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Perpetual-motion Le Toux has Union on the move

The first thing that is readily apparent when watching Union forward Sebastien Le Toux flowing freely down the field is his motor.

Sebastien Le Toux and the Union will make their postseason debut Sunday. (Ron Cortes/Staff Photographer)
Sebastien Le Toux and the Union will make their postseason debut Sunday. (Ron Cortes/Staff Photographer)Read more

The first thing that is readily apparent when watching Union forward Sebastien Le Toux flowing freely down the field is his motor.

The native of France never stops moving, maneuvering, or, in his two seasons with the Union, scoring.

He is a player in perpetual motion and one of the leading reasons this second-year franchise will be playing in its first Major League Soccer postseason series beginning Sunday with the first of a two-game, aggregate-goal series with the Houston Dynamo.

The first MLS Cup playoff game is at 5 p.m. Sunday at PPL Park in Chester and the second Nov. 3 at Houston. In both games, Le Toux figures to be running many miles.

A steady target is a covered one. As the Union's target player, the one closest to the opposing goal, Le Toux is always moving, looking for that open space to fire in the open goal.

"He will be working nonstop, no matter what," said Houston midfielder Brad Davis, an MVP candidate who led MLS with 16 assists. "He will try to find those spaces and get behind the defense and, hopefully, we can limit his chances."

Good luck with that.

For Le Toux, there is much more to his game than his ever-running motor, but that starts everything. He just never stops coming at opponents.

"Even with a motor you have to have somebody pushing the gas pedal, and Sebastien is constantly doing the work," Union assistant coach John Hackworth said. "So his engine is great, but his mentality and competitiveness, his flat-out desire, is pretty impressive, and that separates him."

Le Toux seemed to have lost his scoring touch before being selected by the Union in the expansion draft after one MLS season with the Seattle Sounders. Playing as more of an outside midfielder, he scored just one goal for Seattle in 28 games.

Then, last season, he exploded as the Union's first all-star in their inaugural season, totaling 14 goals and 11 assists, the major bright spot of an 8-15-7 team.

This year, the Union acquired noted finisher Carlos Ruiz from the Greek club Aris, and he took over as the team's target player, with Le Toux moving either to midfielder or withdrawn forward.

Ruiz scored six goals in 14 games, but he was often criticized for not having the motor of Le Toux. Running nonstop wasn't part of Ruiz's game, and he left the team shortly past midseason and was eventually sold to a second-tier team in Mexico, allowing Le Toux to return to his target position.

"I was excited to return there," Le Toux said.

It showed in his play.

That's not to say that Le Toux wasn't excited just to be on the field before that. He ran and ran and had a different role, being more of a facilitator while Ruiz was on the team.

"Maybe the chemistry wasn't as good last year with Carlos that it was with Danny [Mwanga]," he said, referring to the Union's second-year forward. "It was difficult, but I am a team player and wasn't complaining and continued to try to do my best."

Despite playing a different position, Le Toux did have his scoring chances. He just wasn't cashing in. He had one goal in the first 22 games, and that was on a penalty kick.

Normally unflappable, Le Toux felt the frustration.

"It was not easy every day, people talking about not scoring, but I was trying to help the team in other ways even though I wasn't scoring," said Le Toux, one of three MLS players to play every minute during the 34-game regular season. "I knew the chances would be there and that I would score goals."

And score he did.

Le Toux scored 10 goals in an 11-game span, capped by the equalizer in a 1-1 draw with visiting Toronto FC on Oct. 15 that clinched the Union's first MLS Cup playoff berth in the second-to-last game of the regular season.

He finished the season leading the Union in goals (11) and assists (9) for the second straight year.

"Seba has found great success out front stretching defenses and finding openings and finishing the chances he has," Union team manager Peter Nowak said.

Hackworth pointed out that even when Le Toux wasn't scoring, he was doing much for the team, which spent considerable time in first place before eventually finishing third in the Eastern Conference.

Le Toux has become such a fan favorite that even when he wasn't scoring, the Union faithful were clearly behind him. He endlessly signs autographs, and he genuinely enjoys mingling with the fans.

"I really like the fans and have loved my time here," he said.

These days, it's a little more enjoyable because his team is in the postseason, the motor is clearly running, and the questions about his scoring drought have long ceased.