Jul 24 Impact Escape Rochester With a 1-1 Tie

The Montreal Impact, fresh off their recent clinching of the Voyageur Cup with their tie last Tuesday against Toronto FC of the MLS, didn't have much time to celebrate as they saw themselves presently back in last place in the USL. A win is what they needed if they hoped to close the gap between them and the teams in front of them. They would be fortunate enough, however, to leave Rochester with a tie after a hard fought match against a team well ahead of them in the standings and coming off 5 days of rest.

Noticeably not in the starting line-up for the game were David Testo, Joey Gjertsen and Roberto Brown who all figured predominantly in the previous game against Toronto, as coach Limniatis decided to give them a rest and let others like Severino Jefferson, Pato Aguilera and Leonardo Di Lorenzo see some extensive time on the pitch. Also absent from the line-up was defender Adam Braz who suffered a thigh injury against Toronto and had to be carried off on a stretcher. Braz will be out for 3 weeks and the Impact had called Alex Surprenant up to bolster the defensive line.

The first half did not produce any scoring with Montreal getting its legs and Rochester letting the play come to them. Shots on goal were 4-1 in favor of Montreal.

It was in the 2nd half that the game picked up bot in scoring chances and in intensity. Montreal had a golden opportunity at the 48th minute when Leonardo Di Lorenzo (you'll be hearing his name a lot) streaked down the side of the pitch and crossed a ball beautifully into the penalty area, however, neither Patrick Leduc nor Rocco Placentino were able to convert as the ball sailed wide of the net. A few moments later, Pato Aguilera, perhaps on a play he would rather have back found himself essentially alone as he strode towards Rhinos 'keeper Scott Vallow, and although he was at the 25 with at least 10 yards of space ahead of him, chose to kick sending the ball away wide of the net.

The Rhinos looked like the more rested team and were very dangerous when close in, especially on corner kicks or crossover plays into the box. They came very close at the 57th to take the lead when defender Ross Smith made it all the way to the Impact's 3 yard line and crossed it past a beaten Jordan, however, non of his team-mates could finish off the play. The Rhinos would convert a minute later on a very similar play when 19 year old Danny Earls scored on a rebound from Matt Jordan as Matt and Rhinos' Matthew Delicâte jumped for the ball and bumped together on a play that Jordan was left wondering where the ref's whistle was.

The Impact tied it up at the 65th minute on a sweet restart kick by Leonardo Di Lorenzo after the Rhinos' Leslie Fitzpatrick tripped Tony Donatelli at the 25. Di Lorenzo, who was playing his best game of the season, bent the ball around the wall of defenders, past a few more players and into the net past 'keeper Vallow who didn't even move on the kick.

A scary moment for Montreal Impact fans when, during another aggressive Rhinos cross into the penalty area, Matt Jordan, defender Stefano Pesoli and a Rhinos player all went for the ball and crashed into each other leaving Pesoli and Jordan writhing on the ground. Pesoli ended up being OK, but Jordan would need medical assistance as he suffered a cut over an eye. Always the gamer, Jordan decided to stay on for the rest of the game.

On a night with no other games on the USL schedule, the Impact was not able to move up in the standings despite getting a point for tonight's tie. They will meet these same Rhinos at Saputo Stadium on Sunday afternoon at 3 PM. The Impact, with 19 points, will need to start stringing together some wins in order to attempt attaining a playoff spot. Presently the last 5 teams in the standings are only separated by 2 points, with the Atlanta Silverbacks holding the 7th and last playoff spot with 21 points.

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