A goal by Eduardo Sebrango in the 22nd minute was all the Montreal Impact needed to beat an exhausted Calgary Storm in a game played on a wet, sloppy pitch. The Storm, playing in their second game in less than 24 hours, simply ran out of gas and had to rely on goalkeeper Lars Hirschfeld to keep them in the game Hirschfeld, who was named best goalkeeper at the 2002 Gold Cup, made 21 saves on 23 shots but got no support from his teammates. The expansion Storm have now lost eight straight games and drop to 1-10-1 while the Impact improve to 4-2-1 and are now tied for second place in the Northeast Division with the Pittsburgh Riverhounds.
The game started very slowly with both teams playing conservatively. The Impact started to pick up the tempo in the 10th minute when midfielder Patrice Bernier made an impressive run on the right flank. He outran the Storm defenders but could not get a good shot off. Mauro Biello was given a great chance in the 15th minute, but his free kick from just outside the box sailed well over the bar. Just a minute later, Impact midfielder Giuliano Oliviero got into a good scoring position on the left and sent a blast that Hirschfeld barely deflected out of harm's way. The Storm keeper had to be sharp and smother several long crosses in his box. In the 22nd minute Impact defender Nicola Corneli, standing at the edge of the Calgary box, sent in a great cross that Sebrango easily headed into the net from two feet out. Montreal 1 Calgary 0.
For the rest of the half the Impact controlled the midfield but did not send in too many dangerous shots. Only in the 43rd minute did they threaten again. A very alert Hirschfeld stopped shots in rapid succession by Biello, Sebrango and Gabriel Gervais. The Calgary defense could not contain the Impact players and were once again saved by the work of their keeper. In injury time Sebrango centered to Bernier who sent a bullet well over the bar from 15 feet out. The half ended with Montreal having out shot the Storm 12-2.
In the second half the Impact kept up the pressure. A free kick by Patrick Leduc from just outside the 18-yard box curled over the wall but went three feet over the bar. Defender Lloyd Barker had a good chance in the 54th minute when he sent a great pass to Sebrango but the forward shot too high.
Sebrango was sent in alone in the 73rd minute and shot point blank from seven feet at Hirschfeld but the Calgary keeper smothered the ball. Impact keeper Greg Sutton, who faced only three shots in the game, made a sliding save in the 89th minute on the only dangerous Calgary play of the half. Just a minute later Sebrango was once again alone on Hirschfeld and shot a bullet that bounced off the keeper. With Hirschfeld out of position, Biello pounced on the rebound but somehow shot wide. Final score Montreal 1 Calgary 0.
After the game Impact coach Bob Lilley expressed his displeasure at his team's lackadaisical play throughout the game simply saying, " Today we didn't play well. We have to do a better job creating chances." Noting that the players did not play well as a team he said, " We had one guy working at a time. Nothing was done collectively." Mauro Biello echoed his coach's words saying, "We were a little sluggish. Guys were having a hard time getting going." He explained that the wet, sloppy field did not help matters.
The Impact will now play Northeast Division rivals Rochester at home on Friday before meeting the Toronto Lynx on June 27th in Toronto.
Team notes: With backup keeper Paul Shepherd out with a knee injury for the next three weeks, the Impact signed Canadian Olympic keeper Pieter Meuleman and dressed him for today's game. Meuleman had been playing with the Toronto Olympians of the CPSL and was Canada's starting goalkeeper at last year's World Youth Championships in Argentina. In other news, the Impact released little used midfielder Dan Annan to make room for Meuleman on the roster. The Storm got into Montreal at 4:30 A.M. after losing their game 4-2 in Toronto the night before.
Lineups:
Montreal: 1 Greg Sutton (GK), 2 Adam Braz, 7 Nicola Corneli (sub. 19 David Fronimadis 78th minute), 8 Gabriel Gervais, 13 Lloyd Barker, 10 Ze Roberto, 15 Patrick Leduc (sub. 5 Nevio Pizzolitto 76th minute), 17 Patrice Bernier (sub. 3 Jason Di Tullio 59th minute), 21 Giuliano Oliviero (sub. 6 Mark Rowland 59th minute), 12 Eduardo Sebrango, 20 Mauro Biello (captain). Substitutes not used: 26 Pieter Meuleman (GK), 4 Nick De Santis, 18 Rocco Placentino.
Calgary: 33 Lars Hirschfeld (GK), 19 Damir Jesic, 5 Mike Pavicic, 15 Conrad Chala, 8 Jamie Auvigne, 13 Nicolas Zuniga, 20, Nikolas Ledgerwood, 18 Chris Lemire (sub. 17 Hugo Martins 63rd minute), 22 Peter Heidler, 16 Kurt Bosch, 7 Felix Napuri. Substitutes not used: 1 Jamie Glasnovic (GK), 10 Mark McKenna (captain), 4 Liam De Silva.
Goal: Sebrango (assisted by Corneli) 22nd minute.
Cautions: Montreal-Roberto (45th minute), Di Tullio (76th minute), Sebrango (90th minute), Pizzolitto (90th minute). Calgary-None.
Ejections: None.
Conditions: Intermittent rain and cool.
Attendance: 2,123
Three stars: 1) Eduardo Sebrango 2) Mauro Biello 3) Nicola Corneli
