MONTREAL, QC – Two goals in the first half allowed the Montreal Impact (5th) to earn a 2-1 win (halftime 2-1) against the Puerto Rico Islanders (3rd) Thursday night, in front of 9,835 spectators at Saputo Stadium, in the first match of the USL First Division semifinal round.
Tony Donatelli opened the score at the 8th minute of play. On a free kick situation, Donatelli unleashed a low, well placed shot 25 meters out from the middle, which traveled to the right of the Islanders wall and goalkeeper Bill Gaudette. This was Donatelli’s second goal in the playoffs.
Roberto Brown scored the insurance goal for Montreal at the 20th minute. After breaking in on defender Scott Jones near the goal line, forward Peter Byers crossed for Brown. The Panamean forward headed the ball from the edge of the six-yard area in the top corner, to the left of Gaudette.
The Islanders narrowed the lead to one goal at the 31st minute when midfielder Jonathan Steele recovered the ball in the middle and then fired a powerful shot 35 meters out to the left of goalkeeper Matt Jordan.
BURNABY, BC – Vancouver Whitecaps FC defeated Pacific Northwest rivals Portland Timbers 2-1 in the first leg of their USL First Division playoff semifinal series at Swangard Stadium on Thursday evening.
A pair of headed goals by Charles Gbeke and Marcus Haber gave the defending USL-1 champions a slim one-goal advantage for Sunday’s decisive second leg in Portland, Oregon. The result was Portland’s second road loss of the 2009 campaign, with the Timbers’ other away defeat this season occurring in Vancouver on April 25. The win also extended the Whitecaps unbeaten streak in the league to five matches (4W-0L-1D).
Though Thursday’s events did not go according to plan for the top-seeded Timbers, the USL-1 regular season champions will feel they can turn the series around in The City of Roses on Sunday after Portland’s Ryan Pore scored from the penalty spot just before halftime.
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