COMMERCE CITY, Colorado – The Montreal Impact lost 3-2 (halftime 2-1) against the Colorado Rapids on Saturday, at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, in Colorado, in its last game before a three-week break from regular season action.
Midfielder Patrice Bernier opened the scoring in the 14th minute when he chipped Rapids' keeper Matt Pickens from close range, following a pass by Felipe, who had rolled the ball towards the Canadian midfielder with his back turned to goal. It was Bernier’s second goal of the season and Felipe’s second assist of the season.
Rapids' midfielder Jeff Larentowicz tied the game in the 18th minute on a penalty, beating Impact keeper Donovan Ricketts to his right. It was the Impact’s 5th penalty allowed this season.
Defender Drew Moor then gave the Rapids the lead in the 39th minute. Moor headed the ball in at the far post off of a Martin Rivero 45-meter free-kick, beating Ricketts to his left.
Forward Andrew Wenger, who made his first start of the season in a 4-2-3-1 formation, scored his second of the campaign in the 47th minute. Collen Warner passed it to Bernier who put Wenger through behind the Colorado defence. The 21 year-old rookie beat Pickens with a low right-footed shot.
Midfielder Jaime Castrillon then scored the winning goal for Colorado in the 83rd minute. As the ball twice bounced off of the crossbar, Castrillon got a header while the Impact defenders thought the referee whistled for a corner.
Postgame comments
“We have to start to learn from our mistakes,” said Impact head coach Jesse Marsch. “We are playing well but we shoot ourselves in the foot. We should have won this game a hundred ways but we walk out with no point. We are a better team than this. Our mistakes kill us.”
“It’s disappointing because we worked hard, we came back in the game, we scored nice goals but we allowed goals that should have never happened,” said Andrew Wenger.
“It’s difficult to accept because we scored two goals away from home and when you score twice you should get a better result,” said team captain Davy Arnaud. “We played well, we moved the ball and we created chances but if you give set piece goals like that, you are going to get punished.”
Other highlights
Nyassi, who finished the game with four shots, played against his former club for the first time, while defender Jeb Brovsky and midfielder Collen Warner, both from Colorado, started the game.
Goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts, who played all 13 games this season, left the game in the 66th minute due to an injury to his left foot and was substituted by Canadian goalkeeper Greg Sutton.
The Impact played the last 30 minutes of the game with a man up, as Colorado defender Tyrone Marshall was ejected after a second yellow card in the 61st minute.
The Impact created two good scoring opportunities in the first 10 minutes of the game. Wenger had the first chance in the 1st minute, but his low shot went to the keeper’s left. Then, in the 9th minute, Hassoun Camara headed Felipe’s free-kick just off target.
Next game
The Impact will play against the Seattle Sounders FC in the new Stade Saputo on June 16 at 7:30pm. New 12-game season ticket packages for all matches at Stade Saputo are available via impactmontreal.com, or by calling 514-328-3668.
Two draws for the Impact U21
After a 1-1 tie against SC Toronto on Friday, the Impact U21 tied the Mississauga Eagles, on Saturday, with the same result. The team is still unbeaten in its first four games of the CSL season. Forward Stefan Vukovic scored both goals this weekend for the Impact U21.
Highlights: COL 3, MTL 2
LINEUPS
MTL (4-2-3-1): GK - Donovan Ricketts (Greg Sutton 66’), D - Jeb Brovsky, Matteo Ferrari (Sinisa Ubiparipovic 85’), Nelson Rivas, Hassoun Camara; M – Davy Arnaud (Miguel Montano 74’), Felipe, Patrice Bernier, Collen Warner, Sanna Nyassi, F – Andrew Wenger
Subs not used: D – Tyson Wahl, Shavar Thomas; M - Lamar Neagle, F - Bernardo Corradi
COL: GK - Matt Pickens; D - Kosuke Kimura, Tyrone Marshall, Drew Moor, Hunter Freeman; M - Jeff Larentowicz, Jaime Castrillon, Martin Rivero, Wells Thompson (Harrison Henao 68’) ; F –Tony Cascio (Kamani Hill 74’), Andre Akpan (Scott Palguta 64’)
Subs not used: G – Stewart Ceus, D - Luis Zapata; Kohei Yamada; Edu
GOALS:
MTL - Patrice Bernier (Felipe) 14’
COL - Jeff Larentowicz 18’
COL - Drew Moor (Rivero) 39’
MTL - Andrew Wenger (Patrice Bernier, Collen Warner) 47’
COL - Jaime Castrillon 83'
CAUTIONS:
MTL – Davy Arnaud 35’
COL – Martin Rivero 41’
COL – Tyrone Marshall 51’
COL – Wells Thompson 56’
EJECTION:
COL – Tyrone Marshall 61’ (2nd yellow card)
