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TORONTO - Toronto FCs season may be in the balance but the teams pulse seemed very steady ahead of what coach Greg Vanney called the most important match of the year.Toronto visits the New York Red Bulls on Saturday, with maximum points needed. Anything else wont result in playoff elimination but the already slim chance of advancing will dwindle.Toronto (11-13-7) stands sixth, three points behind Columbus which currently holds down the fifth and last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Columbus (11-10-10) plays at eighth-place Philadelphia (9-10-12) on Saturday.Vanney said his players are embracing the challenge, rather than seeing their backs against the wall.They firmly believe that they can go to New York and win the game, as do I, Vanney said Friday before getting on the plane.I think the group believes in what we have and what were doing, he added. I think were quite frankly looking forward at this challenge.We know how important it is, added captain Steven Caldwell. We need to roll our sleeves up, be men and come away with the victory.Of course the same could be said for Wednesday, when Toronto ran into a hot goalie in Tyler Deric and squandered a pile of scoring chances in a costly 1-0 loss to the visiting Houston Dynamo. Toronto could not take advantage of a penalty or extra man after Dynamo defender A.J. Cochran was sent off with 35 minutes remaining.We kind of dug ourselves in a hole when we didnt get a result against Houston, said Ghanaian midfielder-forward Dominic Oduro.To me, thats no pressure, he added. We just have to go out there and execute.With three games remaining, Toronto desperately needs to collect as many of the nine available points left as possible.If we can do our job and win (Saturday), we set ourselves up in a pretty good way as we come home again (to host Montreal), said Vanney. And then well see where were at and what we need as we go to New England for the final match.But those two matches dont mean anything until we get something out of (Saturday).A loss Saturday would put Toronto on playoff life support. A tie and the team would be watching other results with fingers crossed.Even with a win Saturday, it needs other teams to falter to keep its playoff dream alive. Five points separate teams No. 4 through No. 8 in the Eastern Conference with Toronto in the middle at No. 6.Vanney sees more than light at the end of the tunnel. He said if TFC makes the post-season, I dont think anyone would want to play our team because we continue, I think, to grow as a group week in and week out, day in and day out. While Toronto looks to stay alive in the playoff hunt, the Red Bulls (11-9-11) hope to book their ticket to the post-season. They can qualify with a win over Toronto and a Houston tie or loss to D.C. United on Saturday.Toronto has lost two straight via shutout with the Houston setback following a 3-0 defeat in Los Angeles against the Galaxy.New York sits fourth in the Eastern Conference and has lost just once in its last six (4-1-1).Sporting Kansas City, the New England Revolution, Real Salt Lake and FC Dallas can also book their post-season tickets with the right combination of weekend results. Philadelphia and Houston could be eliminated.New York will be without star midfielder Tim Cahill (Australia) and defenders Roy Miller (Costa Rica) and Ambroise Oyongo (Cameroon), all away on international duty.Congo striker Peguy Luyindula is suspended for the game, the result of a scissors tackle on Houstons Luis Garrido.Toronto has Doneil Henry, Manny Aparacio and Quillan Roberts in camp with Canada, which plays Colombia on Tuesday at Red Bulls Arena. None is a starter, however. Toronto teenage striker Jordan Hamilton, on loan to a Portuguese second-tier team, is also in the Canadian camp.New York has won six straight at Red Bull Arena and is unbeaten there in its last nine matches (7-0-2) including a 2-2 draw with Toronto on June 27. The Red Bulls have not lost at home since May 24.Toronto won 2-0 at BMO Field on May 17 in the teams other meeting this season.The Red Bulls hope to make some noise en route to the playoffs. English striker Bradley Wright-Phillips, who leads the MLS with 24 goals, is after the league single-season scoring record of 27 set by Roy Lassiter (1996)and Chris Wondolowski (2012).Vanney said the best defence is a good offence. But he also knows the squad cannot throw caution to the wind, with Wright-Phillips and Thierry Henry lurking in attack.We have to go out there, we have to be bold, said Caldwell. We have to be attack-minded to win the game, but we cant be too cavalier. Theres a right mix.Vanney has a full squad at his disposal. Brazilian striker Gilberto, who has missed the last two games with a hamstring issue, is part of the travelling squad but Vanney appears to be leaning towards sticking with an all-English strike force of Jermain Defoe and Luke Moore.Fullback Justin Morrow, limping after rolling an ankle Wednesday, is also available to play. Notes: Vanney expects star midfielder Michael Bradley to join the U.S. squad after the Red Bulls game for the Americans friendly Tuesday against Honduras in Boca Raton, Fla. ... Look for Oduro to add some pink to his ever-changing mohawk, to honour breast cancer awareness month.———Follow @NeilMDavidson Brett Howden Jersey . -- Floridas smothering defence returned to form just in time for the third-ranked Gators to keep their winning streak going. 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Two-time U.S. Open winner Retief Goosen and former Masters winner Charl Schwartzel also were in early contention at their home tournament. Nixon was one of the last players to finish Thursday, but ended with birdie, eagle, par to knock Italys Marco Crespi and South Africas Jbe Kruger off the top of the leaderboard at Glendower Golf Club. Goosen began with a 66 to tie for third, while Schwartzel shot 67. Schwartzels younger brother, Attie, a pro on South Africas Sunshine Tour, matched his more famous sibling to share sixth place at 5 under. Goosen is still recovering from back surgery in 2012 that wiped out most of his last two seasons and made steady progress on Thursday with seven birdies and just one dropped shot at the par-3 No. 6. "Six under any day is pretty good," the 2001 and 2004 U.S. Open chammpion said.dddddddddddd "It was nice to finish off good, too. Im feeling good. Im going after the ball a little bit now, so getting some consistency going." The 44-year-old Goosen hasnt won a tournament since March 2009. Charl Schwartzel, fresh off a victory in China on the OneAsia Tour last month, had five birdies, while Attie Schwartzel had seven birdies and two bogeys. South African Christiaan Basson set the early pace, adding four birdies and an eagle to a string of pars in a 66. Crespi and Kruger picked up four straight birdies from No. 12 through 15 and moved a shot ahead. Nixon took the lead at the end after opening with four birdies in his first five holes and finishing strongly with an eagle on the par-5 No. 8, his 17th. Former British Open champion David Duval had a 74, and Europe Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley shot 75. The new season teed off in Johannesburg just four days after Henrik Stenson won the 2013 money list and season-ending World Tour Championship in Dubai. ' ' '