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Impact @ Islanders - 2nd Leg (R)


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THE IMPACT PLAYS THE DECISIVE MATCH SUNDAY IN PUERTO RICO

PRE-MATCH RELEASE: OCTOBER 3, 2009

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – The Montreal Impact (5th) faces the Puerto Rico Islanders (3rd) Sunday at Juan Ramon Loubriel Stadium, in Bayamon, at 6 pm (radio-canada.ca/sports, CKAC Sports, THE TEAM 990, USLlive.com), in the decisive match of the USL First Division semifinal round.

Montreal registered a 2-1 win in the first leg, Thursday, at Saputo Stadium. Midfielder Tony Donatelli (8th minute) and forward Roberto Brown (20th) scored the two goals for the Impact.

Playing the second game in Puerto Rico will be challenge as the Islanders ended the season with the best home league record, losing only once in 15 matches (11-1-3).

“The climate, field and ambiance in Puerto Rico are different than elsewhere in the league, but it’s essentially a question of perception,” noted Impact head coach Marc Dos Santos, who will be back after serving an automatic one-game suspension issued by the league, following his ejection in the last match against Charleston. “When you come here, you experience the South American atmosphere and it feels as though you were playing a Champions League match. It can be intimidating for certain teams, yet these are the same Islanders that go on the road. Thursday at Saputo Stadium, Puerto Rico didn’t get many chances to score. We therefore shouldn’t get intimidated in their home.”

“We are going to Puerto Rico with the objective to win and not only to protect our advantage,” noted midfielder Patrick Leduc, [They ALWAYS say that but never do it, even in Charleston they let in the first goal then started to play] who played the full 90 minutes of the last game Thursday. “It’s a field like any other and it’s up to us to execute well the game plan. We know we have to win the 3rd and 4th halves to win this series. We have to focus on what we need to do minute by minute to get a positive result.”

The Impact advanced to the second playoff round by defeating the Charleston Battery 4-1 on total goals. After a 2-0 win in Montreal, the Impact beat the Battery in South Carolina 2-1, last Sunday.

“We know what we need to do to make it to the final,” added Dos Santos. “We need to have the same mentality than during the second leg in Charleston. We have to manage well the full 90 minutes and play our match. We must continue believing in what we do. We will need to be nearly perfect because the match will once again be decided over details.”

In the first game of the series, midfielder Jonathan Steele scored for the Islanders with a hard volley strike from 35 meters out. [GOAL OF THE YEAR FOR SURE [:0] , he was already my fav player on the PR roster and now...]

“We will need to pay close attention to the movements of Jonathan Steele, who is very good in transitioning between midfield and attacking positions,” explained Dos Santos. “We cannot let him play. [You bet ! :( ] We will once again need to be cautious on dead ball situations. They have various tall players who can be very dangerous in our penalty area.”

Impact goalkeeper Matt Jordan has tied the team record of six playoff wins held by Paolo Ceccarelli.

With three assists in the playoffs with the Impact, forward Peter Byers has matched a club record, tied with Nevio Pizzolitto and Nick De Santis.

Midfielder Rocco Placentino did not travel to Puerto Rico due to personal reasons. [Looks like the organization is [8)] to declare what the "personal reason" is... and of course they must ! [B)] ]

Defender Cristian Arrieta, who was the season’s points leader for the Islanders with 25 points, will miss Sunday’s match. Arrieta is suspended for three matches, after head-butting a Rhinos player in the first game against Rochester.

In the other semifinal round, the Portland Timbers, which are the regular season champions, lost 2-1 to the Vancouver Whitecaps (7th), Thursday, at Swangard Stadium, in Burnaby. The decisive match of the series will be played Sunday at 7 pm at PGE Park, in Portland. [Go Caps <s>!!!</s> so hard to say... [}:)] ]

OTHER FACTS</u>

• The Impact has now a lifetime record in the playoffs of 20-17-5 (54GF-43GA).

• This is the second time that both teams match up in the playoffs.

• In 2007, the Impact lost 5-3 on total goals against the Islanders. The Impact registered a 3-2 win in the first leg in Montreal, before losing 3-0, in the second leg, in Bayamon. Forward Roberto Brown earned one goal and one assist in that series.

• Last year in the playoffs, the Islanders made it to the championship final against Vancouver but lost 2-1 at Swangard Stadium, in Burnaby.

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Wow, USL's website last news is the Caps victory ! They've got nothing (previews, interviews, stats, analysis, name it) on the semi-finals 2nd legs, not to say the playoffs in general since they take each team's game reports from their own website to post on their website under the "News" section. Pathetic.

DoyleG, you wanted to know what I meant by "market better the league", then you've got it. If you don't even take the time to promote your product on your own website, what do you think it looks like in other media ?

It looks like this:

i.e. nothing.

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