CONTEXT
> This is the first meeting between the Impact and the Sounders since last year’s championship game.
> On September 18, 2004, the Impact won the USL First-Division championship by beating the Sounders 2-0 in front of a record crowd of 13,648 fans at the Claude-Robillard Sports Complex. Defender Mauricio Vincello scored the game-winning goal.
> The Montreal Impact (6-0-4) remained undefeated in 10 games, Thursday, following a 1-0 win over the Timbers (5-5-3) in front of 5,435 spectators at Portland’s PGE Park.
> Midfielder Sandro Grande scored the game-winning goal at the 58th minute, surprising Timbers goalkeeper Josh Saunders with a free kick from 40 yards out.
> It was Grande’s second consecutive game-winning goal since his return from a groin injury that had sidelined him for five games. Grande also scored the game-winner on a free kick, June 22, in a 4-2 win over the Charleston Battery at the Claude-Robillard Sports Complex.
> Impact goalkeeper Greg Sutton earned his seventh shutout of the season and registered his 50th career shutout during the regular season in a Montreal uniform.
> The Impact is undefeated in 10 games. Montreal’s longest undefeated streak is 12 games. The Impact went 8-0-4 in their first 12 games last season, a club record.
IMPACT VS SOUNDERS
> The Impact has a lifetime record of 4-11-0 against the Sounders.
> At home, the Impact beat Seattle twice, but has lost on six occasions.
> The last regular-season game between these two teams ended in a 2-1 overtime victory for the Impact, August 12, 2001 at the Claude-Robillard Sports Complex. Mauro Biello scored the game-winner.
> After losing their home opener to the Portland Timbers 2-1, the Sounders remained undefeated in their following nine games (5-0-4).
> Just like the Impact, the Sounders have allowed only four goals since the start of the season. They’ve scored only nine goals in 10 games.
> The Sounders were league champions in 1995 and 1996.
NOTES
> Impact forward Eduardo Sebrango suffered a fractured right foot during the game against the Timbers and will not be available for Sunday’s match-up against Seattle. Sebrango’s condition will be evaluated by team doctors early next week.
> Defender David Fronimadis will be available. He has been sidelined since the beginning of the year due to a knee injury suffered last season.
> Midfielder Mike Kolinski and attacker Doco Wesseh of the Thunder Bay Chill, a club in the Premier Development League of the USL, have been loaned to the Impact for two games in order to fill the roster in the absences of the six Impact players who are presently with the Canadian national team at the Gold Cup Tournament.
> Kolinski has scored one goal in eight games played, while Wesseh has scored one goal in 530 minutes.
> The Impact released forward Kevin Wilson on June 29. Wilson joined the team in time to play the first game of the season in Puerto Rico on April 29. He played a total of 424 minutes, scoring three times in five games.
> Six Montreal Impact players were selected to the preliminary list of the Canadian national team’s training camp for the upcoming Gold Cup Tournament, the CONCACAF championship which will take pace from July 6-24, in the United States.
> Goalkeeper Greg Sutton, defenders Gabriel Gervais, Adam Braz and Nevio Pizzolitto, midfielders Patrick Leduc and Sandro Grande, as well as striker Ali Gerba were selected.
> The Canadian squad is in Vancouver to play Honduras in an exhibition game on Saturday.
COMMENTS
Impact head coach Nick De Santis: "Some players will not be available for the next few games so this is a good opportunity for the others to show what they can do. They have to take advantage of the situation. We will face a team that is playing very well defensively and that has done well on the road so far this season. The Sounders will want to make up for losing last year’s championship final to us. We have to set out to dictate the pace of the game."
Captain Mauro Biello: " It will be another important game for us at home. So far we’ve done great and we need to continue. It won’t be easy because they have the best defence in the league after ours. They’ll want to try to beat us on our field. But we have a lot of confidence in our reserve players, the 22 players on the team are very good, they all deserve to play."
THE STANDINGS
> The Richmond Kickers sit atop the United Soccer Leagues First Division with 26 points in 14 games.
> Following its win against Portland, the Impact moved into a tie with the Vancouver Whitecaps for second place with 22 points. Montreal has three more games to play than Bob Lilley’s squad.
NEXT GAME
The Impact will play its next game on Wednesday, July 6, at the Claude-Robillard Sports Complex, against the league-leading Richmond Kickers (19h30, CKAC, RDS).
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Source: Patrick Vallée
Info: 514-328-3668 (ext. 27)
