Impact update
August 4, 2005 - USL First Division (USL-1)
Montreal Impact News Release
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THE IMPACT'S LAST GAME
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Less than 24 hours after suffering its first loss of the season in Atlanta, on Friday, July 29 by a score of 2-1, the Montreal Impact rebounded by beating the Charleston Battery1-0, Saturday, at Blackbaud Stadium in Charleston.
Midfielder Masahiro Fukasawa scored the lone goal of the game, his first of the season, originating from a pass by Zi Roberto in the 64th minute.
Goalkeeper Greg Sutton, who surpassed the 10,000 minutes played mark with the Impact on July 29, earned his eighth win and ninth shutout of the season
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BAILEY, GBEKE, DIPLACIDO AND HAINAULT JOIN THE IMPACT
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The Montreal Impact announced, Monday, that it came to terms with forwards Joel Bailey (photo) and Charles Gbeke, as well as midfielder David DiPlacido and defender Andri Hainault, before the August 1st roster freeze.
Bailey tallied four goals and one assist in 18 games last season with the Impact, and was also part of the starting eleven for the 2004 championship final. The 25-year-old forward is currently recovering from a groin injury suffered last winter with the Baltimore Blast of the Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL), and has started training with the Impact.
Hainault is also returning with the club, signing an amateur contract for the rest of the season. Last season, Hainault played 17 minutes with the Impact, on May 29, against the Toronto Lynx. He also represented Canada in the FIFA World Youth Championships 2005 in the Netherlands, last June.
The Impact also announced they had acquired players Charles Gbeke and David DiPlacido from the Toronto Lynx. Gbeke is a 27-year-old forward originally from the Ivory Coast who grew up in Longueuil. He scored two goals in 422 minutes of play this season with the Lynx. He also played for the Vancouver Whitecaps in 1998, 2001 and 2003.
DiPlacido, a 28-year-old midfielder, is a veteran with the Lynx who joined the team in 1998. He scored one goal in 14 games and 1133 minutes of play this season.
The Montreal Impact will finish the season without the services of forward Ali Gerba and midfielder Sandro Grande. Both players have come to terms on contracts with Scandinavian first division clubs just prior to the transfer deadline of August 1. Gerba will join Sundsvall, in Sweden, while Grande will don the uniform of Viking Sravanger in Norway.
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IMPACT NOTES
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The Impact is the best defensive team in the league, having allowed only nine goals since the start of the season. The Impact is alone in first place with 38 points; three ahead of the second place Richmond Kickers. Montreal has four games in hand.
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MILESTONE FOR SUTTON
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Greg Sutton's win over Charleston was the 59th of his career in an Impact uniform. He is now only one victory away from equaling the club record of 60 career victories held by Paolo Ceccarelli.
Friday July 29, against Atlanta, Sutton became the first-ever Impact goalkeeper to reach the total of 10,000 minutes played with the team. Now in his fifth season with Montreal, he has played a total of 10,149 minutes.
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BIELLO: LEADING SCORER
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Following the departure of forward Ali Gerba, captain Mauro Biello has become the Impact's leading scorer (5-3-13), and sits in ninth place in league scoring.
He has accumulated 19,793 career minutes played with the Impact and will soon become the first ever Impact player to hit the 20,000 minutes played plateau.
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TEAM OF THE WEEK
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Midfielder Masahiro Fukaswa was named to the United Soccer Leagues First Division Team of the Week. The Impact rookie scored the winning goal Saturday, in Charleston, in a 1-0 win over the Battery.
Impact newcomer David DiPlacido was also named to the Team of the Week after playing a solid game for the Toronto Lynx in a 0-0 draw with the Richmond Kickers.
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4000 FANS FROM TROIS-RIVIHRES AND LANAUDIHRE
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At Sunday's game against the Atlanta Silverbacks (4 pm, CKAC, CJAD), the Montreal Impact will welcome 2000 members of the Association trifluvienne de soccer as well as 2000 fans from the Lanaudihre Regional Soccer Association. The Quebec Elite Soccer League will take advantage of the fans from Trois-Rivihres in attendance to stage a game between the Trois-Rivihres Selects and Panellinios, two clubs from the men's first division, immediately following the Impact game.
The match is a tournament game for the Quebec Cup.
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VACHON PUBLIC PRACTICES
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As part of the Vachon Public Practices, the Impact will be in St-Filix-de-Valois, in the Lanaudihre region (August 23 at 7 pm). The entire team and coaching staff will be in attendance. The event will include autograph sessions with the players and prizes.
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