Looking at the Rough Riders schedule this past week, one would have said, this was the time to gain ground and make some noise!
Long Island got off to a good start by dominating the Connecticut Wolves. Next on the schedule, was the lowly Montréal Impact. Then, just before the Impact left for the island, the team endured a major shakeup.
The Montreal Impact made wholesale changes trying to save a season going nowhere. On Wednesday, July 7th the Impact, which only had one win in their last 12 starts, announced they had released seven players from its roster including veterans John Limniatis and Darren Tilley.
All those problems combined with a seven game losing streak, and the Riders could not have asked for a better situation.
Then again, there is a saying, "Anything can happen, and it usually does."
The Rough Riders faced another former teammate in Darko Kolic, and he showed the skill and touch that paced the Rider's attack in 1999. Kolic finished with 18 goals, 9 assists for 45 points in 26 games for Long Island.
Kolic picked up where he left off, scoring Montréal's first goal and assisting on the second.
The whole night, the Riders seemed to be a step slow. Right from the start the Impact attacked their defense. Montréal's aggressiveness paid off just 24 minutes into the game. Kolic scored the first goal of the game with a blast that beat Paul Grafer, and Long Island never really recovered.
Leading 1-0, the Impact came out and continued to stick it to the Rough Riders. Kolic then showed that he could share the wealth too. As a defender played the ball to him, Kolic just past midfield, flicked the ball with the outside of his left foot. Josué Mayard was streaking down the sideline, and collected the ball in full stride, and beat Grafer one on one to give the Impact a 2-0 lead with 30 minutes left in the game.
With time running out, Paul Riley inserted Dahir Mohammed into the game in the 75th minute. He immediately put the Riders on the board.
Gary Ablett played a long ball forward into the box, which was headed around. Mohammed won the ball and used his head to score Long Island's lone goal of the game. The goal was his second one of the year. The Rider's had a few more chances, but where unable to find the back of the net with their headers. Both teams finished with 15 shots each. Grafer faced 15 shots and made six saves allowing just two goals. Then you remember the saying, "That's why you play the game. anything can happen!"
