MONTREAL – FC Montreal lost 2-1 to the Rochester Rhinos on the synthetic turf at Stade Saputo Saturday.
Rochester forward Christian Volesky scored a brace in the second half that helped the Rhinos secure the win. In the 57th minute, Sean Totsch crossed the ball from the left flank into the box for Volesky, who deflected the ball with his head into the net.
A few minutes after, in the 64th, Volesky did it again. Starting from the left side of the field, he cut inside the box before beating Impact goalkeeper Maxime Crépeau with a shot to the opposite corner.
FC Montreal scored a first goal in front of its fans at the end of the game. Winger Alessandro Riggi got the ball deep down the right. He came back and passed to the winger Frédéric Lajoie-Gravelle, who passed it back right away in the box. Riggi scored with an accurate shot in the 88th minute to cut the Rhinos’ lead by half.
“The head coach sent me in the game for this reason,” explained winger Alessandro Riggi. “I did my job so it is positive. It’s good for the offence that the team scored. I think we are more mature and there are positive things coming for us.”
In the 80th minute, Volesky tried to complete his hat trick, but once he got into the box, goalkeeper Maxime Crépeau came out of his net to challenge him. His shot went wide left.
Impact forward Anthony Jackson Hamel got a few opportunities himself in the first half, without putting his team on the score sheet. Im the 45thminute, Fabio Morelli out him through, but his shot missed the net by a few inches.
“We are always disappointed not to have more points after five games, but we knew it was going to be difficult for us in the first months,” said head coach Philippe Eullaffroy. "We limited them to a few opportunities at least.”
FC Montreal will play its next game on Thursday May 14, against the Charleston Battery, at 4pm, on the synthetic turf at Stade Saputo. Admission is free and the game will also be available via streaming at www.impactmontreal.com/fcmontreal.
LINEUPS
FC Montréal : Maxime Crépeau; Eric Miller (Janouk Charbonneau 46’), Wandrille Lefèvre (Mitchel Bringolf 46’), Mélé Temguia, Zachary Sukunda; Fabio Morelli (Alessandro Riggi 69’), Jérémy Gagnon-Laparé, Louis Béland-Goyette (Victor Omar Ndiaye 82’), Frédéric Lajoie-Gravelle; Romario Williams (Zakaria Messoudi69’), Anthony Jackson-Hamel
*Montreal Impact players
Rochester Rhinos – Brandon Miller; Sean Totsch, Vasileios Apostolopoulos, Patrick McMahon, Julian Ringhof (Grant Van De Casteele, 74’); Jonny Mendoza, Mike Garzi (Colin Rolfe 69’), Tony Walls (Tyler Rudy 64’), Kenardo Forbes (Marcos Ugarte 86’); Christian Volesky, Timi Mulgrew (Alex Dixon 58’)
GOALS
ROC : Christian Volesky 57’
ROC : Christian Volesky
MTL : Alessandro Riggi 88’
CAUTIONS
FCMTL : JGL 18’
ROC : Tony Walls 28’
ROC : Julian Ringhof 72’
ROC : Jonny
