Montreal played in front of a total of 161,762 people this year, for an average of 11,554 spectators per home game, compared to 10,064 for the Rochester Raging Rhinos. In fact, the Impact registered its best season ever in this category, beating its 11,176 average and 156,458 total set in 2005.
“The players don’t have to ask themselves that question anymore, not knowing if the stands are going to be full or not,” says Montreal head coach Nick De Santis. “And the nice thing about it is that they can take pleasure in the fact of being in the public eye, in being recognized more and more often on the street.”
The Montreal squad’s popularity did not waver during the year, as the team played an unprecedented five straight games in front of over 13,000 spectators, including an all-time regular-season high of 13,450 fans August 9 in a game against the Rhinos.
On the club’s all-time top-10 list of largest crowds, eight have been registered this year. And since the club’s re-launch in 2002, attendances have been steadily on the rise.
“It’s a sign of good health,” says midfielder Patrick Leduc. “Before, being a pro soccer player in North American meant you had to prepare your resumé for the following year, just in case. Now, that’s not something you need to worry about anymore.”
“It’s great to see kids continue to support us,” says captain Mauro Biello. “And the kids who used to support us are now young adults, and they’ve kept coming to our games.”
On the field, the 2006 season also had its share of memorable moments. In addition to the regular-season title, which adds to those collected in 1995, 1996, 1997 and 2005, the Impact won the Voyageurs Cup, awarded to the league’s top Canadian team, for the fifth consecutive year.
Montreal also posted the best defense in the league for the fourth straight year, allowing only 15 goals in 28 games, a team record first set in 2004 and tied for the first time last year.
The 16 shutouts collected by Impact goalkeepers — nine by Sutton, seven by Andrew Weber — are the second best total in club history tied with last year’s, and three behind the league-record of 19 set in 2004 by Montreal. The four goals allowed at home are a new club record, beating the six-goal mark set in 1994 and tied in 1996 and 2004.
The team also had its best-ever start to the season at home, remaining undefeated in its first 10 match-ups at Claude-Robillard Sports Complex (7-0-3).
Individually, a fractured index prevented Greg Sutton from dominating most of the league’s goalkeeping categories as he usually does. He was nonetheless crowned USL D1 Goalkeeper of the Year for the fourth straight year after posting the best goals-against average in the league, 0.50 in 14 games, ahead of his teammate Andrew Weber (0.571). And in spite of limited playing time, Sutton finished second in the league for shutouts (9), while Weber finished 7th for wins (8).
Mauricio Salles was the Impact’s leading scorer with nine goals and one assist for 19 points, earning him 9th place in the league for points and 6th place for goals. With his six assists, Leonardo Di Lorenzo finished 4th in the league. Salles and Mauro Biello ended up 4th and 5th for shots, respectively, with 58 and 51.
Biello became the first player in Impact history to play all of Montreal’s regular-season games for two straight seasons. Biello also became the first Impact player to surpass the 25,000 minutes-played mark and the 300 games played in his United Soccer Leagues First Division career.
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