ORLANDO, Florida - The Montreal Impact lost its opening game of the Disney Classic tournament by a score of 3-0 against its Canadian rivals, the Vancouver Whitecaps FC, Friday at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex, in Orlando, Florida.
Whitecaps forward Eric Hassli opened the scoring in the 38th minute after a give and go put him in open space, beating Impact goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts with a low shot to the far side. Forward Darren Mattocks then doubled Vancouver’s lead in the 69th minute when he took advantage of a loose ball down the left flank, scoring in the top corner of the net. In the 83rd minute, forward Sebastien LeToux converted a penalty kick after Camilo was taken down in the box.
“There was more to this game than just a preseason match,” said Impact head coach Jesse Marsch. “There were some good moments for us. Now we have got to learn from it and move forward. It was a good game for us to play to see the level that is coming.”
The Impact created a few scoring chances in the first half, most notably in the 27th minute, when forward Miguel Montano was able to pierce the Whitecaps defence. He then played the ball just inside the box to midfielder Davy Arnaud, whose shot deflected off a defender and almost beat the Whitecaps goalkeeper Joe Cannon. The ball deflected off the goalkeeper’s foot and forward Eduardo Sebrango fired the rebound back off the goalkeeper.
“I thought we competed and we battled,” said Davy Arnaud, who was wearing the captain’s armband for the game. “Our chances will come if we keep working on things the way we’ve been doing through camp.”
Just before the end of the first half, Cannon was forced to make another good save off of Impact midfielder Felipe, who fired a low shot from distance.
Ricketts, who played all 90 minutes, made several good saves, including one in the 67th when
Camilo pushed the ball passed a sliding Impact defender. He then fired low far post, but the Jamaican goalkeeper pushed the ball out of bounds.
Recently acquired Mike Fucito used a crossover to beat the Whitecaps defender down the left flank, firing a shot that sailed over the net in the 75th minute.
With a record of 4-3-5 in preseason action since the start of camp, the Impact will play its second game of the tournament versus Sporting Kansas City on Sunday at 3pm ET (live streaming on montrealimpact.com). Kansas City tied the Houston Dynamo in its opening game 0-0, Friday.
The Impact and the Whitecaps will meet up again on March 10, at BC Place, in Vancouver, as Montreal will play its first regular season game in Major League Soccer.
The Impact will then play its home opener at Olympic Stadium on March 17, against the Chicago Fire, at 2pm.
Season tickets are available online at impactmontreal.com or by calling 514-328-3668 while individual tickets for the five games presented at Olympic Stadium are available through Admission.
LINEUP:
MTL - Donovan Ricketts, Jeb Brovsky (Calum Mallace 77'), Matteo Ferrari (Shavar Thomas, 62'), Tyson Wahl (Hassoun Camara 77', Karl Ouimette 82'), Josh Gardner (Gienir Garcia 77'), Davy Arnaud (Collen Warner 77'), Felipe (Gerson Mayen 77'), Patrice Bernier (Bryan Arguez 77'), Lamar Neagle (Sinisa Ubiparipovic), Eduardo Sebrango (Mike Fucito 72'), Miguel Montano (Andrew Wenger, 67')
VAN - Joe Cannon, Young-Pyo Lee (Greg Klazura 63'), Martin Bonjour (Carlyle Mitchell 63'), Jay DeMerit (Jordan Harvey 63'), Alain Rochat, Atiba Harris (Michael Nanchoff 63'), Jun Marques Davidson (Matt Watson 63'), John Thorrington (Gershon Koffie 45'), Camilo Sanvezzo (Russell Teibert 63'), Davide Chiumiento, (Darren Mattocks 24', Long Tan 80'), Eric Hassli (Sebastien Le Toux 63')
GOALS:
38' - VAN - Eric Hassli (Martin Bonjour)
69' - VAN - Darren Mattocks (Sebastien Le Toux)
83' - VAN - Sebastien Le Toux (penalty kick)
CAUTIONS:
41' - VAN - Camilo Sanvezzo
42' - VAN - Eric Hassli
42' - MON - Davy Arnaud
71' - MON - Felipe
75' - VAN - Gershon Koffie
