Montréal - September 25, 2005 - If rain is a bad omen in Montreal, then a Montreal Impact loss was in the cards.
Despite overcoming an early 1-0 second-half deficit, two days after coming from a two-goal hole in the final five minutes to tie Game 1 at 2-2, the defending-champion Montreal Impact allowed a late goal by the visiting team as the Seattle Sounders earned a place in the final by escaping with a 2-1 road victory before 10,124 spectators at Claude-Robillard Stadium.
Just as rain began to make field conditions slippery in injury time, Roger Levesque broke a 1-1 deadlock as his 20-yard drive deflected skyward off defender Gabriel Gervais, over 6'6" goalkeeper Greg Sutton, into the back of the net, preventing overtime while giving the Sounders a 4-3 aggregate-goal semi-final series victory. The win propelled the visitors into the October 1 United Soccer Leagues First Division championship match, in which they will host the Richmond Kickers, who disposed of the favoured Rochester Raging Rhinos Sunday night.
"They scored the goal, they seemed to have the momentum, (but) the wet weather played a factor - the ball took a deflection" exclaimed an ecstatic Levesque following his tie-breaking deciding marker. "The goaltender didn't expect it. Very rarely do you see a goal like that over a guy that size."
"I knew it was going to come to a game like this" said a dejected Mauro Biello, the Impact captain and last remaining member of the expansion 1993 club, who has seen it all. "A game where it was going to be very tight - it was going to come down to who makes a mistake. They're a very good defensive team, you know. They got up 1-0 on a lucky break, and we were able to come back in the game. And the second goal, what can I say? It was a deflection; it was an unlikely occurrence. And you know, when things like that happen, there's nothing you can do… This is playoff soccer and the ball didn't bounce for us in the end - it bounced for them."
The Sounders took a 1-0 lead in the 59th minute, during what initially seemed to be another harmless Sounders rush. After the Impact failed the clear a bouncing ball out of the box, Gabriel Sturm squidded a small roller towards the 'keeper, which normally would have been an easy pick-up for Sutton, who went down on his knees to corral the ball. However, Sutton either slightly misjudged the ball, or it may have gotten away from him on a lucky bounce. Regardless, the result was a loose ball to Sutton's left, which allowed Brent Whitfield to outhustle a slow Mauricio Vincello to slam it in the wide-open side.
The play was the only real scoring chance for the Sounders up to that point.
However, Vincello atoned for not giving his 110% by making a perfect cross into the box, allowing recent substitute Charles Gbeke to direct the ball to the lower right side of the net with his head, past 'keeper Preston Burpo, deadlocking the score in the 72nd minute. Gbeke, who had replaced defender Adam Braz six minutes earlier, had also been the hero on Friday as his two markers, on 86th- and 89th-minute headers, snatched what appeared to be a certain 2-0 opening-game road defeat.
Nevertheless, Gbeke's three markers in the series could not prevent the inevitable as the Sounders took advantage of their only two opportunities in the match - both on balls which took a Seattle bounce.
Although the Impact pressed following the go-ahead tally, it seemed that the air had already left the Montréal balloon for 2005. The closest the club would come to a shot on goal was by Sutton, who had run the length of the field, only to see his header miss the target.
The physical first half was otherwise a highly uneventful chess match, as both clubs sized each other up, although the Impact, who controlled the ball for most of the half, did threaten to take the lead on a couple occasions. Nevio Pizzolitto, who was cautioned in the 28th minute for throwing his body in front of a streaking C.J. Klaas just outside the Impact box, preventing a clear shot on goal, had the best chance of either club as his header off a Patrick Leduc pass was stopped by a leaping Burpo. The Sounders 'keeper, whose three first-half saves (four overall) kept the Sounders in the match (Sutton also made 4 saves in the contest, including 3 in the second half), also had to be vigilant in the 33rd minute, making an instinct stop with his right hand on a point blank shot by captain Mauro Biello, left alone in front of the net during a goal-mouth scramble.
The Sounders' best and only opportunity in the first forty-five minutes was a wasted one, as Taylor Graham and Levesque each self-destructed by failing to properly control the ball inside the box due to the slippery turf (following a slight drizzle before the match). Had either player been able to corral the ball, a clear shot on goal was inevitable, which would have upped their total from the 2 shots they earned in the first half. The Impact outshot the visitors 12-8 in the match, including holding a 6-2 advantage going into the locker room.
"I think, at halftime, we were still confident with the way we played," explained Biello. "We came out really well, we controlled the tempo of the game - they really didn't have much, and Burpo made some good saves."
