April 11, 1999
While the Impact would be out of indoors soccer one year later, the 1999 NPSL season is still underway for the Bleu-blanc-noir in the second week of April. On this Sunday night, Adolfo Mella is “brilliant,” reports La Presse’s Mathias Brunet; the forward scores three goals, helping his team to a 16-10 win in Game 1 of its Conference Quarterfinal series against the Harrisburg Heat. Chris Stathopoulos, Mauro Biello and Nicola Corneli also get their name on the scoresheet – and having that many goal scorers would come in handy: Mella has to skip the rest of the series, as he is barred from entering the United States where Games 2 and (if necessary) 3 will be played. Without Mella, others will have to raise their game if the Impact is to put an end to the Heat’s season in its own home…
April 13, 2000
… but it’s mission accomplished! The Impact works hard to reach its objective, and does so a mere 40 seconds before the first overtime period of Game 2 is due to end. The Heat has pulled its goalkeeper and added a forward (!), and it manages to send the game into overtime when Mark Pulisic – yes, that’s Christian’s dad – deflects a David Bascome shot to beat Paolo Ceccarelli, the Canadian Press reports. But Giuliano Oliviero breaks the deadlock with a two-pointer, clinching a 10-8 win over the Heat and winning the series for the visitors. The Bleu-blanc-noir now has a date with the Cleveland Crunch in the Conference Semifinals.
