GORDON WILLIAMS, Star Writer
TORONTO, Canada:

Americans call it sophomore jinx when second-year athletes struggle to repeat first-year success. Reggae Boyz striker Deshorn Brown has vowed not to be among them.

Brown finished second in Major League Soccer's (MLS) 2013 Rookie of the Year voting by scoring 10 goals for Colorado Rapids and winning the club's Golden Boot award. Yet despite MLS defenders now being fully aware of his explosive speed and scoring appetite, the jinx hasn't claimed Brown a victim.

It showed its face, however, in Colorado's second MLS game of 2014. Brown's penalty was saved by Portland Timbers' goalkeeper, but he alertly followed up to bang in the rebound. The Manchester native also "missed out on a couple games" with a groin injury.

On a role

Still, at one point, Brown was on a scoring high, with seven goals in as many games by mid-July. So, counting the September 13 match-up against Portland, he has seven games to add to his eight goals so far. Brown's taking nothing for granted.

"Football doesn't owe nobody nothing," said the 23-year-old ex-STETHS star while with Jamaica for the September 9 game against Canada. "If you go out there and work hard, things will come your way."

Jamaicans have been tested by the so-called sophomore jinx. Striker Darren Mattocks, like Brown a first-round pick in the MLS Superdraft, lit up the league in his 2012 rookie season.

Mattocks scored seven goals in 15 starts, 21 appearances overall. His electrifying style became an instant hit withfans.

But Mattocks' second season wasn't as spectacular - just three goals in 20 appearances with eight starts.

Brown, too, has seen a dip in form. He '"I think it's more challenging," said Brown.

He tries to keep a balanced view, not getting too hyped or subdued.

"The time will come when you score and the time will come when you don't score," Brown reasoned. "So I just continue to search for the right moment."

That time must be now. Going into the Portland game, Colorado are seven points out of the final play-off spot in the MLS Western Conference. Opponents also have designed tactics to stop Brown.

"They kinda know how I play," he said. "They don't really try to mark me closely, because they figure, the moment I turn, then they're in trouble."

If one defender doesn't work, opponents bring more.

"They do a two-man mark," Brown said. "So it's a little more difficult."

It's a mark of respect, but Brown is working to counter.

"I'm trying to find a way to get around it," he said.

To get to his 2014 target of 15 goals, Brown will have to.

"Hopefully, things can turn around and start going in my favour and get more goals," he said.

Whether that will be good enough to repeat the feats of Jamaican striker Omar Cummings, who led Colorado to a MLS championship in 2010, and was a fan favourite and all-star at the club, is left to be seen.

"I'm just trying to follow what a legend left," Brown said of Cummings. "Try to pick up after him."

No jinx, he added, will stand in the way.