The league’s disciplinary committee — comprised of three former MLS players, one former MLS coach and one former MLS referee — must be unanimous in determining whether a player should receive retroactive discipline.

Not only would inaction represent a miscarriage of justice, it would reveal undoubted bias towards a star player in a marquee market.

No reasonable, agenda-less judge would view this incident as anything less than violent conduct.

“What’s done is done and the game is over,” Vanney said. “It’s not in our hands. (The league) will determine what they want to do with it. Either way we’re still going to be playing on Sunday afternoon. We have to be ready to play regardless of who’s on the field.”

Of course, City without Villa would completely alter the complexion of this two-legged tie — especially given the Reds head to the Bronx this weekend with a two-goal advantage.

Keep in mind Villa scored 23 times during the regular season. City truly would be a shadow of themselves without him.

“He’s clearly one of the best players in the league,” Vanney added. “He’s one of the most dangerous strikers in MLS. He’s involved in the vast majority of their goals — whether it be by scoring or assisting or setting things up. He’s a handful.

“He can turn a half-chance into a goal in no time. He requires a lot of energy. Again, the (possible suspension) is beyond our control. We focus on ourselves and trying to prepare a gameplan to go into New York City and look to win the game.”

That diplomatic answer, however, doesn’t mean the Reds aren’t eager to see if MLS will punish Villa this week.

A player who started Sunday night’s playoff match told the Toronto Sun he couldn’t believe Villa wasn’t punished on the play.

Strange things happen around this time of year, though, don’t they?

NO CHANGE IN GAME PLAN

The strategy doesn’t change.

At least not at the start of Sunday night’s return leg.

Nursing a two-goal advantage in this Eastern Conference semifinal, Toronto FC bench boss Greg Vanney says the Reds are heading to Yankee Stadium looking to win the game.

“I think we have to go play the game,” Vanney said Monday morning. “I don’t think we get into this cat-and-mouse game of waiting around and trying to defend for 90 minutes.

“I think we need to go and play the game for a good stretch of it and go out to win the game. At the same time, we’ll be protecting our goal.”

Part of TFC’s intent has to do with field conditions. New York City’s Yankee Stadium contains a narrow pitch that presents certain challenges.

“It’s a field where so many little things can happen,” Vanney added. “You don’t want the ball near your goal. Throw-ins, everything can so quickly be in front of your net. It’s important to not just sit back.”

klarson@postmedia.com