ST. PETERSBURG, Florida – The Montreal Impact will play its fourth and final preseason game in the Rowdies Suncoast Invitational against host Tampa Bay Rowdies, this Saturday at 7pmET, at Al Lang Stadium, in St. Petersburg. This match will also be broadcast live on impactmontreal.com.
“We will be able to push the majority of the players during 90 minutes tomorrow and apply our principles and what we worked on throughout the camp,” said Impact head coach Mauro Biello. “We want a good performance to finish on a good note.”
“It’s an important game for us since it’s our last game before we head to Vancouver next week”, added goalkeeper Evan Bush. “We need to push ourselves for 90 minutes, but even more important is to do the things we’ve worked on and hopefully we see a good product and get a result.”
“We have to come out strong and possess the ball while going forward,” said defender Donny Toia. “It is an important game because it will determine how we will start our season. We know that Tampa Bay will give everything they’ve got.”
In its first tournament game, the Bleu-blanc-noir put up a great fight against NYCFC but ultimately lost by a score of 1-0.
The Impact then won its second preseason game of the tournament, defeating D.C. United by a 4-1 scoreline. Forward Dominic Oduro tallied twice for the winners, while Michael Salazar and Romario Williams scored the other Montreal goals.
Wednesday afternoon, the Impact played Toronto FC to a 1-1 tie, in Clearwater. Forward Dominic Oduro scored in a second consecutive game.
The Montreal Impact plays its 2016 home opener on Saturday, March 12, at 4pm ET (TVA Sports) at the Olympic Stadium against reigning regular season champions New York Red Bulls. On the previous Sunday, March 6, Montreal plays Vancouver Whitecaps FC at BC Place, at 5:30pm ET (RDS, TSN).
