Sep 04 Montreal Impact Tie Minnesota 1-1 in Front of Another Sold Out Crowd, Sit Firmly in 6th Place

Fresh off their trip to Honduras that saw them advance to the group phase of the CONCACAF Championship, the Montreal Impact (10-10-4; 34 points) was back at home to play its 25th game of the season against the Minnesota Thunder (8-11-7; 31 points) at Saputo Stadium. With a win this evening, the Impact would move up to third spot in the USL Division 1 standings and would have a winning record over .500 for the first time this season.

With many of the Impact's regular starters like Roberto Brown and David Testo taking a well deserved rest as well as others such as Rocco Placentino and Captain Mauro Biello nursing injuries, the Impact put in a valiant effort but were met by a team that was not yet within playoff contention and seemed to be just as eager for a well needed 3 points which resulted in a 1-1 decision at Saputo Stadium in front of another sold out crowd.

The game , more specifically the 1st half, did not start out as the Impact would have wanted as the sold out crowd began to wonder if they were to be witnesses to a replay of earlier games in the season where the impact would get a majority of the chances  but the other team would prevail. The Thunder would get their first real shot on net in the 21st and made it count as midfielder Stephen DeRoux received a sweet pass at the top of the box from forward Brian Cvilikas and let a blistering shot go that beat Impact 'keeper Matt Jordan cleanly.

The Impact, obviously playing with confidence of late and with reason as they have won 5 of their last six contests, did not let up and continued to apply pressure, but the Thunder always seemed to have a defensive answer to Montreal's defense. At the 29th, Peter Byers had a clear shot inside the box, which he took on 'keeper Nic Platter rattling it off his body and out of harms way. A few moments later at the 31st, Pato Aguilera let a low bullet go but it was deflected just wide of the net and would have beaten Platter had it been inside by 5 inches. Playing an inspired game all half, Peter Byers received a perfect Sandro Grande cross and headed the ball just over the Minnesota goal. Byers, during another Impact attack, found himself deep inside the penalty area and as he was to make contact with the ball was pulled down by midfielder Kyle Altman who received a yellow card and provided the impact with their 1st penalty kick of the season. The Impact would not disappoint. Sandro Grande instantly got the crowd of 13,034 as well as the whole Impact bench to their feet and elation set in when his laser shot was too quick for Platter who actually did dive in the direction of the shot but couldn't block it in time. The Impact headed off the pitch at half time tied 1-1.

Matt Jordan would prove yet again to be one of the primary reasons why the Impact are where they are today as it was the Thunder who had the best opportunities of the 2nd half. One such chance came at the 54th when midfielder Ricardo Sanchez was deep inside the Impact box and his shot forced Matt Jordan to make an instinctive save that caromed off him and onto the underside of the crossbar but managed to keep it out of the net as Sandro Grande, all over the pitch again tonight, helped his team mate out by clearing the ball.

At the 78th on a passed ball, it seemed as if the Thunder had a break from midfield as the ball raced towards the Impact goal and had it not been for a sprinting Matt Jordan and his sliding kick to blast the ball away, the Thunder might have easily been up 2-1.

The Impact had a few chances but the Thunder defense was on top of their game all evening, not allowing too many good clean shots on net. Peter Byers, who played the full game and was instrumental in drawing the penalty kick with his robust and inspired play this evening also was able to show off his incredible speed as he received a ball just inside the Impact's part of midfield and basically blew past all Minnesota defenders, however none of his mates were able to catch up to him on this play either and he settled for a shot on 'keeper Platter who easily made the save.

While Montreal could have occupied 3rd place with a win tonight, the point earned for a tie allowed them to breath slightly easier as they sit in 6th place a full 3 points ahead of 7th place Atlanta and 4 points ahead of 8th place Portland, however no team can sit on their laurels as, theoretically, even last place Carolina with 4 games remaining can still slip into a playoff spot.

GAME NOTES:

-The Impact were without head coach John Limniatis as he was serving a one-game suspension due to his ejection from the last game in North Carolina, on August 30. This is his second suspension this season. Behind the bench for this contest was assistant coach Andrea Di Pietrantonio .

- Also absent this evening were defenders Nevio Pizzolitto and Simon Gatti who are also suspended. Pizzolitto is serving a three-game suspension for elbowing RailHawks forward Ronal Cerritos, while Gatti will miss one game due to an accumulation of five yellow cards.

- Still healing their various injuries are Gabriel Gervais, Rocco Placentino, Mauro Biello and Patrick Leduc. Adam Braz was in the lineup tonight as a substitute. Braz has been on the Injured list since July 22nd but did come in to replace Dany Uwimana at the 76th minute.

- The Impact established a new attendance record at home. The previous record was 161,762 fans, set in 2006, and with tonight's sold out contest, the total soared to 165,961 with 2 more regular season games remaining.

- Shots on goal: Montreal13, Minnesota 10 (totals were 11-3 in favor of Montreal in the first half)

- Saves: Montreal 5, Minnesota 4

NEXT GAMES
• Monday, September 8 – Portland in Montreal – 7:30 pm
• Wednesday, September 10 – Impact in Seattle – 10 pm (USLlive.com)
• Saturday, September 13 – Impact in Vancouver – 10 pm (USLlive.com)

The only team of the three that is presently beneath them in the USL D1 standings is Portland (9th ) while Vancouver is presently in 2nd place and with a win against Seattle, Montreal could leaprog over them into 5th place.

Tags: impact \ Matt Jordan \ Minnesota \ montreal \ Sandro Grande \ September 5th 2008 \ soccer \ Thunder \ USL