TORONTO – As far as bone-head plays go, Eriq Zavaleta’s was a doozy.
The scene: A warm and sunny September night at BMO Field where Toronto FC hosted the New York Red Bulls in a battle of two of the best teams in the Eastern Conference. With the home side down 1-0 in the first half, Zavaleta lingered on the ball a bit too long deep in his end and coughed up possession while being closed down by New York’s Daniel Royer. After Zavaleta tripped over his feet, the Red Bulls quickly pushed forward on a three-man break that ended with Bradley Wright-Phillips chipping a helpless Alex Bono in the Toronto net.
Zavaleta was clearly rattled, and the young defender ended up being subbed out after 64 minutes. Toronto came from two goals down to salvage a 3-3 draw against the Red Bulls, but that gaffe by Zavaleta, who essentially gift-wrapped New York’s second goal, was a major talking point.
It’s safe to say, though, that Zavaleta has bounced back—he’s started and played the full 90 minutes in each of Toronto’s last five matches, including a pair of pressure-filled playoff victories. He’s expected be in the starting 11 again on Sunday when TFC faces New York City FC at Yankee Stadium in the second leg of their Eastern Conference semifinal.
Zavaleta isn’t dwelling on that mistake against the Red Bulls. But he isn’t forgetting about it, either. He’s keeping it stored in the back of his mind.
“That mistake is a moment that I’ll always remember, because it left a sour taste in my mouth that I don’t ever want to have again,” Zavaleta told Sportsnet.
“For me, it was an important lesson this year for me to have the best 10-game stretch of my career and then to play the game against the Red Bulls and make a large mistake. To get subbed out was tough, but it was important for me to show that my confidence wasn’t going to drop just because of one game. I felt like I had a better body of work than I had in previous seasons, and because of that think I was able to regain my footing, regain my confidence quickly and get back to where I am now.”
Coach Greg Vanney, who is also Zavaleta’s uncle, sympathized and knew what his nephew was going through.
“Everybody makes mistakes; it’s normal. I was a centre back at some point, and many of us who were, we’ve all had that moment. It’s a matter of [realizing] it’s one mistake and one game, and you put it behind you,” Vanney said. “He had to put it behind him and move on, and he’s done that. He’s been very solid since. … He shook it off.”
The error against New York was uncharacteristic for the 24-year-old defender who’s come into his own this season, his fourth in Major League Soccer. Whether Zavaleta has been one of three centre backs deployed in Vanney’s 3-5-2 setup, or partnering veteran Drew Moor in the centre of a defence in a 4-4-2 formation, the Indiana native has been a solid and consistent contributor for the Reds this season.
Earning his starting spot hasn’t been easy, though. He didn’t play a single minute through the first 11 games of the campaign, and only saw his first action on May 21. He was a key player in Toronto’s run in the Canadian Club Championship in the middle of the year, playing all four games as the Reds hoisted the Voyageurs Cup. His strong showing in that tournament led to more opportunities in MLS where he firmly established himself as a starter, and the Reds had enough faith in him to the point where they parted ways with veteran centre back Damien Perquis.
“Coming into this season, I thought I had a good shot to be [a starter]. We brought in Drew who’s a proven veteran, and brought Damien and Josh [Williams] back, and had this plethora of centre backs. I thought I had a good pre-season and an opportunity to play in the regular season, but the chance was a bit further away than I originally anticipated. It was hard at the beginning of the year but I found my feet in the Canadian Championship,” Zavaleta said.
“Being an integral part of that run pushed me further along the depth chart and it’s taken to me where I am right now.”
Acquired by TFC in a trade with Seattle in 2015, Zavaleta enjoyed a standout NCAA career as a forward, helping Indiana win a national title in 2012. When he joined the Sounders, there were questions as to what his best position was, but Vanney always saw him as a defender. It’s a decision that has paid dividends for Toronto.
“First and foremost, he’s a player who read the game well; he makes good, solid decisions defensively. He knows what his priorities are from a defending standpoint, and the spaces that are more dangerous and the things that he needs to protect,” Vanney said of Zavaleta’s defensive work this season.
“From that basis, he’s probably more athletic than people sometimes give him credit for; it doesn’t always look beautiful, but between his intelligence and athleticism that he has he can make plays. He’s a very good open-field defender, and when he has to engage in that one-on-one defending moment, he done very well for us in that.”
Carrying himself with a quiet confidence, Zavaleta has looked solid down the season stretch and in the playoffs for the Reds. He’s also eager to add to the solid reputation he built for himself before that fateful night against the Red Bulls by playing a pivotal role in TFC’s playoff campaign.
“If someone is going to remember me this year, it wont be for that moment. It’s going to be much more than that,” Zavaleta promised.
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