A-League

Vincello, Commodore make impact; Montreal takes title by downing Sounders 2-0.

André Hainault hoists the Montral Impact's A-League championship trophy while captain Mauro Biello signals his team is No. 1. -- Montreal Impact web site photo --

MONTREAL (Saturday, September 18, 2004) -- Ten years after becoming the first Canadian team to win the A-League title, the Montreal Impact also became the second. Using goals by defender Mauricio Vincello and reserve striker Freddy Commodore, Montreal blanked the visiting Seattle Sounders 2-0 to take the championship before a club-record capacity crowd of 13,648 at Claude Robillard Sports Complex tonight.

Vincello, a native of Argentina, put the Impact ahead 1-0 in the 33rd minute after taking a touch from midfielder Ze Roberto in full stride. Vincello advanced another 10 yards up the middle of the field as the Sounders backed off, ripping a left-footer from the top left center of the penalty area just inside the right post, beyond the reach of diving goalkeeper Preston Burpo.

"I didn't feel so good during the warmup, but I felt better and better during the game," said Vincello, who received intravenous fluids Friday night to help him recover from the flu. "I wanted to play. I played all year, so I didn't want to miss the final, even if I wasn't 100 percent."

Montreal dominated most of the play and posted a 16-5 shots advantage, but the Sounders nearly tied the game in the 74th minute when Craig Tomlinson, a substitute for midfielder Jonathan Bolanos, cracked a shot off the crossbar less than a minute after entering the match.

Commodore, who replaced Joel Bailey in the 56th minute, iced the triumph in the 78th minute, thanks to a brilliant pass from defender Nevio Pizzolitto. Mauro Biello found fellow midfielder Sandro Grande on the left flank, 15 yards from the end line. Grande collected, surveyed the situation and then passed into the middle of the box. Eight yards from the center of the goal, Pizzolitto trapped the ball with his chest, then twisted to give a clever right-footed flick behind him to Commodore. Facing the right post, Commodore drilled his seven-yard shot home for his eighth goal to make it 2-0.

Vincello did his part with the Impact's record-setting defensive unit. The team established a new A-League mark with 19 shutouts during the regular season, one better than the 1998 Rochester Raging Rhinos. Montreal registered four more clean sheets in five postseason games.

"I couldn't hope for a better gift," said Gabriel Gervais, who was recently named A-League "Defender of the Year" for a second straight year and celebrated his 28th birthday today. "Everybody worked hard, we showed we had the better team. And all that in front of 13,000 people, it's incredible."

Seattle threatened to go ahead in the 13th minute when Bolanos curled a 23-yard free kick just over the crossbar.

Pizzolitto nearly gave the Impact a lead in the 27th minute, connecting on a Grande free kick with a header inside the box, forcing diving save from Burpo. Four minutes later, another Grande free kick resulted in a near miss when striker Eduardo Sebrango sent a header from 14 yards just wide of a post.

First-year Montreal head coach Nick DeSantis became the first person in the A-League to win the championship as a player and then as a coach, excluding those who won the title as player-coaches.

"It was a great feeling as a player and it's a great feeling as a coach," said DeSantis, who was part of the 1994 championship team, along with Biello and defender Lloyd Barker (who was on the bench, but did not play tonight). "The guys have shown consistency all year and they've done it all the way. They've been on a mission since day one and they showed today that they deserved the title."

Montreal, which conceded only 15 goals, eight less than anyone else, finished first in the Eastern Conference with a 17-6-5 record with 56 points. Seattle was fourth in the Western Conference at 13-11-4 with 43 points.

Games officials: Mauricio Navarro, Zoran Kristo, Amato DeLuca, Daniel Belleau. Attendance: 13,648 (capacity) at Claude Robillard Sports Complex in Montreal.