Referee Stephen DePiero called the penalty kick when Impact defender Mauricio Vincello slid in for a tackle on Lars Lyssand, who was about to break away alone in front of goalkeeper Greg Sutton.
Eduardo Sebrango gave the Impact a 1-0 lead at the 19th minute of play when he headed in a cross by Vincello. The Salty Dogs evened the score at the 53rd minute, when Vincello scored an own goal, trying to clear a hard, low cross taken by Suarez.
"We weren’t there early in the game, which is incomprehensible considering how important this game was. At least, after 10 minutes, we were dominating completely," said defender Gabriel Gervais. "But we were unlucky on their first goal, there was a lack of communication between some defenders."
The Impact had to do without four starters during the game — midfielder Mauro Biello and defender Nevio Pizzolitto, called up by the Canadian national team, midfielder Sandro Grande, suspended for an accumulation of yellow cards, and striker Joel Bailey, suffering from a groin injury.
"It’s frustrating to lose a game at home, especially a game where we took the lead," said head coach Nick DeSantis. "We lost three points we’ll need to take back Friday in Syracuse."
The Impact and the Salty Dogs will face off once again on Friday, this time at P & C Stadium in Syracuse (7:30 pm, CJAD, CKAC).
The game was played in front if 9,894 fans at Claude Robillard Stadium, a club record which erases the old record of 9,414 people, established on August 13, 2003. This is the third time this season the Impact has played in front of 9,000 spectators.
In an unusual turn of events, the game was delayed for nearly 15 minutes due to a power failure in the stadium. There was a little less than nine minutes to go in the second half.
The Impact suffered its first home loss in six games played at Claude Robillard Stadium this season (3-1-2). The Montreal players were also defeated by the Salty Dogs (3-1-2) for the first time since Syracuse joined the A-League, in 2003.
With the loss, Montreal failed to move up alone on top of the Eastern Conference standings, and remained tied in first place with the Rochester Rhinos and the Atlanta Silverbacks. The Richmond Kickers, following their 3-2 overtime victory against the Toronto Lynx, Wednesday, are now only one point away from first place.
Syracuse picked up their third straight win and remained nine points away from Richmond and fourth place, and therefored stayed in contention for a playoff spot.
It was also the Impact’s sixth and last game that counted in the Can-Am Cup standings. Even before Wednesday’s game against the Salty Dogs, however, the Montreal club had clinched first place and will therefore host the Can-Am Cup championship final, slated for August 18.
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SOURCE:
bcomm
INFO:
Stéphane Banfi
514-328-3668 (ext. 27)
