With a win, the Impact would move up to sixth spot in the USL First Division standings and would have a record of .500 for the first time since May 2.
In its last game, the Impact shut out Real Estelí, the Nicaraguan champion club, 1-0 (halftime 1-0), Wednesday at Saputo Stadium, in its first game of the CONCACAF Champions League.
“Every game is equally important,” said midfielder David Testo. “The game we are playing is always the most important game of the season. At this point, a league game is as important as a CONCACAF game. We have to let the last game go, focus on Carolina and then reorganize for the second game against Real Estelí. But right now, we’re only thinking about Saturday’s game.”
The Impact shut out the RailHawks in the first two games of the season between both clubs. On August 8, in Cary, Severino Jefferson and Pato Aguilera scored in a 2-0 win. Earlier this season, on June 22, the Impact shut out the RailHawks 3-0 at Saputo Stadium. Forward Roberto Brown scored one goal and added two assists on Severino Jefferson’s and Leonardo Di Lorenzo’s goals.
“Last time we played in Carolina, we got a good result so we know we can do well there,” said Impact defender Simon Gatti. “At this stage in the season, you need all the points you can get. We know they are behind us in the standings, so we can’t let them catch up on us. We have to come up with more intensity than we did in the CONCACAF game. With the quality that we have, intensity is the key. If we want to win, we also have to score on our chances like we did against Atlanta. Yes we are a little bit tired, but we have depth on this team with 26 players that can help the club.”
Midfielder Patrick Leduc will be out of the lineup for the next four weeks due to an ankle injury that was aggravated during the last game, while midfielder Sandro Grande lightly sprained his ankle, but has nonetheless made the trip with the team.
Forward Roberto Brown and defender Stefano Pesoli did not travel to Carolina because the league only allows five foreign players to play per game. Both players will join the team in Honduras, on August 31, for the second game against Real Estelí.
That CONCACAF Champions League game will be played Tuesday, September 2 at Carlos Miranda Stadium, in Comayagua, Honduras, since no stadium in Nicaragua met FIFA standards. The game will kick off at 10 pm (Eastern Time) and will be one-hour tape delayed (11 pm) on Radio-Canada Television.
OTHER FACTS
• Midfielder Sita-Taty Matondo did not make the trip. He is a healthy scratch.
• The Impact is still looking for its 100th win on the road (196 games).
• In their last game, Sunday in Seattle, the RailHawks lost 4-3 in Seattle, even though forward Hamel Diallo had scored three goals.
• The Carolina is 10th in the league defensively with 38 goals allowed (1.52 goals per game).
ELSEWHERE IN THE LEAGUE
• Saturday, September 3 - Rochester @ Atlanta – 7:55 pm
NEXT GAMES
• Tuesday, September 2 – IMPACT @ Real Estelí FC – 10 pm (Radio-Canada, 11 pm)
• Friday, September 5 – Minnesota @ IMPACT – 7:30 pm (Radio-Canada, FSW, CKAC Sports, THE TEAM 990)
• Monday, September 8 – Portland @ IMPACT – 7:30 pm (CKAC Sports, THE TEAM 990, USLlive.com)
CONCACAF Champions League
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Source: Patrick Vallée, Montreal Impact
Info: 514-328-3668, Ext. 227
