Montreal Impact – Sporting Kansas City
Saturday, September 22, 1pm (ET)
Stade Saputo
Broadcast: TSN/RDS and CJAD 800
Also available on: illico web
MONTREAL, Quebec – With just four games left in the regular season, the Montreal Impact (12-15-3) continues its pursuit of a playoff spot this Saturday, at 1pm (ET), versus Eastern Conference leaders Sporting Kansas City, at Stade Saputo. The game will be broadcast live on TSN/RDS and is available on illlico web. The game will be played in front of a sellout crowd, with all 20,521 tickets sold for the matchup.
Before the game, the Impact and Canpar will be collecting donations of soccer equipment to help Montreal youth, from 11am until game time (1pm), in the BMO Celebration Zone near the front entrance of the stadium. Each donor will be given an Impact branded souvenir for their donation. Saturday's Centraide Celebrity game scheduled to follow the Impact's matchup has been cancelled.
The Impact currently sits in 7th spot with 39 points, seven points away from the Houston Dynamo and the final playoff spot. SKC has the second best record in MLS with 54 points, and is unbeaten in its last seven games (5-0-2).
This will be the third and final matchup of the season between these two clubs. The Impact took the first game on May 5, at LIVESTRONG Park, by a 2-0 score. Brazilian midfielder Felipe (4G, 10A) and Canadian international Patrice Bernier (9G, 8A) scored in the win.
Then, on July 4, Sporting KC avenged the home loss, taking its first visit to Stade Saputo by a 3-1 score. Bernier got the lone home goal for the Impact, while forward Kei Kamara and midfielder Graham Zusi scored SKC’s first two goals on penalty kicks, before forward Jacob Peterson sealed the victory.
PREVIEW vs KC : Jesse Marsch
Team news
The Impact is coming off two straight road losses, falling 2-1 to the Crew in Columbus on September 1 before leaving Chicago with a 3-1 defeat to the Fire last weekend.
Prior to the two losses, the Impact went on a five-game winning streak and had won its last six consecutive games at home, with an overall record of 10-3-2 at Stade Saputo, outscoring the opposition 15-4.
RELATED:
- DOWNLOAD: Game Notes (PDF)
- DOWNLOAD the mobile app
- DONATE your used soccer equipment this Saturday
- ACADEMY: U21, U18 and U16 in action this weekend
Impact DP Marco Di Vaio has scored a goal in four consecutive games, a club record, and is tied for the second longest streak this season in MLS behind Chris Wondolowski and Danny Koevermans (5).
Midfielder Collen Warner established a new team record, making a 20th consecutive appearance in last weekend’s game.
INJURY REPORT:
OUT: GK Evan Bush – Virus, F Bernardo Corradi – Left knee ACL tear
QUESTIONABLE: D Nelson Rivas – Left knee sprain, M Josh Gardner – Left groin strain
WATCH: Brovsky and Nyassi preview KC
Sporting KC News
Sporting Kansas City played in a mid-week fixture, beating the New York Red Bulls 2-0 at Red Bull Arena, Wednesday, adding to its league-leading best road record of 8-4-2.
The last time SKC lost in all competitions was 10 games ago, a 2-1 defeat to the Columbus Crew on July 28, and has a record of 10-5-4 against Eastern Conference opponents this season.
Sporting Kansas City leads MLS with 483 shots in 2011and has been tops in the league in five of the past seven seasons in this category.
Sporting KC has allowed just 25 goals in 29 MLS matches for a 0.86 goals against average, the best in MLS this season.
Goalkeeper Jimmy Nielsen leads MLS with 16 wins and 12 shutouts this season. The team has allowed the fewest shots against (278) and Nielsen is the only player to have played every single minute for the team this season.
SKC has a strong midfield with American Graham Zusi, who leads the league in assists with 14, and Honduran Roger Espinoza, who has helped SKC to a nine-game undefeated record when he is in the starting Xl. However, Espinoza will miss Saturday’s game due to yellow card accumulation.
SKC INJURY REPORT:
OUT: F Teal Bunbury – Left knee ACL tear, D Cyprian Hedrick – Left fibula fracture
DOUBTFUL: F Bobby Convey – Right hamstring strain
PROBABLE: F Jacob Peterson – Right shoulder Sprain
Next game
The Impact will have another two-week break from regular season action before it plays its next match on October 6, against the Houston Dynamo at BBVA Compass Stadium, at 8:30pm (ET). The game will be broadcast live on TVA Sports, and will be available on illico mobile, illico web and MLS Live.
The Impact will then head to BMO Field to take on Toronto FC on October 20, at 1:30pm (ET), before playing its last game of the season at Stade Saputo, against the New England Revolution, on October 27, at 2pm (ET). Individual tickets for games at Stade Saputo are available via admission.com or by calling 1-855-790-1245.
Priority list for the Montreal Impact's 2013 season tickets is now available with a $50 deposit by contacting the sales team at 514-328-3668. It is also possible to renew your season tickets for 2013 by contacting the club before October 19, 2012. Also, follow the Impact by downloading the club’s new mobile app powered by Videotron and available free for Android and iOS.
Game Notes
- For the Impact, five of its last seven victories have come when midfielder Patrice Bernier scored at least one point in the game. Of the team’s 12 wins, Bernier has played in 10 of them and earned points in eight. Bernier has taken part in 58% of the goals scored at Stade Saputo with seven goals and seven assists.
- Midfielder Felipe leads the team and is sixth in the league with 10 assists, while teammate Patrice Bernier is tied for tenth with eight assists.
- Goalkeeper Troy Perkins is currently sixth in MLS with 85 saves and 129 shots faced.
- Before joining the team via trade in November, team captain Davy Arnaud played 10 seasons with Kansas City. Arnaud left the club in first place all-time with 240 games played, in second place all-time with 43 goals and third in assists with 35, games started at 213 and minutes played with 19,390. He played more than 2,000 minutes over a span of seven consecutive seasons and also played in 15 career playoff games. He was the team captain in 2010 and 2011.
- Defender Shavar Thomas was twice a member of Kansas City, playing a total of 76 games with the club between 2004 and 2006 and 19 games from 2010 to 2011. He most notably helped the team win the 2004 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.
