The semi-pro team played a Canadian Championship game for the first time on Wednesday
The Canadian Championship has come quite a long way since its beginnings. Prior to its creation in 2008, there was no domestic competition to determine a Canadian champion. This year’s edition is the largest yet, because for the first time ever, the champion of League1 Ontario, the Oakville Blue Devils, and the PLSQ champion, AS Blainville, will also feature in the competition, for a grand total of six teams.
Oakville and AS Blainville will play a home-and-away series to determine who will face the Ottawa Fury FC, from USL, in the next round. The winner of that head-to-head will get to face Toronto FC in the first semi-final, while the Montreal Impact will face the Vancouver Whitecaps in the other.
“It’s great to see semi-pro clubs have the chance to compete in a tournament like this against professional teams,” said midfielder Samuel Piette. “It’s evident that there’s passion in this province for soccer. It also gives players who didn’t make it with the Impact or other clubs another opportunity.”
AS Blainville hosted the first game yesterday at Parc Blainville in front of over 1,000 people, and it didn’t disappoint, edging out Oakville 2-1 with a stunner in stoppage time. The hero? Former Impact player from its USL days, Pierre-Rudolph Mayard.
The striker leads PLSQ with six goals in six games played. He was with the Bleu-blanc-noir from 2009 to 2011, which included loan stints with the Trois-Rivières Attak and the Charleston Battery. At 30 years old, this may be his most important goal yet.
Montreal Impact midfielder Samuel Piette was one of those who made the trip north of the island to take in the action, and he wasn’t disappointed.
“The game was a lot of fun, and the quality was great. I was surprised,” added Piette. “Even for Oakville, they played a great game. It just goes to show that there’s talent here in Quebec.”
Local fans didn’t hesitate when they saw the Bleu-blanc-noir midfielder after the game. What a welcome…
