LAST SEASON:
Regular season record: 17-5-6, 1st place in Eastern Conference; A-League champions
Record against active USL-1 teams: 14-3-4 (explanation)
RD's 2004 prediction: 16-8-4, 1st place in Eastern Conference and bounced in playoff semi-finals
The Impact finally shook the playoff monkey off of its back, earning a much-deserved championship and cleaning up year-end accolades like Tony Meola at a pie-eating contest.  Could Nick DeSantis have asked for a better first year as a coach?  Un-fricking likely.  Montreal’s run to the title included loss-less streaks of eight and nine games, a GAA you’d need a magnifying glass to see, and a flabbergasting 4-1-0 record in the post-season, during which they outscored opponents 7-2.

 

SEACREST, OUT:
D Lloyd Barker (0+1=1); to retirement
M Yuri Lavrynenko (1+1=3); to Rochester
Lavrynenko

 

BACK IN BLACK:
D Gabriel Gervais All-League First Team; Defender of the Year (second year in a row)
D Nevio Pizzolitto All-League Second Team
M Mauro Biello All-League First Team
M Sandro Grande All-League First Team
M Patrick Leduc (3+4=10); three Teams of the Week
F Eduardo Sebrango (8+3=19); two TOW
F Fred Commodore (8+1=17)
GK Greg Sutton (0.535 GAA, 16 SO); All-League First Team; MVP; Goalkeeper of the Year
Gervais

 

FRESH MEAT:
M Mesut Mert (5+2=12) from Calgary
M Lars Lyssand (4+3=11) from Syracuse
M Masahiro Fukazawa from Albirex Niigata FC (J-League)
F Sita-Taty Matondo from Landskrona (Sweden)
F Kevin Wilson from Arnett Gardens (Jamaica)
Mert

 

LOCAL HISTORY:
- Montreal is one of two active USL-1 teams with a winning regular season record against Rochester (16-2-12)
- Montreal held Rochester to just two goals in five matches in 2004
- Those five matches featured a total of four red card ejections (Gervais, Pizzolitto, Chris Carrieri and Kirk Wilson)
- Bill Sedgewick and Chris Carrieri each had two yellow cards against Montreal in 2004
- Rochester is just 1-1-12 when playing in Montreal
- Montreal defeated Rochester with a 2-0 aggregate in the 2004 playoffs – their first post-season series win over the Rhinos in four tries
- Bill Sedgewick is a former Montreal player

 

THE LOWDOWN:
Montreal-haters will be mortified to learn that the Impact has lost less talent than any other team in the league.  To call them anything but a runaway favorite to win it all this year would make you a damn filthy liar.  Like Rochester teams of yesteryear, Montreal’s biggest problem is going to be finding playing time for all of its stars, though Commodore’s recent and potential season-ending injury will open things up at the forward position.  They’re good, they’re deep, and they don’t have to worry about US Open Cup scheduling.  This is a whole lot of bad news for the rest of the league.

 

RD's 2005 prediction: 22-3-3; 1st place and league champions

Back to the 2005 preview