Impact Plays Last Regular Season Home Game Saturday
Published on September 16, 2011 under North American Soccer League (NASL)
Montreal Impact News Release
MONTREAL - The Impact will play its last regular season home game against FC Edmonton, Saturday at 7:30pm, at Saputo Stadium (98,5FM, THE TEAM 990, radio-canada.ca/sports). It will also be the last regular season home match in North American second division.
Tickets for this game are still available through Admission Network (admission.com / 514-790-1245) or at Saputo Stadium's ticketing office.
With only two games remaining this season, the Impact is three points behind the Minnesota Stars for the sixth and final playoff spot.
The Stars will face Tampa Bay on Saturday night at 7pm in Florida, before finishing their season on Sept. 24 in Carolina.
"Winning is our only option. We all understand the importance of the game," said Impact defender Philippe Billy. "We will try to control what we can. We can see it during our training sessions that the intensity has gone up a notch. We are growing as a team and individually with these experiences."
Montreal has only lost once in its last seven games (4-1-2).
In its last game, last Sunday, the Impact shut out NASL standing leader Carolina RailHawks 1-0, in front of 12,297 spectators at Saputo Stadium, to remain in the hunt for a playoff position.
"We need to be mentally and physically ready for this game," said Impact head coach and sporting director Nick De Santis. "We will need to take the positives out of the game against Carolina and have the same mentality tomorrow night. There is a good cohesion right now on our team, from our defence to our forwards."
"There are no easy games in this league," added midfielder Amir Lowery. "You have to show every team the same respect. We are prepared to go to battle. It's a game we are all up for. We want to finish the season as strong as possible."
The team has won its last three games at Saputo Stadium by shutout and has the second best defensive record in the NASL with 27 goals against in 26 games.
Goalkeeper Evan Bush leads the NASL with a 0.85 GAA. His next game will be his 50th career appearance in North American second division.
This is the last of four matchups between the teams in 2011. The Impact won the first two matches by shutout: 5-0, on May 1 in Edmonton, and 2-0, on June 4 at Saputo Stadium, and then lost the last game 1-0 on June 26, in Edmonton.
It will be Edmonton's last regular season game in 2011. In its first NASL season, Edmonton qualified for the playoffs on Sept. 7, following a 2-1 win against Atlanta.
FC Edmonton is currently fifth in the standings with a record of 10 wins, 11 losses and six ties (35GF-38GA) for a total of 36 points in 27 games.
Midfielder Shaun Saiko is third in the NASL with nine goals, while teammate Kyle Porter is second on the team with seven goals. Defender John Jonke has been named Defensive Player of the Week in the NASL.
Three players from FC Edmonton have previously played with the Impact: defender Alex Surprenant, as well as forwards Chris Lemire and Dan Antoniuk.
Impact defenders Simon Gatti and Nevio Pizzolitto both received a yellow card against Carolina. They will both sit out the next game with an automatic one-game suspension, due to an accumulation of five cautions.
The Impact will conclude its regular season on Sept. 24 at 7:30 against the Silverbacks, at the Atlanta Silverbacks Stadium, in Georgia (atlantasilverbacks.com).
Meanwhile, Jesse Marsch, the Impact head coach in MLS, is flying to Europe today for a 10-day scouting trip.
Also, the Impact U21 will play its next game at home, Sunday at 4pm, against the St. Catharines Wolves, at Marie-Victorin Complex.
TOWARDS THE NASL PLAYOFFS
- At the conclusion of the regular season, the top six teams in the NASL standings will qualify for the 2011 NASL playoffs.
- The six teams will be given seeds 1 through 6 with the top team in the standings receiving the number 1 seed.
- In the event that two or more teams are level on points in the standings, the tied teams will be seeded in order of their head-to-head records against each other during the regular season. If two or more teams are level on points and in their head-to-head records against each other, the teams will be sorted in order by goal differential. If a tie still persists, the next tiebreaker will be the number of goals scored.
- The top two seeds will get an automatic bye for the semifinal round. The third seed will face the sixth seed, while the 4th will play the 5th.
- The quarterfinal round will be a single match while the semifinal and final rounds will each be a home-and-away series on aggregate goals.
ELSEWHERE IN THE NASL
- Saturday, Sept 17 - Minnesota @ Tampa Bay - Al Lang Stadium - 7pm (fctampabay.com)
THE LAST REGULAR SEASON GAME
- Saturday, Sept. 24 - IMPACT @ Atlanta Silverbacks - Atlanta Silverbacks Park - 7:30pm (atlantasilverbacks.com)
North American Soccer League Stories from September 16, 2011
- Impact Plays Last Regular Season Home Game Saturday - Montreal Impact
- RailHawks Finish Away Season Saturday at Puerto Rico - North Carolina FC
- FC Edmonton Need a Win for a Chance at a Home Playoff Date - FC Edmonton
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.
