Friday the 13th...Impact-Pittsburgh game preview.

[François]

Riverhounds v Impact
Friday on Fox Sports World
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This Friday's USL on Fox Sports World A-League match features the Pittsburgh Riverhounds visiting the Montreal Impact in a battle of Northeast Division rivals. The Impact look to protect their lead in one of the A-League's tightest divisions - only six points separates first from fifth. It will be the first meeting of the season between the two clubs.

Pittsburgh Riverhounds…
The Riverhounds are definitely moving in an upward direction. Last year, the 'Hounds suffered a slow start and in midseason made a coaching change. The new manager of the squad, Tim Carter, has reversed the downward spiral of the team and has them charging toward the top of one of the most competitive divisions in the league. A third of the way into the season, the Riverhounds sit fourth in the division, but only six points back of the leaders at 3-4-2 with three of their four losses coming at the hands of the Rochester Rhinos.

Offensively, the Riverhounds have caught fire with players like Thiago Martins and new addition Corey Woolfolk leading the way. Martins has been in a duel with Virginia Beach's Dante Washington since the season began for the league lead in scoring and currently sits second with seven goals and two assists for 16 points. Woolfolk has notched three goals and an assist.

Montreal Impact…
Head Coach Bob Lilley has put the Impact at the top of the division by doing what he does best, creating outstanding defensive teams. The Impact have only allowed a league-low four goals through nine matches this season. Heading that effort is goalkeeper Greg Sutton, who has a 0.42 goals against average with four shutouts in his seven games played thus far. Leading the way in the back line are Jason DiTullio, Abraham Francois, Gabriel Gervais and Nevio Pizzolitto.

Up front, the team is led by the play-making trio of Mauro Biello, Eduardo Sebrango and Ze Roberto, who have combined for 17 points. The trio played a combined 16 seasons coming into this year with 10th-year A-Leaguer Biello leading the pack. Setting up the trio often is midfielder Martin Nash who has a team-leading four assists, which ranks second in the league.

History…
The 1994 A-League champion Montreal Impact boast one of the more storied pasts playing in their 10th season. The Riverhounds are shedding the new kids on the block image now in their fifth campaign, especially with expansion Syracuse in the same division. However, Pittsburgh holds the all-time series edge with a 6-2-1 mark over the four years of play between the two (Montreal did not play in Pittsburgh's inaugural 1999 season). After losing the first five meetings between the two, Montreal has begun to pull closer to Pittsburgh, ending the losing streak with a draw in last year's first meeting and earning victories in the following two to win the season series despite a loss in the final match of the four between them last season.