Montréal - September 12, 2004 - It took ten years, but it was worth the wait. The Montreal Impact, paced by Patrick Leduc's first-half penalty strike, advanced to the A-League final for the first time since 1994 as they tied the visiting Syracuse Salty Dogs 1-1 at Claude Robillard Stadium for a berth in the championship match on September 18.
The Impact will host the Western-champion Seattle Sounders who tied the Vancouver Whitecaps 1-1 late last night. Had the "Caps won, the match would have been held in Vancouver.
"I'm very happy we're going to the final", exclaimed an elated Nick DeSantis, head coach of the Impact, one of only three remaining from that sole championship season. "We're proud, but it's not over."
The visitors entered the game with an insurmountable task, as they needed to win by two goals to force overtime to decide the series. However, only four clubs scored as many as two against Nick DeSantis's boys this season - and Laurie Calloway's club had done it twice. Nevertheless, despite the lead, the game-plan remained the same for the Impact, according to the former number 4, as the Impact bottled up each and every Salty Dog drive, minimizing the visitors' scoring chances.
The task became even more difficult for Syracuse as the Impact opened the scoring in the 20th minute as Leduc's chip-shot penalty kick over the diving head of 'keeper Byron Foss, who guessed correctly to his right - but too low - gave the Impact a 1-0 lead. More importantly, the Impact headed into the final seventy minutes with an insurmountable three-goal lead in the series.
But give the 'Dogs credit. Not only did they come into Montréal down by two, they faced as tough a referee as you can handle in José Farias.
The Leduc penalty chance, although more warranted than not, as right defender Frankie Sanfilippo clearly grabbed the shirt of Impact forward Eduardo Sebrango in the box with his left hand, was given the extra ketchup from the Nova Scotia ref, who let nothing go by in the first forty-five minutes of play. The infraction was already the third in the half for the visitors, as midfielder Lars Lyssand had earned the club's first yellow card by tripping Zé Roberto on the Impact side of the pitch on a Salty Dog turnover in the 13th. Kupono Low earned his club's second yellow by preventing midfielder Sandro Grande from breaking away on the left side, clearly slowing down the former Serie A player by firmly grabbing his jersey.
Frias made himself known twice more in the frame, starting with Sanfilippo's rough play, an obvious yellow which could have been a red. Scott Schweitzer's knee-high kick to defender Mauricio Vincello was the coup de grace for the referee, as the Salty Dogs' fifth infraction (including the play which gave the Impact the easy penalty-kick goal) was of the fiery red colour, prompting an automatic ejection.
Through all this, down one man, the Salty Dogs rebounded by tying the score in the 32nd minute as midfielder Jonathan Steele caught the Impact defensive corps napping, sending in a long lead pass from the centre circle to a streaking Low, who not only corralled the ball with his left foot, but chipped it past Impact 'keeper Greg Sutton in two quick motions for the 1-1 tie. The marker was the first allowed by the Impact in these playoffs.
Although outhustled in the second half, the Impact surrendered no clear-cut chances to the visitors. At the same time, the Montrealers didn't create any around the Salty Dog net either, content with keeping Syracuse at bay. "They worked harder than us", added DeSantis.
The Impact, who ended the regular season with two consecutive losses, enters the A-League final on a four-game unbeaten streak. However, the differences between this year's club and 1994's are evident. This year's squad goes into next Saturday's tilt as the regular season and playoff Eastern Conference champion while the 1994 championship team had finished third in the seven-team league.
"Back in '94, we clawed our way to the playoffs" according to Lloyd Barker. "We slowly crept our way." Mauro Biello, who along with Barker, is the only two players on the field remaining from ten years ago, concurred: "It's been a long time. That time, we were underdogs"
And underdogs they were on a cold October 15, 1994 day, defeating the now-defunct Colorado Foxes 1-0 at Claude Robillard on a Jean Harbor 21st-minute strike. But this time, the Impact heads into the game as a clear-cut favourite. Nevertheless, the club will have to play better to bring the city its second title in any sport since that faithful day in October 1994, according to DeSantis, "We can't play like that in a final… We were a little bit tired."
The club will have a full six days before the final to nurse any injuries that may have occurred during the semi-final, notably to Vincello. The defender appears to need only time to heal his wounds from the Schweitzer hit, which prompted his removal from the game in the 43rd minute.
Finally, asked the main difference between going to the final as a player or a coach, DeSantis edged his way towards his feelings as a coach, answering with a nervous smile, "I think it's more stressful."
Impact Notes: The only other championship team in Montreal since the Impact won what was then the American Professional Soccer League title is the Canadian Football League's Montreal Alouettes in 2002… Impact 'keeper Greg Sutton, who started the post-season second in franchise history with three playoff shutouts, has totally obliterating Paolo Ceccarelli's previous mark of four goose-eggs with three more in the club' first three games. The Low marker is the only one allowed by Sutton in four playoff games… Despite the Impact's domination on the northern New York club in the playoffs, the Salty Dogs hold a regular season advantage over the Montrealers with 2 wins and a tie, including back-to-back 2-1 victories in a home-and-home series on July 14 and 16. The first meeting between the clubs was a scoreless tie on June 27 at P&C Stadium in Syracuse. Cuban expatriate Eduardo Sebrango was the only Impact to hit the back of the net during the three matches… Sebrango had gone into today's game as the only Impact player with a point in each of the club's three playoff games…
Byron Foss started in goal for the Salty Dogs, replacing Temoc Suarez who was rewarded with his bad behaviour with two yellow cards in the 2-0 loss in the A-League semi-final opener… Also missing the bus to Montreal was Rene Rivas, as he too collected two of the coloured cards from Friday's referee, as well as Mauro Carbajal, Cjaba Kerekes, and Attila Vendegh who could not cross the border due to visa problems… Midfielder Mauro Biello (70th minute) and substitute forward Freddy Commodore (73rd) each scored their first goals of the playoffs in Game 1, a 2-0 victory at P&C…
With only 8,539 in attendance, the Saputo Boys ended their streak of at least 9,000 spectators at twelve (including 1-0 wins in Quebec City on August 14 and Sherbrooke on August 22, respectively). The last time the club attracted so few was June 6 as 8,112 witnesses the Impact defeat the Richmond Kickers 2-0. However, the club has had at least 8,000 faithful in the stands in their last fourteen… The only Impact game this season with fewer than 8,000 in attendance was on May 28, a 4-1 victory over the Toronto Lynx - the club's second home contest of the campaign… The other two clubs to score twice on the Impact this season are the Virginia Beach Mariners (a 2-1 win on July 2) and Kickers (a 2-1 home win on July 3 and 2-0 victory in Montreal in the regular season finale on August 29)… Bonehead move of the year: Twice during the game, the public address announcer read a script in which the A-League broadcasts a game on Fox Sports World every Friday night - despite the fact that the only game remaining on the schedule after today is the championship match - which will be played next SATRDAY. Go figure!
