THE GAME AT A GLANCE
• Last weekend, the Impact collected two road wins in 24 hours, beating the Sounders in Seattle 2-1, Saturday, before coming up with a 1-0 shutout against the Whitecaps in Vancouver, Sunday.
• The two wins allowed the Impact to take sole possession of first place in USL D1 standings with 32 points, three points ahead of the Whitecaps, who have played five more games.
• The Impact is undefeated in its last 12 games (8-0-4). The league record, set last year by Montreal, is 15 consecutive games without a loss (10-0-5).
• Goalkeeper Andrew Weber has started the Impact’s last nine games since Greg Sutton’s injury. He has recorded six shutouts and remains undefeated (6-0-3) in his USL D1 debut.
• The Impact has the best defense in the league, having allowed only six goals in 15 games this season, for a 0,4 GAA. The Impact has 11 shutouts so far this year.
• Head coach Nick De Santis has a knack for making the right player substitutions. Out of the 19 goals tallied by the team so far this season, seven have been scored by players coming off the bench.
• This will be the sixth ever match-up between these two clubs. The Impact has never lost against the Thunder (4-0-1) and is leading 14-1 in goals.
THE OPPONENT
• The Minnesota Thunder is in last place in USL D1 standings with 11 points, tied with the Toronto Lynx.
• The Thunder has not won in its last seven games (0-4-3).
• Last year, the Thunder ended the season 10th in the standings with a 7-11-10 record and did not make the playoffs.
• During the off season, head coach Buzz Lagos retired and was replaced by former player Amos Magee. Among the starting players who have left the club are forward Johnny Menyongar (Rochester Raging Rhinos), midfielders Jay Alberts (Vancouver Whitecaps) and Jeff Mateo (Charleston Battery), and defender Chris Bunt (Charleston Battery).
PRE-GAMES COMMENTS
HEAD-COACH NICK DE SANTIS
“We came here to get some points. We will have to stay concentrated even if we are playing against a team that is having some difficulties this season. In our last game, players who came off the bench made the difference and this Friday, with Nevio’s (Pizzolitto) absence, substitute players will again have an important role to play.”
MIDFIELDER ZÉ ROBERTO
“It’s another important game on the road for us. We have to win if we want to remain in first place in the standings. I’m not expecting an easy game due to their artificial field where it’s hard to play. Our confidence level is high so we want nothing else than a win.”
GOALKEEPER ANDREW WEBER
“We did very well in our last games on the road and we want to continue that stretch and build on it. Defensively, we've been doing a good job from the beginning of the season. We have to stay strong and remain focused at all times and under any circumstances.”
IN OTHER NOTES
• Impact defender Nevio Pizzolitto, who received his fifth yellow card of the season, on July 11 against Toronto, will have to sit out the game in Minnesota but should be back in the line-up for the next game against Seattle, on Wednesday.
• Impact midfielder Leonardo Di Lorenzo will also be out of the lineup following a red card he received in last Saturday's game, against the Sounders in Seattle.
• The United Soccer Leagues First Division All-Stars, coached by the Montreal Impact’s Nick De Santis, and the English club Sheffield Wednesday played to a 0-0 tie, Wednesday, in the USL D1 All-Star game, which was held in Cary, North Carolina. Impact defenders Gabriel Gervais and Mauricio Vincello also represented the Impact at the game and both started the match. Gervais played the first half while Vincello was substituted in the 57th minute.
• The Impact physical trainer Gil Orriols-Jansana is no longer with the club. He has accepted an offer from the Qatar National Training Centre, which is developing young players. Before joining the Impact on March 6, Orriols-Jansana was physical trainer for FC Barcelona’s reserve team.
INJURIES
Team – Player (Position) – Injury – Status
MTL - Joel Bailey(F) - turf toe - day to day
MTL - Antonio Ribeiro (M) – hamstring - day to day
MTL - Greg Sutton (G) – fractured index - could be back in August
IMPACT’S LAST GAME
Sun. July 16: Impact 1 – Vancouver 0 (@ Vancouver)
Goal: Joel Bailey (Mauricio Salles) 55th
NEXT GAMES
Wed. July 26 - Seattle Sounders @ Impact - Claude-Robillard Sports Complex - 7:30 pm
Fri. July 28 - Impact @ Atlanta Silverbacks - Silverbacks Stadium - 7:30 pm
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Source: Patrick Vallée, Montreal Impact
Info: 514-328-3668, ext. 27
