Three goals in the span of seven minutes powered the Montreal Impact to a 4-2 victory over the Rochester Raging Rhinos in the final of the 2nd Can-Am Cup in front of 6,241 delirious spectators. Montreal had goals from David Fronimadis, Darko Kolic, Mauro Biello and Patrick Leduc. Viktor Paco and Ebbie Kodiat scored for the Rhinos.
Rochester who play two games in three days on the weekend basically fielded a reserve team choosing to rest several starters including league leading goal scorer Doug Miller. Montreal started most of the first team but brought in several players from the LSEQ (Quebec's Elite Soccer League) as substitutes.
Both teams started the game with intensity. Barely 30 seconds into the game, Biello sent a great pass to Ze Roberto Santana who shot a bullet straight at Rochester keeper Soren Johnson from just outside the box. The Rhinos keeper easily made the save. Rochester quickly went on the attack and in the 3rd minute of play Yuri Lavrinenko fed a pass to Paco who squeezed between two Impact defenders before sending a shot past Montreal keeper Michael Ueltschey and into the net for the first goal of the game. Montreal did not give up and in the 12th minute Martin Nash got into the box and sent a weak shot in on goal that Johnson easily scooped up. Nash had another chance in the 19th minute when he sent a free kick from 30 yards out well over the bar. Santana threatened again in the 26th minute but his hard shot was smothered by Johnson. For the rest of the half both teams played in a disorganized way with many incomplete passes on both sides. Rochester had one final chance before the end of the half when in the 41st minute Steve Butcher went in alone in the Montreal box and sent a rocket that Ueltschey just deflected wide.
In the second half the goal festival began. First in the 52nd minute, Fronimadis, alone outside the Rochester box, sent a powerful shot past Johnson to tie the game at 1. Just 15seconds after coming on as a substitute, Darko Kolic came in on the right of the Rochester goal and sent a bullet into the top left hand corner of the net to put Montreal ahead in the 54th minute. Kolic, who has played all of 14 minutes so far this season, tore off his jersey and ran around the field in celebration before being tackled to the ground by his ecstatic teammates. Finally in the 59th minute Kolic sent a weak shot in on goal past Johnson that Biello hammered in for Montreal's third score. Rochester kept pressing and made several substitutions in an effort to get some fresh legs into the game. In the 70th minute David Hayes made a perfect pass into the box that substitute Kodiat sent past Ueltschey. The final goal came in the 85th minute when Kolic was tripped in the box by Nate Kaczanowki. Leduc elected to take the penalty and slotted the ball into the bottom right corner past Johnson.
After the game Kolic, the first star of the game, was all smiles saying, "I was waiting for this moment for a long time. I got the ball and got the chance." Impact coach Lilley was also pleased with Kolic saying, "I'm really happy with his performance tonight. He had an immediate impact." On the play of his LSEQ players Lilley said, "I thought they both did quite well. They were at the level of the game."
Game notes: Since the game did not count in the regular A-league standings, both teams could bring in players that are not on their official rosters…Both LSEQ players El Moustafa Mallouk and Jamie Scholefield had solid games with Mallouk getting a great shot on goal towards the end of the game…The Impact's third goalkeeper Andrew Olivieri played the final four minutes of the game, his first game action so far…Montreal also won the first Can-Am Cup in 1998 in what was basically a one game competition also against the Rhinos.
Lineups:
Montreal-Michael Ueltschey (GK)(Andrew Olivieri 86), Gabriel Gervais, Lloyd Barker, Chris Williams, David Fronimadis (Nevio Pizzolitto 80), Ze Roberto Santana, Patrick Leduc, Martin Nash (Darko Kolic 54), Antonio Ribeiro, Mark Rowland (El Moustafa Mallouk 66), Mauro Biello (Jamie Scholefield 63). Substitutes not used: Greg Sutton (GK), Nick DeSantis.
Rochester-Soren Johnson (GK), Ryan Dinunzio, Yuri Lavrinenko (Seth Lilburn 66), Carlos Mendes, Jacob Vaughn (Egan Dugbartey 51), David Hayes, Nate Kaczanowski, Steve Butcher, Ian Fuller (Tsuyoshi Tanikawa 59), Fred Commodore (Ebbie Kodiat 57), Victor Paco. Substitutes not used: Billy Andracki (GK).
Cautions: Barker (Mtl 13), Fuller (Roch 23), Lavrinenko (Roch 36), Gervais (Mtl 45), Kaczanowski (Roch 85)
Ejections: None
Goals: Paco (Roch 3), Fronimadis (Mtl 52), Kolic (Mtl 54), Biello (Mtl 59), Kodiat (Roch 70), Leduc (Mtl 86 PK).
Attendance: 6, 241
Conditions: Sunny and warm, field dry.
