Impact wins with 1-0 shutout against Rhinos
May 30, 2009 - USL First Division (USL-1)
Montreal Impact News Release
ROCHESTER - A goal from forward Roberto Brown in the 80th minute of play led the Montreal Impact (2-3-2) to its first win of the season on the road, Saturday, with a 1-0 shutout against the Rhinos (4-4-1), in front of 10,137 spectators, at the Marina Dodge Stadium, in Rochester.
"I am happy with the group effort," said Impact head coach Marc Dos Santos. "The team understood that we win games making a collective effort and this is what we did here. We remained constant throughout the 90 minutes by following our game plan and we showed a lot of coherence. During the entire game, we showed that we were a team that wanted to win."
With less than 15 minutes to play, defender Simon Gatti made a pass to Tony Donatelli, who, near the goal line, gave the ball near the ground to Brown. The Impact striker, who had replaced Eduardo Sebrango in the 71st minute, scored his second goal of the game, beating Rhinos goalkeeper Scott Vallow with a shot from inside the six-meter box.
The Impact played the last 30 minutes of the game with one more player, after the ejection of Rhinos midfielder Chris Nurse.
Despite playing short of one player, the Rhinos got their best scoring chance in the 65th minute. On a free kick situation from 35 meters out, Andrew Gregor served a small pass to forward Mauricio Salles. The former Impact player fired a swirling high shot directly on the bar.
Goalkeeper Matt Jordan, who was playing his 50th regular season game registered his third clean sheet of the campaign. The Impact has not conceded a goal in the last 315 minutes of regular season play.
"The guys played like warriors," said Jordan. "They capitalized on their opportunities and did it well. We showed tremendous character as a group and we believed in ourselves all the way. We got our three points, which were well deserved."
Central defender Elkana Mayard, who had been called up from the Trois-Rivières Attak, started his first career game with the Impact and played the full 90 minutes of the game. Midfielders David Testo and Rocco Placentino, who had missed the last game in Vancouver last Wednesday, were also both on the starting lineup.
The Impact signed its second win of the season despite having a few regular players out of the lineup: defenders Adam Braz (thigh), Nevio Pizzolitto (thigh), Cédric Joqueviel (thigh) and Stefano Pesoli (knee), as well as midfielders Patrick Leduc (foot) and Mauro Biello (clavicle) all missed the game due to injuries.
The Impact took its revenge by beating the Rhinos in their home opener. On May 9, in the home opener at Saputo Stadium, the Impact had lost 2-1 against Rochester.
The Impact has improved its record to 26-15-6 against its rivals. Both clubs will match up again in Rochester, July 15.
The Impact will be playing two consecutive games on the west coast, in Portland Thursday, June 4 (10 pm, USLlive.com) then on Sunday, June 7 in Vancouver (10 pm, USLlive.com).
OTHER HIGHLIGHTS 20th minute - After having dribbled on a few meters, Impact midfielder Leonardo Di Lorenzo took a left foot shot that went to the right of the Rhinos goal.
33rd minute - Midfielder Sandro Grande took a 30-meter free kick that went to the left of the Rhinos'goal.
40th minute - Following a corner from forward Johnny Menyongar to the far post, defender Nathaniel Short deflected the ball with a header but Impact midfielder Sandro Grande cleared the ball on the goal line.
69th minute - Di Lorenzo centered the ball to forward Eduardo Sebrango, who took a shoot from inside the 18-meter box, but goalkeeper Scott Vallow made the save by diving to his right..
NEXT GAMES - Thursday, June 4 - IMPACT @ Portland - PGE Park - 10 pm (USLlive.com) - Sunday, June 7 - IMPACT @ Vancouver - Swangard Stadium - 10 pm (USLlive.com) - Thursday, June 18 - Toronto @ IMPACT - 8 pm (Sportsnet, CKAC Sports, THE TEAM 990)* *Nutrilite Canadian Championship
USL First Division Stories from May 30, 2009
- Whitecaps suffer defeat - Vancouver Whitecaps
- Portland extends unbeaten streak to seven games - Portland Timbers
- Impact wins with 1-0 shutout against Rhinos - Montreal Impact
- Williams and Treschuk score as Battery beats Cleveland - Charleston Battery
- City Stars Fall 2-0 to Undefeated Charleston Battery - Cleveland City Stars
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