Its a familiar story. A broken record. Once again Toronto FCs long suffering supporters were left to watch their side throw away points in the closing moments of a match as the players switched off rather than give everything theyve got to defend their goal. The saddest thing about the situation is that no one was even the least bit surprised. When Sheanon Williams scored the late equalizer for Philadelphia Union at BMO Field on Saturday, it was the 12th time Toronto FC had conceded in the final 15 minutes of matches this season. Letting in late goals has been a familiar theme in TFCs history, and shows no sign of going away. Players can say the right things. They can talk about their desire to turn things around, but that has to be followed by actions, which includes putting your body on the line for your club and doing everything you possibly can to prevent the ball going in the goal. Too often, it has been too easy for the opposition. Torontos tie against Philadelphia followed a home loss to Chicago where one of the goals scored by the Fire had a couple of TFC players jumping out of the way in the buildup to the goal. The desire/ability just wasnt there. After the Chicago defeat, head coach Paul Mariner didnt hold back, lambasting his players for producing one of the "most embarrassing performances," he had ever been associated with. There was at least a response from the players against Philadelphia. They showed some pride in the shirt and battling qualities that hadnt been evident against the Fire. The words from Mariner were strong, but unfortunately not unfamiliar to fans of Toronto FC. There have been many occasions over the six years of the franchise when coaches, players and front office staff have talked about sub-standard performances and the need to "get it right," but Toronto supporters are still waiting. Well, some of them are. Some appear to have already given up, as was evidenced by two of the lowest attended league matches in the clubs history this week. Others want to see improvement rather than hearing about it before they decide to invest more money in the club. What lies ahead is an off-season that will define the future success of the club. Get it right, and the stands could well be full again next season, but any more missteps could see Torontos stadium attendances continue to slide - a gut-wrenching situation for everyone who wants to see soccer grow across this country. First up are the business decisions. How the club handles season seat renewals this year is one of the biggest moments in its history. It will also be a massive indicator as to how much the organization appreciates the loyalty of those fans who have been standing by the team through six years of failure to make the post-season. However, business decisions can only go so far. Toronto FC supporters want to see a winning team. It doesnt matter how low the prices are if the team serves up an unpalatable offering on the pitch. Paul Mariner and Director of Team Operations Earl Cochrane have a massive task ahead of them to assemble a squad that can compete for a playoff spot next season. Cochrane joined us on our MLS on TSN broadcast from BMO Field on Saturday and shed some light on plans for the future. He believes they need four players who can come in and be starters through the spine of the team. If they get that right, they can then build around those players with other pieces. Its much too early to be making judgements on Paul Mariner. He needs time to assemble his own squad to play his way. A promising start to his tenure as head coach has quickly taken a downward turn in both results and performances, but he can only be judged next season after he has had the winter to fix things. Toronto FC will have much more flexibility with the salary cap heading into next season, so Mariner and Cochrane should have the ability to bring in the players they believe will make the difference. By the time the 2013 season rolls around, this team will likely have a much different look once again as they attempt to finally "get things right." nba holdjersey .ca look back at each of the Top 10 stories of 2012. And TSNs reporters and analysts who covered the events as they happened offer their personal reflections on the stories. cheap jerseys . "Our defence was embarrassing, pretty much from start to finish," Skiles said after Monta Ellis scored six of his 22 points in the final 2 minutes to help the Bucks hold off the New Orleans Hornets 117-113 on Saturday night for their third straight victory. http://www.holdjersey.com/ . Theyve now set the Open-era Grand Slam title record, but the pair doesnt plan to stop adding to that total anytime soon. The American twins won the U. holdjersey . He was 88 years old. Royal, who is Texas all-time winningest coach and for whom the teams stadium