June 4, 2007
Former University of New Mexico men’s soccer All-American Andrew Boyens finished a successful week on Saturday, June 2, scoring the game-winning goal in Toronto FC’s 2-1 win over the Colorado Rapids. Boyens, selected with the No. 10 overall pick in the 2007 Major League Soccer SuperDraft by Toronto FC, also earned his first start for the New Zealand national team in a match against Wales on May 26.
Boyens’ week began with a call-up to the All Whites, New Zealand’s full national team. Boyens had been a member of the Kiwi’s youth national teams for years, but had only tallied five minutes of time on the field with the All Whites in his career. Against Wales, he started and played the entire 90 minutes in a 2-2 draw in Wrexham, Wales. His play, along with fellow defender Ben Sigmund, drew praise from New Zealand’s head coach Ricki Hebert.
“There’s not too many better players than (Craig) Bellamy and [Norwich City’s] Robbie Earnshaw in terms of pace and technical ability and yeah, the did cause us problems,” Herbert told nzsoccer.com. “But you look at those players and the inexperience of Andy and Ben and you don’t expect this outcome. I thought they were absolutely outstanding, the pair of them. They’ve really digested everything that’s been put in front of them in the last three days [of training] and they’ve put into practice everything the possibly could.”
For a complete write-up on New Zealand’s improbable 2-2 draw, click here.
Boyens returned to Toronto FC on Saturday, June 2, to help lead his MLS squad to a 2-1 win over the Colorado Rapids in front of 20,195 fans at BMO Field in Toronto, Ont. His chip down the right side to Marvell Wynne led to a Danny Dichio goal in the third minute of action. It was the first assist in the MLS for Boyens. He scored his first career goal in the 28th minute on a header off a corner-kick from teammate Ronnie O’Brien. For a complete recap on Toronto’s 2-1 win click here. Video highlights from Toronto’s 2-1 win are also available by clicking here.
Danny Dichio’s goal is up for the MLS Goal of the Week. To vote on the Goal of the Week click here.
Toronto FC is 3-5-1 in its inaugural season in the MLS. Boyens has seen action in eight games with seven starts, missing one match while playing with the All Whites. Despite missing a game, he is third on the team in minutes with 647 total. Toronto FC has enjoyed tremendous box office success in its first season in the MLS, averaging nearly 20,000 fans per game at the brand new BMO Field.