Impact Plays Against The Minnesota Thunder Sunday At Home
Published on September 11, 2009 under USL First Division (USL-1)
Montreal Impact News Release
MONTREAL - The Montreal Impact (12-10-6) plays its next to last match Sunday against the Minnesota Thunder (7-12-9) at Saputo Stadium, at 3:30 pm (CKAC Sports, THE TEAM 990, USLlive.com).
With two regular season games to play, the Montreal team is fifth in the USL First Division standings, with 42 points, one point ahead of Rochester and four behind Charleston, which has one game in hand.
"We hope to get a good result to finish as high as possible in the standings," declared Impact head coach Marc Dos Santos. This is a match that we take very seriously because the Thunder is not an easy team to face. They cause us problems every time. Just like us, this is a team that has grown in the last matches, as their positive results show."
The Impact owns an all-time record of .500 in 14 matches against the Thunder (5-5-4, 20 GF - 16 GA), since the club's arrival in 1997. In its last match against the Thunder, the Impact earned a 1-0 win August 9 at Saputo Stadium, ending an eight-game winless sequence against the Minnesota club.
"We know that we have the team to win," declared Impact forward Roberto Brown, who scored the game-winning goal in the last game against the Thunder. "We therefore want to keep on building our confidence before the playoffs. We are expecting tough games in the playoffs so we have to keep on working."
The Impact is having its best sequence in the season, not having lost in its last six matches (5-0-1). In its last match, a goal from Peter Byers in stoppage time allowed the Impact to register a 1-0 win against the Vancouver Whitecaps, Wednesday, at Saputo Stadium.
"In the past two months, we have improved our game," noted midfielder Rocco Placentino. "The team has realized that we have to do better to improve our position in the standings and to get a spot in the playoffs. Our objective now is to enter the playoffs with a winning sequence. We want to do well in the last two matches to remain confident."
In its last match, Thursday at home, the Thunder won 5-2 against the Puerto Rico Islanders.
Midfielder Ricardo Sanchez is the Thunder points leader with six goals and eight assists, for 20 points. Forward Duncan Tarley is the best club scorer up to now this season with seven goals.
"We will have to be cautious against certain Minnesota players who can score," mentioned defender Adam Braz. "They can cause us problems when they attack with various players. We will have to apply ourselves defensively by remaining compact, just as we did against Vancouver. This is our last match of the season in front of our fans, so we want to perform well for them."
Forward Eduardo Sebrango should miss the match Sunday, after suffering a right-hand bone fracture after falling on the ground Wednesday night.
Defender Nevio Pizzolitto will miss the last two season matches due to a two-game suspension issued for accumulating an 8th yellow card this season, Wednesday against Vancouver. This is the highest number of cautions he has received in a single season, after having been issued 10 yellow cards in 2000 and 2006.
The Impact has set a new club record with 61 cautions this season.
Montreal will close its regular season by facing the Carolina RailHawks on Friday, September 18, in Cary (7 pm, USLlive.com).
Tickets for the upcoming playoffs (quarterfinal game only) are now on sale. Tickets are available through Admission (514-790-1245 / 1-800-361-4595 / admission.com), at the Saputo Stadium ticketing office or at 514-328-3668 (group packages only).
OTHER FACTS
- Pizzolitto, who played 1,929 minutes this season, will therefore not reach the 2,000 minutes played mark in 2009, which he had attained in 1998, 2000, 2003 and 2005. Only midfielder David Testo (2,235 minutes) will have reached that mark this season.
- Defender Stephen deRoux's next match will be his 50th career game in the USL-1.
- At home, the Impact remains undefeated in six matches against the Thunder (4-0-2, 12 GF - 2 GA).
- A former Impact player currently plays with the Thunder. It is Canadian defender Andres Arango who has played 20 matches and 1,506 minutes up to now this season.
USL First Division Stories from September 11, 2009
- Miami FC Falls to Charleston and Loses Playoff Berth - Fort Lauderdale Strikers
- Impact Plays Against The Minnesota Thunder Sunday At Home - Montreal Impact
- Timbers In Position To Win Commissioner's Cup - Portland Timbers
- 2010 Season Tickets on Sale Now - North Carolina FC
- Whitecaps Prepare To Host Austin Again - Vancouver Whitecaps
- RailHawks host Puerto Rico in 2nd place Showdown this Saturday - North Carolina FC
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