is named after, had been suffering from Alzheimers disease. nfl holdjersey . -- New England Revolution midfielder Zak Boggs is retiring and will accept a Fulbright Scholarship to study medical sciences at Englands Leicester University beginning this fall.TORONTO, Ontario -- Ryan Miller regained his mastery of the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday night. Miller stopped 34 shots to lead the Buffalo Sabres to a 2-1 victory and spoil Torontos home opener. It was Millers 28th career win over the Leafs, the most the Sabres netminder has against any NHL team. Miller came into the contest with a 2.44 goals-against average and .922 save percentage versus Toronto (1-1-0), but the Leafs won the season series last year 3-2-1 and were a stellar 3-0-0 versus the Sabres at Air Canada Centre. "Theyve been kicking my ass the last two years a little bit so its time to get back at them," Miller said. "Were in one of the biggest cities for hockey, its great to come and play in front of these fans. "Its a big compliment to Buffalo that weve got great fans and in the area. I feel like this is the whole hockey area-- a big hotbed -- so we come and just try to enjoy yourself and have some fun and its fun to win here." Miller was solid for Buffalo (2-0-0) after registering a 27-save performance in the Sabres 5-2 season-opening home win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday night. The veteran netminder was a big reason while the ACC gathering of 19,475 spent much of the contest sitting on its hands. But Nazem Kadri got the home crowd buzzing when he beat Miller on the power play with 1:42 remaining, his second goal of the season. Torontos Joffrey Lupul appeared to tie it 25 seconds later with goalie Ben Scrivens on the bench but the goal was disallowed. With Scrivens back on the bench and Toronto on a late power play, Kadri was all alone to the side of Miller but couldnt get his stick on the bouncing puck in the dying seconds to force overtime. "He (Miller) is a very good goalie, one of the top goalies in the league for a reason," said Leafs captain Dion Phaneuf, who blasted a shot off the post in the first. "You have to have traffic on him and we did but he made some real good saves. "You have to give him credit, he made some big saves for them. We got traffic in the tough areas but at the end of the day we just didnt execute." Cody Hodgson, who had one of Buffalos goals, credited Miller for the victory. "He was pretty amazing back there," Hodgson said. "We were just able to pull it oout.dddddddddddd "It wasnt the prettiest but well take it." Jason Pominville had the other goal for Buffalo, which was outshot 35-20 in the first of four meetings this year with Toronto. The Leafs opened their season Saturday night with a 2-1 road win over Montreal. The game was the 95th home opener in Leafs history (44-33-15-3). Toronto opened its home schedule against Buffalo for the sixth time (2-3-1-0). Toronto outshot Buffalo 13-5 in the first but it was the Sabres who had the periods lone goal as Hodgson opened the scoring at 8:51, deflecting Christian Ehrhoffs point shot past Scrivens for his second goal of the season. The Leafs had a glorious chance to tie it when the visitors took three straight minor penalties -- giving the home team an extended two-man advantage -- but the closest they came to scoring was Phaneufs slapshot going off the post. Toronto finished the game with one power-play goal in seven attempts and was 0 for 2 with a two-man advantage. "I didnt think there was any lack of effort with our group," Leafs coach Randy Carlyle said. "I thought we were out of sorts in the first period and it showed in the execution of our power play. "When you have an extended, almost a full two-minute five on three, youre expected to provide some offence, youve got to score. And I think that came back to haunt us later in the game. We had our fair share of chances but we just didnt execute to the highest level that was required to win the hockey game." Pominville put Buffalo ahead 2-0 at 4:51 of the second with his first goal of the season. The Sabres captain -- who had three assists Sunday night against Philadelphia -- took a nice setup pass from Thomas Vanek and fired a wrist shot through Scrivens legs. The assist was Vaneks sixth point of the season after registering two goals and three assists against Philadelphia. NOTES -- Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield participated in the ceremonial opening faceoff from space . . . The Leafs opened the season with the NHLs second-youngest roster with an average age of 27.1 years. Only Columbus (26.9 years) is younger . . . Saturdays road win in Montreal marked the third straight season Toronto opened the campaign on a winning note . . . Torontos next game is Wednesday night in Pittsburgh. ' ' '