ORLANDO, Florida – After a pair of wins to start the preseason, the Impact will face its toughest test so far in its second game of the Walt Disney Pro Classic Soccer tournament when it takes on the New York Red Bulls this Saturday at 6pm, at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex. The game will be streamed live at impactmontreal.com.
Previous game
Impact 1-0 Fluminense FC U23
Sanna Nyassi scored the winner in 18th minute against the Brazilian team.
“We’ll be seeing a team that we’ll face a few times during the year,” said Justin Mapp. “They did really well last season. Even though it’s still early in the preseason and we are testing out a number of players and ideas, it’ll be a good test for us.”
“As we get closer to the first game of the season, certain players will get more playing time over preseason,” said assistant coach Mauro Biello. “Our plan all along is to gradually up the minutes of certain players this next game.”
In its tournament opener, the Impact shut out Fluminense FC U23 1-0 on Wednesday. Sanna Nyassi scored the lone marker.
The Red Bulls, last year’s Supporters Shield winners, fell in their opening match of the tournament to Sporting Kansas City 1-0. As a result, the Impact and Kansas City sit atop of their group with one win apiece.
However, the Red Bulls were victorious in a friendly versus the Philadelphia Union last week, taking a 2-1 win on goals by Thierry Henry and Lloyd Sam.
The Impact’s final game of the group stage will be against Kansas City on Wednesday at 8pm. The championship game is set for Saturday, March 1.
