“I’m very happy from what I’ve seen so far,” said new head coach John Limniatis. “The players work hard and they’re positive. They answer well, but now we need to see it on the field. Friday we have to play to win so I don’t really care to match up against a good or a bad team. We will have to play well to win. If you play your best, your chances of winning are always there.”
This is the second game of a home-and-away series between the two clubs, as the Impact was defeated 3-1, Saturday, in Charleston. Rocco Placentino put an end to a scoreless streak of six games and 551 minutes, including the Canadian Championship match against Toronto FC, May 27, by scoring his first goal of the season in the 5th minute of play. Ian Fuller, Aaron King and David Kenga scored for the Battery.
“We didn’t play a good game in Charleston so we will be motivated to take our revenge against them,” said defender Simon Gatti. “It will be exciting Friday with the last changes made to the team. John Limniatis knows us already well and has seen us play, but we will still want to impress him.”
The Impact has not won in its last six games (0-4-2) and is still looking for a first goal at home and a first win at Saputo Stadium.
“It’s like a new season for us,” said team captain Mauro Biello. “Our new coach will try to bring more energy and I hope that this will translate into positive things for us. There’s still work to get done but I hope that we will get a break and win Friday. There are still 20 games to play this season and we have to build as a team and get back in the shape we were in Europe.”
Defender Stefano Pesoli, who served an automatic one-game suspension due to his ejection from the game against Miami, will be back in the lineup Friday. But there are still five injured Impact players: defender Gabriel Gervais (thigh), midfielders Leonardo Di Lorenzo (thigh), Antonio Ribeiro (ankle) and David Testo (hip), as well as forward Roberto Brown (thigh).
If he is called upon, defender Nevio Pizzolitto will play Friday his 219th career game with the Impact, tying Nick De Santis in second place in club history for most games played. Team captain Mauro Biello is first with 318 games played.
The Impact sold all 13,034 tickets of its first three regular-season games at Saputo Stadium. The Impact should once again play in front of a sell-out crowd Friday.
OTHER FACTS
• Forward Massimo Di Ioia and defender Davy Uwimana, from the Trois-Rivières Attak, are still training with the team. The two players were called back from the Attak for the trip in Charleston. Di Ioia played the last eight minutes of the game.
• Midfielder Patrick Leduc (898 minutes) and defender Adam Braz (861 minutes) started the first 10 regular- season games. They are the two players who have played the most so far this season. Mauro Biello and Charles Gbeke also played the first 10 games of the season.
• This is the third and last game between the two teams this season. The Impact lost the first two matchups in South Carolina. In the first game, May 14, the Impact was shut out 1-0 in Charleston. Forward Randi Patterson scored the game-winning goal in the 86th minute.
• The Impact is playing under the .500 mark in 16 games against Charleston (7-9-0, 17 GF – 18GA).
• The Battery (20 points) is currently fighting for first place in the standings with only two points behind the Vancouver Whitecaps (22 points).
• Forward Randi Patterson leads the Battery in goals and points with six goals and 12 points in nine games. He did not score in the last game but had a few scoring opportunities.
• As part of the stay-in-school program All the Way with the Impact, more than 3,800 students from the Sir Wilfrid Laurier School Board will attend Friday’s game. To encourage excellence in school, the Impact will be awarding prior to the match the Tony Licursi Bursaries to two young students from the school board who distinguished themselves both in school and in soccer: Alice Girard, from Jules Verne Elementary School (grade 4), and Anthony Ciccone, from Laval Junior High School (secondary II).
NEXT GAMES
• Tuesday, June 17 – Vancouver @ IMPACT – Saputo Stadium – 7:30 pm
• Sunday, June 22 – Carolina @ IMPACT – Saputo Stadium – 3:30 pm (Radio-Canada, CKAC Sports, TEAM 990, USLlive.com)
• Wednesday, June 25 – IMPACT @ Vancouver – Swangard Stadium – 10 pm
*Nutrilite Canadian Championship
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Source: Patrick Vallée, Montreal Impact
Info: 514-328-3668, Ext. 227
