CONTEXT
> This is the first match of a two-game set against the Islanders. The second is scheduled for Wednesday, August 17, at the Claude-Robillard Sports Complex.
> The Impact is the best defensive team in the league, having allowed only 10 goals in 19 games.
> The Impact will play a regular-season game at Laval University’s PEPS Stadium for the fourth year in a row. This will be the team’s fifth game overall in the Quebec City area.
> The Impact will be facing the Puerto Rico Islanders for the second time in the provincial capital.
> The Impact remains undefeated in Quebec City (3-0-1).
> Last year, the Montreal squad shut out the Islanders 1-0 on Eduardo Sebrango’s goal, in front of 9,763 spectators, a record crowd for an Impact game at PEPS Stadium.
> The Impact was defeated at home for the first time this season, Wednesday, losing 1-0 to the Portland Timbers in front of 9,278 fans at Claude-Robillard Sports Complex, despite rainy conditions.
IMPACT VS PUERTO RICO
> The Impact has not lost to the Islanders in five lifetime meetings (4-0-1) since Puerto Rico’s inception into the league, last year.
> In those five games, Montreal has allowed only one goal and scored nine.
> The Impact opened the season with a two-game set in Puerto Rico, tying the first game 1-1 on April 29 on a goal by defender Mauricio Vincello, and then winning the following match-up on May 1 by a 3-0 score, with goals coming from former Impact forward Kevin Wilson (2), and midfielder Antonio Ribeiro.
> The Islanders have won their last two games, beating the Silverbacks 3-1 in Atlanta, July 24, and the Charleston Battery 2-1 in Puerto Rico, August 5.
> This is their first game of a six-game road stretch, which is slated to end on August 27 in Vancouver, against the Whitecaps.
NOTES
> Goalkeeper Greg Sutton is looking for his 61st win in an Impact uniform, which would allow him to surpass Paolo Ceccarelli's club record for most career wins.
> Captain Mauro Biello has accumulated 19,963 career minutes played with the Impact and will soon become the first-ever Impact player to hit the 20,000-minute mark.
> Defender Gabriel Gervais won’t be available for Sunday’s game as a result of a one-game suspension based on an accumulation of yellow cards.
> Midfielder Zé Roberto suffered a knee sprain on July 29, against the Atlanta Silverbacks. He missed Wednesday’s game against the Portland Timbers and he is expected to be sidelined 4 to 6 weeks.
> Forward Eduardo Sebrango has missed the Impact’s last nine games with a fractured bone in his right foot. He suffered the injury on June 30, in a 1-0 victory over the Timbers in Portland. He is expected to return sometime this month.
SAMSUNG PRE-MATCH COMMENTS
Nick De Santis
Mauro Biello
Mauro Biello
UPCOMING GAMES
> The Impact plays the second of its two-game set against the Islanders on Wednesday, August 17, at the Claude-Robillard Sports Complex. (7:30 pm, CKAC)
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Source: Patrick Vallée
Info: 514-328-3668 (ext. 27)
