Over the last few days, the Rochester Rhinos and the Atlanta Silverbacks, teams that along with the Impact are vying for the Eastern Conference regular-season championship title, also lost to clubs placed lower in the standings.
The Rhinos lost 4-0 to the Virginia Beach Mariners, while the Silverbacks only managed a tie and a loss in two match-ups against the Puerto Rico Islanders. The Richmond Kickers missed a chance to move on top of the conference after a 1-0 loss to the Rhinos, Sunday.
"Teams like Calgary, Puerto Rico have nothing to lose," points out Impact defender Gabriel Gervais. "They come here to play and will try different things because they have no pressure on them. That’s why they are completely unpredictable. You don’t know what to expect.
"After 18 games, we did our work and we’re in a good position, especially with eight of our last 10 games at home," added Gervais. "Our fate is in our hands. Basically, whether it’s Atlanta or Calgary, we have to have the same approach. If we don’t, we’ll pay the price like we did against Syracuse last week."
The Mustangs have added two Latin-American strikers, both 31, over the weekend: Ernesto Zapata from Uruguay and Walter Otta from Argentina. Otta scored his team’s lone goal, Sunday in Toronto, in a 2-1 loss to the Lynx.
FIRST CAREER START FOR OLIVIERI
Following goalkeeper Greg Sutton’s automatic one-game suspension for having received a red card in last Friday’s game in Syracuse, 23-year-old Montrealer Andrew Olivieri will earn his first career start in front of the Impact net, Wednesday.
"I’m very happy about it, it’s a good opportunity for me," said Olivieri. "But above all, I’m pleased that I’ll get a chance to contribute to the team on the field."
Olivieri, into his second A-League season as a back-up ‘keeper with the Impact, was the Canadian Olympic team’s starting goalkeeper during 2003 and 2004 qualifying matches. He was picked on the second all-star team at the CONCACAF final qualifying tournament, last February.
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SOURCE:
bcomm
INFO:
Stéphane Banfi
514-328-3668 (ext. 27)
