ORLANDO, Florida – The Montreal Impact concluded the first phase of training camp with a 2-0 shutout win in its first exhibition game, on Friday morning, against the South Florida Bulls. Forward Nick DePuy was the only goal scorer in this game, picking up a brace.
“Everyone got the chance to play today,” said Impact head coach Mauro Biello. “The main concern was getting the minutes we needed to find back our physical shape and our rhythm. It was our first time out there in a real setting to play a real game. We worked on a couple of things in the attacking side and in our construction, especially in zones one and two. I think we did that well today. Defensively, we worked on our organization to press a little higher. I saw some good things, I am happy with the way we played. It’s a base for us to work on.”
The Impact first-round pick at the last MLS SuperDraft, Nick DePuy, scored the first goal of the game in the 58
th
minute. On the play, winger Dominic Oduro found space in the box before dispatching a cross to DePuy who finished with his left foot. DePuy doubled his tally a little before full time, scoring on a passing play started by Anthony Jackson-Hamel on the left, who then found Patrice Bernier in his stride. The captain easily found DePuy at the near post for a low finish with the right.
“I felt great today on the field,” mentioned DePuy. “We came out in the second half, they were a little tired. We were able to frustrate them. We won the ball high on the field, which made the job easier for me to score goals. I was able to do it on good passes from Dominic and Patrice.”
“The last weeks have been good for the team,” added goalkeeper Evan Bush. “It’s been more intense than last year, which is important. We don’t want the feeling that we had a good run last year and our job is done. We need to have the right mindset at the start of the season. We’re hungry. We’re even hungrier than we were at the end of the season.”
Argentine midfielder Andrés Romero, the 2014 season MVP for the Impact, played the first 40 minutes of the game, also his first minutes since missing the end of 2015 and the full 2016 season with a knee injury.
Starting Monday, the Impact will train at Olympic Stadium, in Montreal, for one week, before flying to St. Petersburg, Florida, for 12 days. The team will play four exhibition games, three of those being in the Rowdies Suncoast Invitational tournament.
The Bleu-blanc-noir will start its regular season on March 4 against the Earthquakes, at Avaya Stadium in San Jose, at 10pm ET, and will play its home opener on Saturday, March 11, at 7pm, against the MLS Cup champion, the Seattle Sounders FC.
2017 CAMP SCHEDULE
February 3 – Return to Montreal
February 6-13 – Training at Olympic Stadium
February 14 – Departure to St. Petersburg
February 15 – Exhibition game against Chicago Fire
February 18 – Exhibition game against D.C. United
February 22 – Exhibition game against Philadelphia Union
February 25 – Exhibition game against Tampa Bay Rowdies
February 26 – Return to Montreal
March 4 – First game of the 2017 regular season at San Jose
March 11 – Home opener at Olympic Stadium against Seattle
LINE-UP
FIRST HALF
MTL – G-Evan Bush; D-Hassoun Camara, Kyle Fisher (Mélé Temguia* 30’), Laurent Ciman, Anthony Wallace^; M-Marco Donadel, Calum Mallace, Andrés Romero (Louis Béland-Goyette, 40’), Michael Salazar (Jimmy-Shammar Sanon* 30’), Ignacio Piatti; A-Matteo Mancosu
SECOND HALF
MTL – G-Maxime Crépeau; D-Chris Duvall, Victor Cabrera, Wandrille Lefèvre, Aron Mkungilwa; M-Louis Béland-Goyette, Patrice Bernier, Hernán Bernardello, Dominic Oduro, Nick DePuy; A-Anthony Jackson-Hamel
Academy player
^Player on trial
GOALS
MTL – DePuy (Oduro) 58’
MTL – DePuy (Bernier) 89’
CAUTION
MTL – Ciman 42’
