THE GAME AT A GLANCE
• It is the Impact’s second game in less than 48 hours on the West Coast. Thursday, in Portland, the Impact tied the Timbers 1-1, at PGE Park, on a goal by Alen Marcina in the 86th minute.
• The Impact is still undefeated on the road this season (2-0-3).
• Montreal boasts a record of 0-2-3 in its last five games. It is the first time since 2004 that the Impact is in a five-game stretch without a win. That year, the Impact had not won a game from June 15 to July 3 (0-2-3). On that same year, Montreal went on to win the second playoff title of its history.
• Since the arrival of the Sounders in the league, in 1994, the Impact has a 7-12-1 (15GF, 28GA) record against its West Coast rivals.
• Last year, the Impact won its two match-ups against the Sounders: 2-1 in Seattle and 1-0 in Montreal.
• The Impact had won the 2004 playoff championship, on September 18, 2004, beating the Sounders 2-0. The following year, the Impact had lost to the Sounders 4-3 in the semi-final round on aggregate goals.
• It is the second and last match-up between the two teams this season.
THE OPPONENT
• This is the 14th game of the season for the Sounders, who have played only four games at home so far this season.
• The Sounders are undefeated in their last five games (4-0-1).
• Their last loss against the Impact was on May 20, during the Impact home opener at Claude-Robillard Sports Complex. The Impact had shut out the Sounders 2-0.
• In their last game, June 15, in Carolina, the Sounders shut out the RailHawks 1-0.
• A few Sounders players could miss the game against the Impact: team captain Danny Jackson (personal reasons), Nathan Knox (hamstring), Leighton O’Brien (back) and Hugo Alcaraz-Cuellar (achilles tendon injury).
PRE-GAMES COMMENTS
HEAD COACH NICK DE SANTIS
“The team has shown pride with a comeback in the last game. Once again against Portland, we conceded a goal in the last 10 minutes of play, so we will have to be careful with that. We will need to play better against Seattle and try to create more scoring chances. We will analyze the situation to determine if we will make some changes in the line-up. It will be important to get a good result if we want to remain among the top four teams in the standings, because the race is very tight.”
GOALKEEPER MATT JORDAN
“I’m proud of the team because we showed character Thursday in Portland. We deserved the point. I think it will be another tough game in Seattle, but if we play the entire game with the same attitude, we will get the win.”
OTHER FACTS
• Following Canada’s 2-1 loss to the USA in the Gold Cup semi-final, Thursday, midfielder Antonio Ribeiro will join his Impact teammates in Seattle.
• Defenders Nevio Pizzolitto and Gabriel Gervais, as well as midfielder Mauro Biello did not travel with the team.
• Two Impact players have played all 90 minutes of the first 11 games of the season (990 minutes): defender Mauricio Vincello and midfielder Leonardo Di Lorenzo. A total of six Impact players have played in all games this season: Mauricio Vincello, Charles Gbeke, Patrick Leduc, Leonardo Di Lorenzo, Simon Gatti and Matthew Palleschi.
• Midfielder Zé Roberto became Thursday the ninth player in Impact history to reach the 10,000-minute mark with the Impact.
PLAYER INJURIES
Player - Position – Injury – Status – Games missed
Gabriel Gervais Defender Groin Approx. one week 2
Mauro Biello Midfielder Thigh Approx. one week 6
Nevio Pizzolitto Defender Knee Approx. one week 11
Jason DiTullio Defender Knee Return unknown 11
Shaun Tsakiris Midfielder Groin Return unknown 11
NEXT GAMES
• Friday, June 29 – Puerto Rico @ Impact – Claude-Robillard Sports Complex (Télévision de Radio-Canada, Sirius, USLlive.com).
• Sunday, July 1 – California @ Impact – PEPS de l’Université Laval, in Québec City (Télévision de Radio-Canada, Sirius, CJAD 800).
• Sunday, July 8 – Carolina @ Impact – Sherbrooke University Stadium (Télévision de Radio-Canada, Sirius, CJAD 800).
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Source: Patrick Vallée, Montreal Impact
Info: 514-328-3668, ext. 27
