Jarrek Posted May 17, 2004 Share Posted May 17, 2004 IMPACT TIES MARINERS 0-0 IN FRONT OF 8,877 FANS MONTREAL — In spite of Sandro Grande’s ejection at the 48th minute of play, the Montreal Impact dominated 18-10 in terms of shots on net, Sunday, but had to settle for a 0-0 tie against the Virginia Beach Mariners in its home opener at Claude Robillard Stadium. The game was attended by 8,877 spectators, a team record for a home opener. The preceding record of 7,128 fans was established last year. It was also the second-highest attendance in club history, behind the all-time record crowd of 9,414 people, set on August 13, 2003. "It’s disappointing for our fans, but I would have been even more disappointed if we hadn’t had any scoring chances," said Impact head coach Nick DeSantis. "Playing a man down, we still set the tone of the game." With the tie, the Impact remains undefeated this season (3-0-1). The Montreal squad has yet to allow a goal since the season started. Goalkeeper Greg Sutton picked up his fourth shutout in as many starts. He made one of his best saves at the 86th minute, diving to his left to block a shot by Jeff Bilyk. He also got some help from defender Gabriel Gervais, who stopped a shot by Nate Winkel on the goal line at the 82nd minute. Montreal was down to 10 men against 11 after only three minutes of play in the second half, when Grande collected his second yellow card of the game, following a dangerous tackle. He picked up his first caution at the 39th minute, after pulling out the corner flag in frustration. "We had started to dominate towards the end of the first half and I never thought about playing defensively," said DeSantis. "I took out a forward and put in a midfield to keep the midfield compact, and we kept creating chances." Mauro Biello came close to giving the local team the lead less than a minute after the ejection. After cutting in front of the net, he just missed the left post. The Impact continued to buzz around the Mariners net, dominating 9-6 in shots in the second half, and 5-2 in overtime. Eduardo Sebrango was Montreal’s most dangerous player with six shots on net, including five after the half-time break. "We deserved the win," said Sebrango. "We could have scored three or four goals. It’s frustrating, but we have to look at the positive side, we managed to create a lot of chances." The Impact, playing its 11th home opener at Claude Robillard Stadium, now has a 8-1-2 record in such circumstances. The team’s only loss dates back to May 27, 2001. The Impact’s next regular-season game will be on Friday, May 28 at 7:30 pm, as the Toronto Lynx will be the visiting team at Claude Robillard Stadium. The Montreal squad will be playing a friendly match-up against a Haitian select team on Sunday, May 23 at 5 pm, once again at Claude Robillard Stadium, as part of the activities surrounding the Bicentennial of Haiti’s Independence. -30- SOURCE: bcomm INFO: Stéphane Banfi 514-328-3668 (ext. 27) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarnCherry Posted May 17, 2004 Share Posted May 17, 2004 Geez, you'd think that a team that gets all the press that Montreal does and has plenty of cheap tickets available that they'd draw 10,000 per game.[}] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jarrek Posted May 17, 2004 Author Share Posted May 17, 2004 The capacity for their stadium is only 8,100, so 8,700 isn't bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarnCherry Posted May 17, 2004 Share Posted May 17, 2004 I was taking the piss for Daniels comment about the Whitecaps attendance earlier on in the day. Thats why I added the little devil icon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarnCherry Posted May 17, 2004 Share Posted May 17, 2004 I also have to add that if they can fit 9414 people into the stadium as the article suggests then isn't that the capacity? Capacity is the amount the stadium can hold, not seat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Posted May 17, 2004 Share Posted May 17, 2004 Seating is around 7,700 I would guess. And capacity for soccer stadiums is seating (otherwise Centennial would have a cap. of 10,000). There were people once again on the grassy knowl around the track. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
torontosupport Posted May 17, 2004 Share Posted May 17, 2004 quote:Originally posted by Daniel There were people once again on the grassy knowl around the track. Ah! The grassy knowl! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Posted May 17, 2004 Share Posted May 17, 2004 Oh, and the game was boring as f*ck once again. That's 265 minutes of scoreless soccer at CCR reaching back to the last regular-season home game against Calgary. The Impact only started attacking when they were down to 10 men (48') and Ribeiro was about the only player (as a sub, to boot!) to create any kind of offensive action. EVERY shot was an attempted curl to the top corner: JUST GET IT ON NET!!! It was pretty pathetic. The more things change... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarnCherry Posted May 17, 2004 Share Posted May 17, 2004 quote:Originally posted by Daniel Seating is around 7,700 I would guess. And capacity for soccer stadiums is seating (otherwise Centennial would have a cap. of 10,000). There were people once again on the grassy knowl around the track. There's seating capacity and then there's total capacity. Vancouver's total capacity (seating and standing) is 5722. If Montreal has had 9414 in the stadium then obviously thats it's capacity. Centennials capacity is as much as law enforcement anf fire officials will allow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarnCherry Posted May 17, 2004 Share Posted May 17, 2004 By the way I forget what we are semi-arguing about so lets forget it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Posted May 17, 2004 Share Posted May 17, 2004 Pictures online for now at http://community.webshots.com/user/pusman83. They'll be better quality on the UM website later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jarrek Posted May 17, 2004 Author Share Posted May 17, 2004 quote:Capacity is the amount the stadium can hold, not seat. Centennials capacity is as much as law enforcement anf fire officials will allow. So the capacity of Centennial is roughly 14,000. Don't know if most can seat in comfort though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarnCherry Posted May 17, 2004 Share Posted May 17, 2004 quote:Originally posted by Jarrek So the capacity of Centennial is roughly 14,000. Don't know if most can seat in comfort though. No, but if you get 14,000 crammed in there I'm sure theres a possibility of some new Lynx fans being conceived. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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