Despite a 3-2 win in Montreal, the Impact lost 5-3 in this home-and-away series on aggregate goals.
Forward Taiwo Atieno (30th), midfielder Victor Herrera (81st) and forward Willie Sims (90th) scored for the Islanders.
“I think that they gained a lot of confidence after the first goal,” said Impact head coach Nick De Santis. “In the first half, we suffered. I think that the team played well in the second half by imposing their game. They beat us on counter-attacks and it then became hard to come back.”
“It’s deceiving to lose this way,” said team captain Mauro Biello. “Once again, our errors cost us a lot. It’s hard to explain why we lost again in the first round of the playoffs because it’s something that we would never want. Tonight, we gave too much to the Islanders and it cost us the game and the series.”
“We didn’t get into the game aggressively,” added midfielder Patrick Leduc. “We were passive and we defended. They took advantage of our mistakes. We took control of the game in the second half. If we had the chance to do it again, we would start the game differently.”
For the third straight year, the Impact is eliminated during the first playoff series round to which it participates.
The Impact will draw up its 2007 post-mortem in the days to come.
GOALS
30th minute - Midfielder Noah Delgado recovered a poor pass from the Impact defense and gave it to forward Taiwo Atieno. The Islanders forward took a hard low shot from 20 yards, which beat Matt Jordan to his right.
81st minute – During a swift counter-attack, midfielder Victor Herrera, who came into the game in the 68th minute, scored the second goal after receiving a pass from Atieno.
90th minute – As the Impact was pressuring the Islanders in their zone, Willie Simms took advantage of a counter-attack and went alone against Jordan. Simms beat the Impact goalkeeper with a low shot to his right.
HIGHLIGHTS
21st minute – After a turnaround caused by the Islanders, midfielder Joey Gjertsen recuperated the ball then passed it to Roberto Brown. The Impact forward dribbled on the right flank and then took a low shot with his left foot from 15 yards out.
47th minute – Posted deep in the Islanders 18-yard box, defender Gabriel Gervais deflected with a header the ball centered by Joey Gjertsen, but Islanders goalkeeper Josh Saunders made the save.
65th minute – Posted near the goal line, Taiwo Atieno deflected a ball from midfielder Alejandro Gonzalez with a header, which hit the crossbar.
74th minute – Atieno deflected with a header a corner kick to the near post but Matt Jordan dove to his left to make the save.
LE SOMMAIRE DU MATCH
PHOTOS PÉPÉ
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Source : Patrick Vallée, Montreal Impact
Info : 514-328-3668 (ext. 27)
