NASL Midweek Action: Fit to be Tied

Two NASL matches were played Wednesday evening, with both matches, Montreal – Fort Lauderdale and FC Edmonton – Carolina RailHawks, ending in 1-1 draws.

Montreal Impact 1-1 Fort Lauderdale Strikers

Photo courtesy of the Montreal Impact/Pépé

This season certainly isn’t going as scripted for the Montreal Impact.  In their final season of D2 play before entering the MLS, the script called for, at the very least, a winning season as club management calibrated a roster that could compete at the highest level of professional soccer in North America.  The season was to be a celebration of Montreal’s on-the-field success since 1992, which includes two USL-1 Championships, five Commissioners Cups, seven Voyageurs Cups and a heady run in the 2008 CONCACAF Champions League. Instead, Montreal fans have witnessed the resignation of Coach Marc Dos Santos, a man who bled Montreal blue and white, along with contract terminations of three players from French backgrounds after only two wins in fifteen matches.  The Impact haven’t even gotten the bump normally associated with coaching changes, as they have only two draws and a loss since Dos Santos’ departure.  To their immense credit, though, Quebec fans continue to support their club through hard times.

Wednesday evening at Saputo Stadium, the Impact took the lead in the 53rd minute only to surrender it two minutes later in their 1-1 draw.

The scoreless first half featured strong play from Montreal backup goalkeeper Evan Bush, who has done well deputizing for the injured Bill Gaudette. Soon after intermission, though, a Luke Kreamalmeyer corner kick found Impact captain Nevio Pizzolitto, who fed the ball to Frenchman Hassoun Camara, who scored from inside the box to give Montreal a 1-0 lead.

But Montreal’s defense, which has generally been admirable this season, couldn’t hold the lead. The opportunistic Strikers, after being denied on Brian Shriver and Abe Thompson chances in the first half, responded almost immediately. Jamaican defender Lance Laing scored his first NASL goal on a fifteen-yard blast, assisted by Adam West. The game ended a draw, a reasonable result considering the statistical equality between the two clubs in the match,  as each had six corner kicks with Montreal having a slight edge in shots, 17-14.  Bush was credited with seven saves, while his Strikers counterpart Matt Glaeser had nine.

Strikers coach Daryl Shore seemed satisfied with his team’s efforts. “I thought we had a solid first 45 minutes,” said  Shore. “I thought we were even better in the second half. Overall, we are pleased with the effort and the point.”

It was a nice road rebound for Fort Lauderdale, which had lost their last two matches.  But one disquieting fact remains. Although the Strikers have gotten twelve results in their sixteen matches this season, they lead the league with nine draws and have only won three games outright. Someone on the team has to step up and provide some game-winning goals if the squad is to have a truly successful season.

For Montreal, improved finishing is still the missing ingredient.  “We played with good intensity and with intention, we defended as a block and we recovered a lot of balls, but we were not efficient enough,” said Impact head coach Nick De Santis. “We maintained a good intensity during the first 35 minutes, but I am disappointed with our performance in the second half. We put a great effort, but we should have done a better job overall. We still have things to work on, including being more efficient in the offensive zone to create more scoring opportunities.”

Last season’s leading scorer, forward Ali Gerba, did not play nor was part of the squad for Wednesday’s match.

FC Edmonton 1-1 Carolina RailHawks

The Eddies came back to pull a off a 1-1 draw that felt more like a win against the dominating Carolina side in a rough and tumble match Wednesday at Foote Field.

With the result, Carolina still maintains its towering perch atop the NASL table, thirteen points above second-place FC Edmonton more than halfway through the season.

The 2011 RailHawks seem like a Ferrari being chased by subcompacts. Or perhaps Carolina is more like a Mack truck. This side not only features league-leading goalkeeping courtesy of Brad Knighton and his back line, and the league’s best attack, but also a particular penchant to lead their opponents in fouls earned during a match.

On Wednesday Carolina picked up 23 fouls to Edmonton’s 9 in a match that included two red cards and four yellows.  The week before, the Carolina contingent racked up 19 fouls against the 10 called on NSC Minnesota. This is a trend — in Carolina’s last three matches, they’ve been whistled for 52 fouls, while their opponents have had only 21 fouls called against them.  Certainly a component of Carolina’s game is toughness  — perhaps “Let’s Get Physical” should be included in their mix of theme songs.

In this game the RailHawks took a very early lead in the third minute on a strange goal.  Brian Farber worked his way down the right flank. He beat defender Alex Surprenant cleanly and charged along the endline towards goal.  His cross deflected off of John Jonke, and Farber continued towards goal to knock in the ball and put Carolina up 1-0.

The outlook became even more bleak for the Eddies in the 20th minute of action. Already down a goal to the best NASL team, John Jonke received a straight red card for a crunching hipcheck on Carolina’s Matt Watson.  But despite being a man down, Harry Sinkgraven’s men kept coming at the RailHawks.  The heroic Knighton, though, kept the door shut on fine saves on Dominic Oppong and Surprenant to maintain the lead for Martin Rennie’s RailHawks going into halftime.

Carolina searched for an insurance goal that would have probably nailed down the three points, but Rein Baart was up to the challenge.  He deflected a point-blank Pablo Campos shot in the 62nd minute that kept the Eddies alive, and the effort paid dividends in the 77th minute when Edmonton’s Daniel Antoniuk was fouled and the Eddies received a penalty kick chance.  Shaun Saiko lined up and converted the penalty for his fifth goal of the campaign.

Then it was Carolina’s turn to lose a man. A minute after Edmonton’s goal, defender John Krause received a red card and each team finished with ten men. FC Edmonton looked to gain all three points, but Knighton again demonstrated his quality by denying Antoniuk with his fingertips while Edmonton forward  Conrad Smith shot too high on another late opportunity.

Given that they played a man down for over half the match, the Eddies could take comfort in the point taken from the league leaders in front of a weeknight crowd of 1,857.  Edmonton tallied nine shots on goal compared Carolina’s five, although the RailHawks had four corner kicks as opposed to only one for the Eddies.

NASL News

FC Tampa Bay
The Rowdies added some back line help by acquiring defender/midfielder Justin Morrow, 23, on loan from the San Jose Earthquakes.  The Cleveland native played in five matches last season with Tampa Bay while on loan. FC Tampa Bay plays their friendly with Bolton of the EPL Thursday evening at Al Lang Stadium.

Montreal Impact
Although Montreal’s 2011 season on the field has been a tale of woe, there was good news for the Impact off of it. The club announced a five-year partnership with Quebecor Media.  The relationship between the two organizations includes sponsorship, media, technology and positioning, according to the Impact’s website.  Impact President Joey Saputo had this to say about the new agreement:

“The entire Impact organization is very excited about the partnership we have formed with Quebecor Media and its subsidiaries.  With this announcement, we can confirm today that all Impact games will be broadcast on television in high definition starting 2012. The relationship with TVA Sports is a logical fit with our drive to expand our presence in the marketplace. This is definitely the most important broadcasting partnership in the Impact’s history.”