As the Impact battles for a playoff spot, the club managed to accomplish something last weekend that it failed to do in 2012.
Following the 2-1 win over the Philadelphia Union, combined with the Vancouver Whitecaps FC 3-2 loss last weekend to the Colorado Rapids, the Impact will finish the 2013 season with the best record of all Canadian teams. Toronto FC earned 26 just points in 33 games.
As such, the club is automatically seeded first for the 2014 edition of the Canadian Championship.
The Impact will therefore face off against the winner of a knockout round between the two Canadian NASL teams, FC Edmonton and expansion side Ottawa Fury FC, coached by former Impact bench boss Marc Dos Santos.
In addition, the Impact will finish the 2013 season with the best record of any Canadian team in the history of MLS, in just its second campaign in North America’s top flight, despite Vancouver’s three seasons in the league and Toronto’s seven.
The Impact’s final game of 2012 ended in a 1-0 loss to the New England Revolution, at Stade Saputo. As such, the club finished with 42 points, one less than the Whitecaps FC, who earned the right to face FC Edmonton this year.
Will we see the return of Dos Santos to Stade Saputo in 2014?
