Impact Faces Minnesota Stars Saturday at Saputo Stadium
August 5, 2011 - North American Soccer League (NASL)
Montreal Impact News Release
MONTREAL - The Montreal Impact will play its 19th regular season game, the second game of a five-game home stand, Saturday at 8pm, against the Minnesota Stars, at Saputo Stadium (Radio-Canada, CKAC Sports, THE TEAM 990, radio-canada.ca/sports). The Impact will unveil its MLS logo during halftime of the game. The Impact has not lost in its last six games at Saputo Stadium (2-0-4).
In its last match, Sunday, striker Eduardo Sebrango scored his third goal of the season in a 1-0 shutout against the Puerto Rico Islanders.
"I hope the win against the Islanders will bring motivation and a desire to continue winning," said Impact head coach and sporting director Nick De Santis. "Saturday's game is very important. The margin of error is thin, especially with this being a home game. We want to show them how tough it is to play in Montreal."
"We must continue everything we did well in the last game," said midfielder Anthony Le Gall, who has played all 18 games so far this season. "Defensively, we played well by not conceding any scoring opportunities to the opposing team. We need to continue working on that aspect, score goals and extend the positive sequence right now. We could make a step towards our objective to get into the playoffs."
This is the second of four matchups between both teams in 2011. The Impact lost the first game 1-0, on July 22, at the National Sports Center, in Blaine, Minnesota.
"We want to get back to them after losing 1-0 in the last matchup on a penalty," added goalkeeper Evan Bush, who has registered three shutouts this season. "I thought we have deserved a better result and played well enough to get the tie. We will come out and try to reverse that result on Saturday and win a second game at home."
The Impact has a record of six wins, seven losses and five ties (23GF-30GA) in 18 games against the Minnesotan franchise, since 1997. However, Montreal is unbeaten at home against Minnesota, with an all-time record of five wins, no loss and three ties (15GF-4GA).
The Minnesota Stars are currently third in the NASL standings with a record of six wins, four losses and seven ties for a total of 25 points in 17 games. In their last game, on July 22, the Stars shut out the Impact 1-0, in Minnesota.
Midfielders Hassoun Camara and Amir Lowery will both be out of the lineup Saturday due to an automatic one-game suspension, after accumulating their fifth caution of the season, during the last game.
Midfielder David Testo will be back Saturday after serving an automatic one-game suspension for the same reason, against Puerto Rico
Antonio Ribeiro will be out of action for 4 to 6 weeks with an injury to his left calf, while forward Marco Terminesi will miss one week of action with a thigh injury. Goalkeeper Bill Gaudette (ankle) and midfielder Lorenzo Di Lorenzo (thigh) are also still injured.
Tickets for this game are still available through Admission Network (admission.com / 514-790-1245) or at Saputo Stadium's ticketing office.
Meanwhile, the Impact U21 team will play two games on the road this weekend, tonight versus the Serbian White Eagles and Saturday at 6pm against Brantford. The team is still first in the Canadian Soccer League overall standings with a record of 9-4-3.
NEXT THREE GAMES
- Wednesday, August 10 - FC Tampa Bay @ IMPACT - Saputo Stadium - 7:30pm (CKAC Sports, THE TEAM 990, radio-canada.ca/sports)
- Sunday, Aug. 14 - Atlanta Silverbacks @ IMPACT - Saputo Stadium - 6pm (CKAC Sports, THE TEAM 990, radio-canada.ca/sports)
- Saturday, Aug. 20 - Minnesota Stars @ IMPACT - Saputo Stadium - 2:30pm (CKAC Sports, THE TEAM 990, radio-canada.ca/sports)
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North American Soccer League Stories from August 5, 2011
- Impact Faces Minnesota Stars Saturday at Saputo Stadium - Montreal Impact
- RailHawks Head to South Florida for Showdown with Strikers - North Carolina FC
- Triangle Businesses Support RailHawks' Kicks for Kids - North Carolina FC
- FC Edmonton Look to End Four Game Losing Skid - FC Edmonton
- FC Tampa Bay F King Named NASL Player of the Month - Tampa Bay Rowdies
- Minnesota Stars Return to Action Saturday at Montreal - Minnesota United FC
- Puerto Rico National Team Selects Gonzalez - Atlanta Silverbacks
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