Impact Stays Alive in Playoff Race
Published on September 17, 2011 under North American Soccer League (NASL)
Montreal Impact News Release
MONTREAL - Two goals from forward Ryan Pore, both on assists from Miguel Montaño allowed the Montreal Impact to win 2-0 against FC Edmonton, and to remain in the hunt for the final playoff position, Saturday, in front of 12,433 spectators at Saputo Stadium.
The win, combined with Minnesota's 1-1 tie against Tampa Bay on Saturday night, leaves the Impact one-point behind the Stars for the sixth and final playoff spot. The Impact will finish its regular season on Sept. 24, at 7pm, against the Silverbacks, in Atlanta, while the Stars will conclude their season the same night, against the RailHawks, in Carolina.
The Impact opened the scoring at the 12th minute of play. Standing near the goal line, forward Miguel Montaño crossed the ball near the penalty spot to Ryan Pore, who took a low shot and beat FC Edmonton David Monsalve to his right.
Pore doubled the Impact lead at the 78th minute. Standing at the top of the six-yard box, Pore accepted a cross at the second post from Montaño, beating Monsalve with a low shot to his left. Pore scored his third and fourth goals of the season.
"This was a well deserved win," said Impact head coach and sporting director Nick De Santis. "We managed the game well; we were disciplined defensively and created several scoring opportunities in front of their goal. Our players sacrificed themselves for their teammates throughout the whole game. The important thing tonight was to win and we did all we could to achieve it. We know it will be difficult in Atlanta next week, but we currently have an excellent cohesion. We must go there with the same discipline and mentality. We will need to recover and take advantage of a good training week coming up.
"With only two games left, we had to do everything we could to win that game," said Ryan Pore. "We created many scoring chances and played very well offensively and defensively. We are playing our best soccer of the season right now."
"We have still one important game to play," added teammate Eduardo Sebrango. "We will try to control everything we can and hopefully we will finish the season on a positive note. This is a completely different team from the beginning of the season and we are playing really well together."
For a second game in a row, the Impact dominated its opponent in shots, this time 15 to 4.
Impact goalkeeper Evan Bush registered his eighth shutout of the season, his fourth consecutive at Saputo Stadium. Bush, who played his 50th career game in North American second division, made his best save of the night at the 65th minute, diving to his right to stop a 25-meter volley.
At the 10th minute, Montaño received a cross from midfielder Amir Lowery, and took a shot from the top of the 18-yard box, hitting the post to the right of Monsalve.
At the 72nd minute, midfielder Sinisa Ubiparipovic sent the ball to Pore, who then gave it to Ian Westlake, and the English player took a low shot from inside the 18-yard box, that was stopped by Monsalve.
Five minutes later, Sebrango, who came on the pitch at the 75th minute in replacement of defender Hassoun Camara, dribbled the ball for several meters, beating two Edmonton players along the way, but his shot hit the post to the right of the goalkeeper. Camara suffered a light thigh injury and his status will be evaluated on Monday.
Forward Mignane Diouf missed the game due to a severe flu, while defenders Simon Gatti and Nevio Pizzolitto both sat out the game, serving an automatic one-game suspension due to an accumulation of five cautions.
LAST GAME
- Saturday, Sept. 24 - IMPACT @ Atlanta Silverbacks - Atlanta Silverbacks Park - 7pm (atlantasilverbacks.com)
North American Soccer League Stories from September 17, 2011
- Impact Stays Alive in Playoff Race - Montreal Impact
- Strikers Salvage Last Minute Draw with Atlanta - Fort Lauderdale Strikers
- Frantic Finish Ends in 1-1 Draw - Atlanta Silverbacks
- RailHawks Fall 1-0 at Puerto Rico - North Carolina FC
- Minnesota Stars Battle to 1-1 Draw at FC Tampa Bay - Minnesota United FC
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