Jun 25 Montreal Impact Sweeps Vancouver and Make It 4 Straight Shutout Wins!

It made for a late night but it proved to be well worth it as the Montreal Impact played its third game of the Nutrilite Canadian Championship against the Vancouver Whitecaps in my old home town of Burnaby BC at Swangard Stadium at 11 pm last night.

The Impact, who won its last three games without allowing a goal stretched this streak to four as they swept the Whitecaps in the home and away series in convincing form, taking this one in front of just over 4000 fans, 2-0.

This was the same score that the Impact beat Vancouver by in its last game of the tournament, June 17, right here at Saputo Stadium. Coach Limniatis didn't stray too much from his original winning combination as he had the usual suspects on the Pitch for the first touch, including Severino Jefferson, Rocco Placentino, Roberto Brown and David Testo up front as well as Stefano Pesoli and Adam Braz on defense, both of whom had recently served game suspensions for earlier ejections. Keeping our net was Matt "the ball stops here" Jordan who went on to record his 4th straight shutout win.

In what was considered a "must win" situation for the Whitecaps, both teams  gave no quarter and began the game showing that the Canadian rivalry was, in fact, real; the early goings of game being peppered with numerous warnings for both sides.

The Impact, perhaps being used to the larger playing surface of Saputo Stadium, seemed rather bottled up in the first 20 or so minutes of the game as their passing style of play seemed thwarted by rushing Whitecap attackers who pressured the Impact at every possession. But as has been the case in recent weeks, the Impact found a way to adapt and overcome, when at the 30 minute mark, on a missed penalty kick attempt just outside the 18 by Rocco Placentino, on the ensuing corner kick by Patrick Leduc the  Impact would take the lead. Leduc cornered to Severino Jefferson who back kicked it to David Testo. Testo in turn, booted the ball to 'Caps 'keeper Jay Nolly who made the initial stop but the rebound came on the foot of a seemingly all alone Roberto Brown who put it in the back of the net. Matt Jordan did not have much work in this half as it was all Impact for the majority of the 45 minutes of play with none of the Whitecap shots landing on net. As mentioned earlier, the refs were also kept busy, calling a total of 17 fouls and handing out 3 yellow cards before the half was done.

The second half saw a new Whitecaps team present itself on the pitch as they came out much more aggressively and managed to control the play for most of the early part of the half. Tempers flared at the 53 minute mark when Roberto Brown and 'Caps defender Jeff Clarke went for the ball and crashed into each other creating a full team meeting at centre field. In the thick of things and coming to the defense of his teammates, as usual, was Impact defender Adam Braz, who I am enjoying watching more and more as his exciting play is matched by his passion for this team.

Matt Jordan was put to the test early and more often in this half and even got a little help from the crossbar when at the 56 minute mark, a shot from striker Eduardo Sebrango rattled of it and out of play. Where the Impact was having trouble converting on their many chances earlier on in the season, they now seem to be ale to score goals out of relatively any situation as they scored their second goal of the game at the 66 minute mark when Patrick Leduc, well outside the 18, passed to David Testo who bent one just inside the far right post, just beating a sprawling Jay Nolly to make it 2-0 and consequently taking any wind out of the Whitecaps sails as collectively, they knew their chances of coming back in this game had now diminished. The game ended with the Impact defending their lead perfectly, not allowing the Whitecaps to mount any significant attack.

The play/save of the game was deemed to be Matt Jordan's tipping of Steve Kindel's chip shot that would have been a sure goal had it not been for a leaping Jordan who just got his fingertip on the ball to push it over the crossbar.

The Impact will play a second game on the West Coast, this Saturday, June 28th, against the Seattle Sounders, at 11 pm. Hoping to make it 5 games in a row, the Impact are in line, if the status quo is maintained, to leap-frog over Miami FC for the 7th and last playoff spot in the USL standings. Their next home game will be on Sunday July 6th at 3:30 in the afternoon when they host the Puerto Rico Islanders. If you are lucky enough to get your hands on what is quickly becoming the hottest ticket in Montreal, I'll see you there!

Pix by PHOTOS PÉPÉ