Toronto FC is familiar with the concept of redemption.

It was what spurred the Reds after their 2016 MLS Cup final loss to the Seattle Sounders. And the team’s 2017 season ended with a Supporters’ Shield and an MLS Cup win.

Now TFC has another shot at it. After losing in the CONCACAF Champions League final to Chivas de Guadalajara on penalties in April, the Reds guaranteed their return to that tournament by winning the Canadian Championship over the Vancouver Whitecaps on Wednesday night at BMO Field, taking the second game of the two-leg series 5-2, and the aggregate 7-4.

“As professionals, as competitors, the chance to win trophies doesn’t come around every day,” TFC captain Michael Bradley said of lifting the Voyageurs Cup for a third straight year. “And it’s our ticket back into Champions League, which is still very much on everybody’s minds.”

Toronto striker Jozy Altidore came up with a man-of-the-match performance, scoring a hat trick days after he was shown an early red card in a disappointing league loss to Eastern Conference rivals New York City FC. Sebastian Giovinco and Tosaint Ricketts had the other TFC goals.

“Just (Altidore’s) presence out there really helps us a lot,” said midfielder Marky Delgado, who had two assists in the game. “He’s a big body out there and he can really hold the ball, and when he’s on and working, you can really tell.”

Delgado was a late addition to the starting 11 when fellow midfielder Victor Vazquez was pulled minutes before kickoff due to a sore knee. Toronto coach Greg Vanney also made three changes to the team that played to a 2-2 tie at BC Place last week, bringing in Giovinco, midfielder Jay Chapman and defender Justin Morrow for Ricketts, wingback Auro Jr. and defender Nick Hagglund.

In the starting 11 for Vancouver was Canadian teen sensation Alphonso Davies, whose participation was questionable heading into the match after he missed a league game against the Portland Timbers over the weekend with a right hip flexor strain. Whitecaps coach Carl Robinson said it was a tough decision whether or not to start the 17-year-old; he played for 52 minutes before he was substituted for Brek Shea.

Toronto dominated in the first half, with nine shots to Vancouver’s two, but Altidore didn’t break the deadlock until the 39th minute. He started that move outside the box on the right side, playing a series of tic-tac-toe passes with Morrow and Delgado until the midfielder played Altidore in the box with a back-heel touch and the striker finished calmly from close range.

Giovinco doubled Toronto’s lead in the 44th minute with an uncharacteristic headed goal and provided two assists of his own on the night, but it was Altidore’s game. The American scored two goals in four minutes on the other side of halftime to give Toronto a four-goal lead. Kei Kamara and Shea scored for the visitors in the 63rd and 77th minutes.

The Reds now have a 13-1 record in two-legged series dating back to 2016, the only loss that heartbreaker against Chivas four month ago.

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Canadian Jonathan Osorio, who won the George Gross Memorial Trophy, awarded to the tournament’s most valuable player, said he hopes Wednesday’s win is a springboard in the regular season, where Toronto sits seven points back of a playoff spot with two games in hand on Montreal, the sixth-place team.

Then the Reds will turn their focus back to making things right in the Champions League.

“Redemption isn’t until we get back to CONCACAF and we handle business there and get to the final,” Osorio said. “That’s redemption, but this is a step towards that.”

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