Head coach Nick DeSantis’ squad, which boasts a 3-0 record after a perfect season-opening road trip in Puerto Rico, Charleston and Atlanta over the last month, will play its season opener at Claude Robillard Stadium this Sunday, May 16, at 4 pm against the Virginia Beach Mariners.
"We want to play more offensive soccer, especially at home," said DeSantis about his team. "I’m very satisfied with the first three games, we’re applying more pressure offensively with our fullbacks and through the midfield. However, we have to work on the cohesion between the midfield and the forwards. Scoring is the toughest part of soccer."
The Impact has added three new strikers to its roster this year: Fred Commodore, a former Rochester Rhinos player who already has two goals this season, Nikola Budalic, the A-League Rookie of the Year in 2002, and Joel John Baily, the all-time leading scorer in Wheeling Jesuit University history with 92 goals in four seasons. Montreal has also acquired Mauricio Vincello, a left-footed defender who likes to initiate the counter-attack.
The other three Impact "rookies" in 2004 are all Quebecers — midfielder Sandro Grande, who has joined the team six years after becoming its first-round draft pick and after kicking off his pro career in Italy, as well as two players from the Laval Dynamites, midfielder Kyt Selaidopoulos and newly-signed goalkeeper Gerry Argento.
"These new players we’ve brought in will add more depth to the team. Just on the first road trip, with two games in 24 hours, we used all our players, including our forwards," pointed out DeSantis. "These are good options to have. The new players have blended in well in the team chemistry, and that’s also very important at the beginning of a season."
The Impact will also be able to count on 15 returning players from the 2003 squad, which finished first in overall A-League standings with a 16-6-6 record, tied with the Milwaukee Wave United. Among them, 13 are into their third season or more with the club.
Among the players back are captain Mauro Biello, the Impact’s all-time leading scorer with 55 goals and 53 assists in 11 seasons with Montreal, striker Eduardo Sebrango, who holds the team records for most goals (18) and points (36) in a season, Greg Sutton, the A-League Goalkeeper of the Year last year, as well as Gabriel Gervais, the A-League Defender of the Year in 2003. For his part, veteran Lloyd Barker becomes this season the sole remaining active player who was on the starting eleven of the 1994 Impact championship team.
Several up-and-coming players are also back, including Jason DiTullio and David Fronimadis, who won the team’s Unsung Hero awards in 2002 and 2003, respectively, as well as goalkeeper Andrew Olivieri and midfielder Antonio Ribeiro.
Defender Adam Braz, a Montrealer, is back for a second season with the Impact after playing in Sweden in 2003.
In all, 13 of the 23 players on the roster have come through the Quebec amateur soccer ranks.
THE TOP FOUR
The Impact, playing its 11th outdoor season in the A-League, will look to earn a playoff berth for the eighth time in club history, and the third time in a row. To do that, Montreal will need to finish among the top four teams in the Eastern Conference, which is comprised of nine teams. The Western Conference has seven teams.
The Impact will play 28 regular-season games. Twelve match-ups will take place at Claude Robillard Stadium, while "home" games will be played in Quebec City, August 14, and Sherbrooke, August 22.
The Impact will also participate in a friendly game against a Haitian select team on Sunday, May 23 at 5 pm at Claude Robillard Stadium, as part of the activities to celebrate the Bicentennial of Haiti’s Independence.
Last year, the Impact established a club record with an average attendance of 7,236 fans per home game, including an all-time high of 9,414 spectators on August 13, 2003.
Once again this year, soccer fans will be able to follow the team thanks to the broadcast of six games on RDS, two on Fox Sports World, 10 on CJAD and 17 on CKAC.
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SOURCE:
bcomm
INFO:
Stéphane Banfi
514-328-3668 (ext. 27)
