match 17: Impact v Syracuse - CCR 19h30

[François]

L’IMPACT REÇOIT SYRACUSE MERCREDI


MONTRÉAL, le 13 juillet 2004 — Pour la deuxième semaine de suite, l’Impact de Montréal disputera une série aller-retour contre un rival de l’Association de l’Est, alors que la troupe de l’entraîneur-chef Nick DeSantis recevra les Salty Dogs mercredi au Complexe sportif Claude-Robillard (19h30, en direct à RDS, CKAC), avant de retrouver la même équipe au Stade P & C de Syracuse, vendredi (19h30, CKAC, CJAD). Les joueurs de l’Impact n’ont pas eu la vie facile contre les Salty Dogs, une équipe qui en est à sa deuxième saison dans la A-League. Ils n’ont jamais perdu contre Syracuse (3-0-2), mais les deux derniers affrontements contre cette formation se sont soldés par des nulles de 0-0.

De plus, même si les Salty Dogs ont une fiche déficitaire (6-7-3), ils peuvent encore espérer obtenir une place en séries. Leur victoire de 1-0 contre le Battery de Charleston, lundi, leur a permis de se hisser à neuf points du quatrième rang dans l’association, occupé par les Kickers de Richmond. Ils ont deux matchs de plus à disputer que Richmond.

«C’est une grosse semaine pour eux, ils ont des matchs importants et ils voudront obtenir des résultats positifs dans le but de prendre part aux séries. Ils chercheront à se mettre en marche», a dit DeSantis au sujet des Salty Dogs, qui ont battu les Kickers 2-0 à leur affrontement précédent, le 7 juillet.

«De notre côté, nous commencerons cette série à domicile et il faut en profiter au maximum. Nous devons remporter tous nos matchs à domicile», a ajouté l’entraîneur, dont la formation a un dossier de 3-0-2 jusqu’ici cette saison à Montréal.

L’Impact se retrouve dans l’obligation de continuer à gagner puisque malgré ses deux victoires de 1-0 contre les Rhinos de Rochester, la semaine dernière, le onze montréalais (fiche de 10-2-4) se retrouve toujours à égalité au premier rang de l’Association de l’Est avec les Rhinos (11-4-1) et les Silverbacks d’Atlanta (11-3-1).

Trois joueurs de l’Impact manqueront à l’appel, mercredi. Le milieu Sandro Grande devra purger une suspension d’un match pour accumulation de cartons jaunes, tandis que le milieu offensif Mauro Biello et le défenseur Nevio Pizzolitto, qui ont été rappelés par l’équipe canadienne, affronteront l’équipe anglaise de Millwall, mercredi soir, à Vancouver.

«Ce n’est jamais facile quand des partants ne peuvent jouer, mais c’est aussi pour cette raison que nous avons récemment ajouté des joueurs à la formation, a souligné DeSantis, faisant allusion au milieu Yuri Lavrynenko et au défenseur Adrian Cann, embauchés la semaine dernière. Ça nous permet de garder une certaine profondeur. Comme à tous les stades de la saison, d’autres joueurs devront prendre la relève.»

Le gardien Greg Sutton et le défenseur Gabriel Gervais, qui à l’instar de Biello et Pizzolitto ont participé au match nul de 1-1 de l’équipe canadienne contre le club écossais Hearts, lundi à Vancouver, seront de retour à temps pour le match de mercredi contre les Salty Dogs.


source: Impact de Montréal

[François]

Heads-up play for Dogs
Rivas' 54th-minute goal gives Syracuse 2nd straight win, and hope for playoffs.
Tuesday, July 13, 2004
By Nolan Weidner
Staff writer
It wasn't pretty.

But on a rainy Monday night at P&C Stadium, a 1-0 victory over Charleston was just what the Syracuse Salty Dogs needed.

Syracuse scored its goal in the 54th minute on a header by Rene Rivas to win its second straight match. The victory lifts the Dogs to 6-7-3 and back into a tie with Virginia Beach for fifth place in the A-League's Eastern Conference.

Coach Laurie Calloway said the team, which started the second half of its 28-game season with a 2-0 victory in Richmond on Wednesday, now has its

sights set squarely on fourth place, and a spot in the playoffs.

"This is the first step up the ladder," Calloway said after a defensive struggle played mostly in the rain in front of an announced crowd of 3,321. "It wasn't pretty. It was going to take one goal."

In a match that was sometimes as ugly as the gash over forward Anthony Maher's right eye - one that came courtesy of a first-half, midair collision with a Charleston defender and one that took nine stitches to close - the Syracuse goal was the prettiest play of the evening.

It started with a corner kick from forward Chris Dore, whose kick from the left sailed clear to the far side of the penalty area. Defender Jason Perry was there, and his one-touch volley sent the ball back across the field and right onto the head of Rivas, who easily knocked it past Battery goalkeeper Chris Doyle.

"We practice that a lot," Rivas said of the tally, his second of the season.

Perry got the assist, his first point with Syracuse.

Calloway said he was pleased with the play of his defense on a wet, slippery P&C turf.

"We defended very well," he said.

Charleston coach Chris Ramsey agreed.

