A goal by Félix Brillant in the 70th minute handed Montreal its fifth loss of the season. The Impact is now winless in its last four games and has scored only one goal during that stretch.
“We have to play a lot better if we want to win,” said head coach Nick De Santis. “We can’t make silly mistakes like that in our zone. They beat us on one play. And we can’t expect to win without scoring goals.”
“I know I made a mistake,” said defender Nevio Pizzolitto. “I tried to clear the ball on the play, but I got beat. It’s frustrating but we have to work harder. There is no excuse to play this way.”
The Impact still remains in first place in USL D1 standings with 44 points, five points ahead of the Rochester Raging Rhinos, which have two more games to play. The Impact is already guaranteed a playoff berth.
Midfielder Zé Roberto was ejected from the game in injury time following his second yellow card of the night. He also tallied eight yellow cards and will miss the last three games of the season. Roberto suffered a leg injury and left the game on a stretcher, following a tackle on a Mariners player.
With 13,044 fans at the game, the Impact has attracted more than 13,000 spectators in its last five games.
The Impact also welcomed its 1,000,000th fan Friday. Since 1993, the club had attracted 1,007,994 spectators during regular-season home games.
The two teams will face each other this Sunday at Sherbrooke University Stadium (4 pm, CJAD 800, Sport Plus XM-172).
Earlier today, the Impact announced that midfielder Kirk Wilson requested a leave of absence from the club, in order to return to his hometown, in Des Moines, Iowa, with his family. Wilson, 28, has decided to reorient his career in the medical field and he will be studying at Mercy College to become an anaesthesiologist. He will be available to the club, if needed.
THE GOALS
70th minute – Mariners midfielder Félix Brillant stole the ball from Nevio Pizzolitto’s feet and went in alone on Greg Sutton, beating him with a low shot to his left.
THE HIGHLIGHTS
14th minute – After speeding to the net on the left flank, captain Mauro Biello fired a high shot that was saved by Mariners Matt Nelson with a reflex hand save, off balance.
36th minute – On a free kick, defender Lars Lyssand laid the ball for Nevio Pizzolitto who fired a shot from 30 metres, just wide left of the net.
62th minute – After a long pass from defender Adam Braz, forward Joel Bailey deflected the ball with his head to Mauricio Salles’ feet. Salles went alone on goalkeeper Matt Nelson but could not get a good shot because of interference by a Mariners defender.
79th minute – Mariners forward John Barry Nusum took a hard shot from the right side of the 18-yard box but Sutton made the save, diving to his right.
MISSING FROM THE LINE-UP
Team – Player (Position) – Reason – Status
MTL – Mauricio Vincello (D) – Groin injury August 23 @ TOR – Day to day
MTL – Antonio Ribeiro (M) – Groin injury – Day to day
MTL - Jason Di Tullio (D) - Knee injury July 21 @ MIN - Out for the season
MTL – Kirk Wilson (M) – Personal reasons
NEXT GAMES
Sun. August 27 - Virginia Beach @ Impact – Sherbrooke University Stadium – 4 pm
Thur. August 31 – Impact @ Portland – PGE Park – 10 pm
Fri. Sept. 8 - Toronto @ Impact - Claude-Robillard Sports Complex – 7:30 pm
(end of regular season)
GAME SUMMARY
www.impactmontreal.com/Tracker/Tracker.aspx?GameID=24&language=EN
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Source : Patrick Vallée, Montreal Impact
Info : 514-328-3668 Ext. 27
