April 30, 2006
Through two seasons with the Puerto Rico Islanders, forward Mauricio Salles scored a goal every two games, quite a respectable rate. On that Sunday night of April, Salles is back on the Puerto Rican grass – but he is clad in Bleu-blanc-noir. Substituted off the previous Sunday, Salles had “let his anger out … by throwing a water bottle behind the players’ bench,” reports Sophie Allard in La Presse. Salles, motivated as ever against his former teammates, scores the game’s only goal by redirecting a Leonardo Di Lorenzo free kick past ‘keeper Dan Kennedy. And the crowd gives a good round of applause to its torturer.
May 1, 2010
Other days, other ways – and another 1-0 win against Puerto Rico. With one eye on the following Wednesday’s Canadian Championship game in Vancouver, Montreal boss Marc Dos Santos rotates his squad against the Islanders, and he does so successfully, reports La Presse’s Pascal Milano. Filipe Soares “Pastel” puts the ball in the nata (sorry), beating goalkeeper Bill Gaudette in the 70th minute. The three points are useful, and they give confidence to the group ahead of the trip to the West Coast. Speaking of which, the Impact would go and get a 1-1 tie in Vancouver, but not without some regrets: the Bleu-blanc-noir takes the lead, only to concede an equalizer on an 81st-minute penalty kick.
May 4, 2011
One year later, the Canadian Championship has undergone a makeover. Goodbye, round-robin tournament; hello, knockout stage. In the home leg of its semifinal matchup, the Impact suffered a 1-0 loss to Vancouver Whitecaps FC at Stade Saputo. In the return leg, the Bleu-blanc-noir comes agonizingly close to making it to the final. After sending the game to extra time with his 83rd-minute goal, Ali Gerba heads the ball onto the post in the 120th. Alas, ‘Caps defender Mouloud Akloul had already made it 2-1 on aggregate seven minutes earlier. Vancouver is through.