"We didn't take our chances," said Ramsey, who saw his defending A-League champions fall to 3-11-4. "We had a lot of pace and strength tonight, but give credit to them."

Ramsey likened the Syracuse goal to a "sucker punch," but he said the Salty Dogs deserved the victory.

"I think today some bounces went our way," defender Lars Lyssand said. "Things are starting to turn around."

Lyssand was one of the anchors of a Syracuse defense that held together, especially toward the end of regulation when Charleston tried to apply some pressure and get a tying goal.

"I think sometimes (late in games) we get out of sync," Lyssand said. "Today we just stayed with our marks. We were kind of a chain-link fence tonight."

Each team took eight shots on goal, forcing five saves from each goalkeeper. Charleston's best scoring chance came in the 39th minute of the first half, when forward Caleb Norkus broke in on the left side and fired a low shot that Dogs goalkeeper Byron Foss stopped but couldn't control. As another Battery player rushed toward the loose ball that rolled just several yards in front of the Syracuse goal, Dogs midfielder Ian Woan raced in, slid and kicked the ball out of danger.

Calloway said the team has talked about not giving up on the playoff hunt. Current fourth-place team Richmond has accumulated 30 points in 18 matches, while Syracuse has 21 points in 16 games. If his team can go on the kind of winning streak that has boosted opponents such as Montreal and Atlanta into first place in the conference, Syracuse could easily nail down that fourth playoff spot.

"I just want the guys to believe they can do what Atlanta and Montreal have done," he said.

Syracuse heads to Montreal for a match Wednesday night, then returns home to face the Impact again Friday night at P&C Stadium.



Note


Former Syracuse player Gabriel Valencia was at forward for the Battery and played the entire match. "We gave a decent performance," said Valencia, the Salty Dogs' scoring leader last season with nine goals. "It's been a tough season. We can't quite find the rhythm."

Syracuse 1, Charleston 0 Charleston0 0 - 0 Syracuse0 1 - 1 Scoring: Syracuse, Rivas (54th minute) from Perry; Shots: Syracuse 8, Charleston 8; Saves: Foss (Syr) 5, Doyle (Chr) 5; Fouls: Syracuse 20, Charleston 18; Offsides: Charleston 6, Syracuse 1; Corner kicks: Syracuse 3, Charleston 3; Cautions: Rivas (Syr.) 36th minute, Schweitzer (Syr.) 52nd, Low (Syr.) 81st, Jensen (Chr.) 81st, Maher (Syr.) 88th; A: 3,321.

© 2004 The Post-Standard. Used with permission.

[BoB]

ca va être intéressant de voir une équipe A-... les joueurs qui auront plus de terrain voudront épater!

[François]

Un milieu sans Grande et Biello...On devrait voir Ribeiro à la place de Mauro et pourquoi pas Lavrynenko à la place de Grande...

[François]

Sebrango et Commodore devraient être nos deux attaquants car Bailey s'est blessé à Rochester.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Impact feeling pinch
Short-handed team going to bench. Tough schedule and rising toll of injuries mean substitutes will get a chance to shine

RANDY PHILLIPS
The Gazette


July 14, 2004







Head-coach Nick DeSantis will ask players who haven't seen a lot of action to carry more of the load as the Impact begins the second half of the most gruelling part of its A-League schedule.

"There are a lot of guys who played a lot of minutes this season, and I want to give them a rest," DeSantis said. "There are guys who haven't received as much playing time and now will be getting more."

The Impact faces Eastern Conference rival Syracuse Salty Dogs in the sixth of 10 games in a 32-day stretch tonight at Claude Robillard Stadium (7:30, RDS, CKAC).

It will be the first game of a home-and-home series against a conference rival for the second consecutive week. The Salty Dogs, who host Montreal on Friday night, come into the series on a two-game win streak - the same as the Impact.

Montreal swept a home-and-home series against Rochester last week, winning both games 1-0, and shares first place with Rochester and Atlanta.

The Impact, however, will be without the services of several players tonight, including midfielder and team captain Mauro Biello and defender Nevio Pizzolitto, both suiting up with Canada's national team for an exhibition game against English club Millwall tonight in Vancouver.

Defender Gabriel Gervais and goalkeeper Greg Sutton returned from a national-team training camp in Vancouver yesterday. They helped Canada to a 1-1 draw against Scottish team Hearts on Monday.

The team also will be without midfielder Sandro Grande, who will serve a one-game suspension for accumulation of yellow cards, and forward Joel John Bailey, the latest addition to a growing list of injuries to hit the club in recent weeks.

"He (Bailey) injured his groin the other day, and it doesn't look very good. He could be out a while," DeSantis said of the team's second-leading scorer, with four goals this season.

Bailey has played in all but one of the team's 16 games this season. He joins defenders Jason Ditullio, Patrick Leduc and David Fronimadis on the injury list, all sidelined indefinitely after surgeries to repair torn knee ligaments.

"Fatigue is really settling in at this point, along with the injuries we've had, so it does put added stress on the team when you have experienced players called up for duty with the national team," DeSantis said.