The Impact loss is disappointing following the Impact's 18-3-7 record in the regular season. The club had come into the campaign with only 15 goals against in 28 regular season games. However, the Impact, despite bottling the opposition for most of the two-game series, allowed the Sounders to pierce through four goals past the Impact wall.
The Impact adds another disappointing chapter to the playoff history. It marked the fourth time the club would win the regular season crown yet fail to make it to the final. The club had the best record in 1995, 1996, and 1997, but won it all in 1994, despite finishing tied for third, and 2004, when they ended the campaign one point behind the Portland Timbers.
"After the season that we had, with three losses throughout the year, for us, we wanted to reach the final," added Biello. "It was our goal after having that type of a season. It's hard, but we have to come back stronger next season."
Corner Kicks: Brent Whitfield, who broke a scoreless tie in the 59th minute, was substituted in the 63rd (by Ben Somoza) after collapsing on the field. It was feared he had suffered some sort of heart failure (from the press box, it appeared to be an asthma attack). However, a jubious Whitfield explained after the contest it was simply a case of a muscle spasm with a chest muscle. Nothing serious… The Impact may have out-fouled the Sounders 17-15, but the Sounders were rewarded for their rough play with four yellow cards (Ryan Edwards in the 32nd minute, Roger Levesque in the 53rd, Andrew Gregor in the 79th, and Kevin Sakuda in the 90th), while Nevio Pizzolitto (28th) and Gabriel Gervais (68th) of the Impact were also cautioned… Levesque led his club with 4 fouls, one more than Whitfield, while Patrick Leduc and Mauricio Vincello each led the Montreal Eleven with four apiece… Both teams could not do anything with their corners, but it was the Impact who could not capitalize on their opportunities. The Impact held a 14-2 edge in that department… Oddly, the Sounders were not offside a single time in the match, while the Impact was called only twice…
The Montreal Impact, in winning their fourth regular season crown, set club records in 2005 with 156,248 paid spectators (for a 14-game average of 11,176, which includes a "home" game in each of Quebec City and Sherbrooke), besting the 129,901 and 9,279 set the previous campaign… The Montreal Eleven also set two new league records in going undefeated in the club's first fifteen games of the season (10-0-5), marks for longest undefeated streak in league history as well as most consecutive games without a loss from the start of a season… The Impact also set a new club record by going undefeated for 9 road games (6-0-3). All of the above streaks were ended on July 29 as the club fell to the Atlanta Silverbacks at DeKalb Memorial Stadium before 1,326 fans… The Impact's other losses this season occurred on August 10, 1-0 to the Portland Timbers (the only loss at Claude-Robillard Stadium), and September 9, also by a 1-0 score, to the Seattle Sounders at Qwest Field, in the next-to-last regular season game of 2005…The Impact, who finished the season at 18-3-7 while leading the league with only 15 goals against, had previously lost a team-record-low of 6 in 1996, 2003, and 2004. Their two road losses are also one better than the previous Impact record of 3, set in 1998 and 2003…
'Keeper Greg Sutton established a new club record this season with a league-leading 0.458 goals-against average, allowing only 11 goals in 24 games (2,160 minutes). The Hamilton native also led the United Soccer Leagues First Division with 15 victories and 15 shutouts, one short of the league record of 16 goose eggs set last season. Sutton also become the first ever Impact netminder with at least 10,000 played while finishing the regular season with 66 victories with the Impact, surpassing Paolo Ceccarelli's previous career club standard of 60… Speaking of record-breakers, ageless captain Mauro Biello, who led the club with 9 goals and 3 assists for 21 points (seventh overall in the USL D1), set a new Impact standard with 7 game-winning goals. Biello had shared the record of 6 (1997) with Eduardo Sebrango (2002)…
Biello is also a finalist for USL D1 Most Valuable Player, with Jason Jordan of the Vancouver Whitecaps and Kirk Wilson of the Rochester Raging Rhinos… Furthermore, Gabriel Gervais is also up for the Defender of the Year award, along with Taylor Graham of the Seattle Sounders and Scott Thompson of the Portland Timbers, while Nick De Santis can earn Coach of the Year honours, as Bob Lagos of the Minnesota Thunder and former Impact head man Bob Lilley of the 'Caps are up for the honours. Sutton has already been named Goalkeeper of the Year… Consequently, Biello, Gervais, and Sutton have been named to the USL First Division All-League team, while defender Nevio Pizzolitto has been named to the second squad.
