Impact Faces The Carolina Railhawks Wednesday
September 1, 2009 - USL First Division (USL-1)
Montreal Impact News Release
MONTREAL - The Montreal Impact (9-10-6) plays a second straight match at home against the Carolina RailHawks (14-5-7) Wednesday at Saputo Stadium, at 7:30 pm (Radio-Canada, CKAC Sports, THE TEAM 990, USLlive.com).
Sunday both teams tied 1-1 in front of 12,680 spectators at Saputo Stadium. Impact midfielder Tony Donatelli scored at the 33rd minute, while RailHawks midfielder John Cunliffe scored the game-tying goal at the 63rd minute.
"In the last match we played well during the first half but we fell asleep in the second half," declared defender Cédric Joqueviel. "It will therefore be important to keep our rhythm during the entire game Wednesday. We will double our attention because this will be another match that will be based on details. It's one of the very good teams in the league that can score at any moment."
With five regular season matches to play, the Montreal team remains sixth in the USL First Division standings, with 33 points, one point ahead of Vancouver and two points behind Rochester. With a win Wednesday, the Impact could move up to 5th in the standings and would be playing above the .500 mark for the first time since July 5.
"We want to confirm as soon as possible our place in the playoffs," mentioned team captain Mauro Biello. "This is a match that we have to win. We did well on Sunday but we will have to play even better Wednesday. It will once again be very physical because they have tough players. However we are playing at home, so it's up to us to dictate the rhythm of the match as we did on Sunday."
Midfielder Tony Donatelli's next game will be his 100th in career in the USL First. Donatelli kicked off his career in Vancouver in 2006 and joined the Impact through a trade in June 2008.
"It's a good achievement. I guess I did something right" said Donatelli. "I've been in the league for a few years, so 100 games mean something to me and I'm proud to have reached this milestone. But the most important thing is the game that we have to play."
"We were disappointed not to get the three points in the first game because we had given a good performance, but we have another chance and we hope to get the win Wednesday," added Donatelli. "It's a good team that is well organized so it's going to be another difficult game, yet we are confident. We want the win to boost our confidence before the playoffs."
The RailHawks remain undefeated in their last nine matches (5-0-4). Before the two games against the Montreal team, the RailHawks crushed the Miami FC 9-0, Wednesday, at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary.
Simon Gatti, who missed the last game Sunday due to a light thigh injury, will be available Wednesday, while midfielder Patrick Leduc, who has not played since August 27, 2008, will not be in the lineup.
On the RailHawks side, defenders Jack Stewart and Caleb Norkus, midfielders Joseph Kabwe, Brian Plotkin and Josh Gardner, as well as forwards Aaron King and Hamed Diallo did not make the trip to Montreal.
OTHER FACTS
- The Impact is undefeated in its last three matches, after defeating Cleveland 2-1 August 18 and shutting out Austin 2-0, August 23.
- In eight matches played to date against the RailHawks, who joined the league in 2007, the Montreal Impact has a 5-1-2 record (15GF - 5GA).
- Defender Nevio Pizzolitto will not be suspended following his 6th caution since his 5th caution was issued prior to the 25th season match
- The top seven teams in the standings will advance to the playoffs and the winner of the Commissioner's Cup (regular season champion) will earn a bye for the semifinal round.
THE LAST 4 REGULAR SEASON MATCHES
- Saturday, September 5 - IMPACT @ Cleveland - Middlefield Cheese Stadium - 2 pm (USLlive.com)
- Wednesday, September 9 - Vancouver @ IMPACT -Saputo Stadium - 7:30 pm (CKAC Sports, THE TEAM 990, USLlive.com)
- Sunday, September 13 - Minnesota @ IMPACT -Saputo Stadium - 3:30 pm (CKAC Sports, THE TEAM 990, USLlive.com)
- Friday, September 18 - IMPACT @ Carolina - 7 pm (USLlive.com)
USL First Division Stories from September 1, 2009
- Whitecaps Prepare For Austin Visit - Vancouver Whitecaps
- Saputo: Impact Will Play In 2010 - Montreal Impact
- Impact Faces The Carolina Railhawks Wednesday - Montreal Impact
- Week 21 USL-1 Honors Announced - USL-1
- Kabwe named USL-1 Player of the Week; Cunliffe selected to Team of the Week - North Carolina FC
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
