Impact edge Islanders 1-0
Sunday, June 4, 2006
MONTREAL, QUE -- The Montreal Impact (3-1-2) registered a 1-0 win against the Puerto Rico Islanders (3-3-1), Sunday, in front of 9,809 spectators at Claude-Robillard Sports Complex. Forward Mauricio Salles, who played with the Islanders last year, scored the lone goal of the match at the 20th minute.
 It was Salles' second goal with the Impact this season and his second against his former teammates. He also scored the lone tally in a 1-0 victory at Puerto Rico for an Impact win.
Goalkeeper Greg Sutton earned his fifth shutout of the year, his 63rd overall, and faced 10 shots from the Islanders.
Impact defender Nevio Pizzolitto played his 191st career game with Montreal and is now third all-time with the club, ahead of former Impact player Lloyd Barker. The team leaders remain Mauro Biello (270) and Nick De Santis (219).
In nine match-ups between both teams, the Impact has never lost against the Islanders keeping a record of 7-0-2 and dominating 13-3 in goals.
GOAL 20th minute – On a free kick from 30 yards taken by Antonio Ribeiro, forward Mauricio Salles rushed to the net and headed the ball decisively into the top right corner of the net, beating Islanders goalkeeper Daniel Kennedy.
HIGHLIGHTS 36th minute – After a quick exchange with forward Joel Bailey, midfielder Antonio Ribeiro took a shot from 15 yards out and hit the crossbar, at Kennedy’s right.
51st minute – Posted in the box on the right wing, Ribeiro took a low shot that just grazed the outside post, to the right of Kennedy.
57th minute – Alone on the left flank inside the box, Islanders midfielder Kormac Valdebenito took a point-blank shot, saved by Impact goalkeeper Greg Sutton, who dove to his right and blocked the shot by extending his arm to the ground.
67th minute – After accepting a pass from Salles, defender Gabriel Gervais rushed in alone on goalkeeper Kennedy. His high shot was blocked by Kennedy, who came out of his net to make the diving save.
POST GAME COMMENTS
FORWARD MAURICIO SALLES “I’m very happy to have helped the team win and once again I scored against my former team so it’s satisfying. After our goal, we never stopped attacking. When you don’t win it puts more pressure on the players so we needed the win.”
MIDFIELDER ANTONIO RIBEIRO “Once again we worked hard and today our efforts paid off. I think that today everybody played well. The midfielders did better today than in the last game because we used our lateral defenders and we had more space on the field.”
DEFENDER LARS LYSSAND “We are very happy win the result. Everybody worked hard during 90 minutes and nobody gave up. Salles’goal made our lives easier. We scored only one goal but the game was exciting from the beginning to the end.”
DEFENDER GABRIEL GERVAIS “A lot of our centering passes and through-balls were dangerous. It’s encouraging because once again we had excellent scoring chances. It’s good to bounce back after our disappointing performance last week. However, we have to continue to work on our finishing.»
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