"We'll have Greg and Gabriel back and Mauro and Nevio will join us in Syracuse, but clearly the focus will be on giving guys who haven't had a lot of playing time more opportunity."

Gervais and Sutton are the only players to have played every minute of action for the Impact this season.

Midfielder Ze Roberto said everybody has to be ready to contribute more

"There's no question we're in a tough stretch," he said. "Playing as many games as we have in a short (period) is hard on the legs, and the recovery process after is difficult, but we still have to play. We still have to fight and give our best."

rphillips@thegazette.canwest. com

[Christian]

Défaite de 2-1.

Très mauvais résultat devant la plus grosse foule de l'histoire de l'Impact (9894) surtout que Montréal menait 1-0 à la mi-temps. Il y a eu une panne de l'éclairage avec 9 minutes à faire dans la partie. Vincello a marqué dans son filet en plus de provoquer le penalty qui a amené le but vainqueur de Syracuse.

[François]

Défaite difficile à digérer...Vincello passe de héro à zéro. Vraiment trop injuste pour lui car son jeu cette saison est excellent. Je ne comprends pas la retrait de Ribeiro en 2e demi...Barker fut très ordinaire et on a manqué Nevio et Grande...On doit oublier ça au plus vite et se reprendre vendredi à Syracuse...Et cet arbitre, il n'a jamais eu le contrôle du match...

[François]

From the Gazette:

Impact streak goes to the Dogs
Suffers first home loss of soccer season. Salty Dogs 2, Impact 1; Vincello's own goal seals side's fate before franchise-record 9,894

RANDY PHILLIPS
The Gazette


Thursday, July 15, 2004
One bad night shouldn't spoil the season for the Impact or Mauricio Vincello.

Unfortunately, Vincello was responsible for the goals that allowed the Syracuse Salty Dogs to double the Impact 2-1 and ruin a record-setting night, with a franchise-high 9,894 in attendance at Claude Robillard Stadium.

The 26-year-old defender from Salto, Argentina, who has been as much a part of the Impact's success this season as anyone after coming from the Toronto Lynx, was the victim of an own goal in the 53rd minute that erased the Impact's 1-0 lead.

In the 71st minute, he was left with no choice but to haul down a Syracuse player inside the box, which led to a penalty-kick goal by midfielder Temoc Suarez as Montreal lost for the first time at home this season.

While the Impact had its two-game win streak stopped, the Salty Dogs extended their winning streak to three and will complete the A-League home-and-home series with the Impact in Syracuse tomorrow (7:30 p.m., CJAD, CKAC).

Despite a night of misfortune, Vincello has made it clear this season that Toronto's loss has been the Impact's gain.

He started his 15th consecutive game for the club last night, becoming a mainstay in a defensive unit that, apart from the aberration last night, continues to rank as one of the top two in the league.

Vincello, whose left foot is as precise as a surgeon's scalpel, but also packs the punch of a cannon, set up Montreal's only goal on a header by forward Eduardo Sebrango in the 18th minute.

Acquired from the Lynx in an offseason trade that sent young defender Andres Arango to Toronto, Vincello is the only natural left-footed player in the Impact lineup. His 30-yard cross from the left wing to Sebrango was another element of his effectiveness.

"Good left-footed players are rare," former Impact defender and team captain John Limniatis said. "When a team finds one, it's become like a prized possession."

What's the advantage of being so deft with the left foot in a sport that, like many, is dominated by righties?

"I honestly don't know," Vincello said before the game. "Maybe left-footed soccer players are just the best in the world."

Vincello's assist on Sebrango's third goal of the year and second since returning from a leg injury this month, was his third of the season. With seven points, including a pair of goals, he has emerged as the leading scorer among Impact defenders.

"I'm really happy here," said Vincello, who spent the previous four seasons in Toronto after being signed by the Lynx in early 2000 following an impressive performance at the Copa Latina tournament in Miami. "I just want to keep contributing, helping this team as much as possible."

In addition to being left-footed on the soccer pitch, Vincello also plays tennis from the left side, but he writes with his right hand.

"I don't know why I'm like that. I guess my brain is a little mixed up," said Vincello, who has played soccer since age 3. He played in Argentina, with Defensores de Salto and San Lorenzo, before turning his sights to possibilities in North America.

While Vincello's left foot contributed to his own team's goal, it also got in the way of a hard cross from an impossible angle by Suarez, with the ball ending up behind Impact goalkeeper Greg Sutton.

The same left foot tripped up Lars Lyssand six yards inside the box in the 71st minute on a scoring opportunity and left referee Stephen Depiero no choice but to award a penalty kick.

Call it a bad day at the office for a player who will win more than he loses.

Note - Jamaican soccer international Onandi Lowe, who played with the Impact from 1996 to 1998, was charged yesterday with attempting to possess crack cocaine with intent to supply in Wellingborough, England. A Northamptonshire police official confirmed Lowe, 30, and a 23-year-old London woman had been charged. After his arrest, Lowe was suspended from representing Jamaica in international matches. Lowe scored in Jamaica's 2-0 victory over Uruguay in a friendly game in Kingston in February. He played as a defender in the 1998 World Cup and is considered one of Jamaica's star players.

rphillips@thegazette.canwest.com