Impact begins title defence in Toronto

Defending champion Impact de Montréal will get its start tonight in Toronto in the 2009 Nutrilite Canadian Championship. The team arrived by bus on Tuesday afternoon before taking its official last training session at BMO Field. The Impact face Toronto FC on Wednesday 13 May at 20.00.

The match will be streamed live on torontofc.ca (English) and corussports.com (French).

“It will be a big match,” said Impact coach John Limniatis. “Toronto FC is theoretically the favourites in this tournament, but we are the defending champions so it is up to us to draw from our success and motivation.”

Coach Limniatis says the club is very confident, especially since it played so well in the team’s last visit to BMO Field last 22 July. That was the day the Impact held host Toronto FC to a 1:1 draw, thus clinching the inaugural Canadian championship. The Impact advanced to the 2008-09 CONCACAF Champions League and made it all the way to the quarter-final stage.

Last Wednesday, Toronto FC opened the 2009 competition with a 1:0 victory over Vancouver Whitecaps FC. Midfielder Kevin Harmse scored the lone goal in the match. Coach Limniatis and his staff were in the stands watching the match.

“I thought Toronto deserved to win, but it wasn’t an extraordinary win,” said Limniatis. “Vancouver could have equalised at any point in the match. At the same time you saw an explosive enough game from Toronto.”

The Impact de Montréal play in United Soccer Leagues First Division while Toronto FC play in Major League Soccer. The Impact has opened its 2009 USL-1 season with an 0-1-3 record, including a 1:2 defeat against the Rochester Rhinos in the Impact’s home opener. The Impact drew 12,246 fans to the Saturday 9 May match.

The Nutrilite Canadian Championship, however, is an entirely different competition. The three teams play six matches between 6 May and 18 June. Each team plays home and away against its two opponents. The champion wins the Voyageurs Cup and qualifies for the 2009-10 CONCACAF Champions League.

The Impact has a few new faces since last year’s competition, perhaps most notable Eduardo Sebrango who last year played in the Nutrilite Canadian Championship with Vancouver Whitecaps FC. Sebrango in fact joined the Impact at the start of the 2009 season and even took part in 2008-09 CONCACAF Champions League play. Sebrango scored two memorable goals at Stade Olympique when the Impact drew 55,571 fans in the quarter-final stage (a 2:0 win over Santos Laguna).

The Impact also has numerous key returning players, including 2008 George Gross Trophy winner Matt Jordan. Jordan’s stellar goaltending was a big reason the Impact won the inaugural Nutrilite Canadian Championship.