August 21, 2012
NO IMPACT AT ALL
Red Bulls reserves fall at Montreal, 1-0

MONTREAL – A goal by forward Andrew Wenger in the second half lifted the Montreal Impact to a 1-0 win over the Red Bulls in MLS Reserve League action at the Claude-Robillard Sports Complex on Tuesday afternoon.

The Red Bulls (five point) fell to 1-5-2 in the Reserve League. With its fifth victory, the Impact (5-2-1, 16) is moved within two points of first place in the Eastern Division.

Wenger tallied in the 60th minute when he was played in alone down the right side with a long ball from midfielder Josh Gardner. The graduate of Duke University took a low shot, short side, which beat goalkeeper Luis Robles to his left along the ground.

“I thought it was a good game. We scored a very nice goal on a good finish from Andrew Wenger,” Impact assistant coach Mike Sorber said “We had a few more chances, but their goalkeeper made some really nice saves. As a group, it was another solid performance.”

The game’s first scoring chance came in the 36th minute when Gardner played a chip cross into the box towards the second post. Midfielder Sinisa Ubiparipovic, a former Red Bull, slid to get on the end of the ball but his shot was stopped by Robles.

The Impact came close again in the 40th minute when Ubiparipovic took a free kick from the right flank. He played the ball into the box, where defender Shavar Thomas headed it low toward the far post, but his attempt was stopped by Robles, who dived to his right.

Ubiparipovic again was involved in the 48th minute when his blast from 35 yards, destined for the top corner, far side, was saved with an acrobatic dive by Robles.

The Impact had back-to-back chances in the 76th minute. Ubiparipovic played Wenger a through ball into the box, but his shot hit the post, short side. The rebound came out to Ubiparipovic, who hammered a shot from just outside the box that was stopped by Robles, diving to his left.

“We did some good things early on and moved the ball well,” Wenger said. “However, we missed a little sharpness in the final third for most of the game and could have scored a couple more if it wasn’t for that.”

Impact goalkeeper Evan Bush was not the busier of the two keepers, but made two key saves to keep Montreal in the game. The first came when Red Bulls midfielder Brandon Barklage curled a free-kick around the wall from about 25 yards, but Bush caught the ball as he dived to his right. In the 81st minute, Red Bulls midfielder Josh Janneire fired a high shot from a tough angle from five yards, which was pushed out of bounds by Bush to preserve the clean sheet.

“It’s always good to finish off a game like this with a clean sheet,” Bush said. “We held strong and did well today. This group has grown since our last tie here against Toronto. We are learning lessons for the rest of the season.”

Lineups

Montreal: GK - Evan Bush; D – Hassoun Camara, Nelson Rivas (Maxim Tissot* 61’), Shavar Thomas (Zarek Valentin 45’), Karl W. Ouimette; M - Calum Mallace; M – Evan James (Zakaria Messoudi* 66’), Wandrille Lefevre*, Calum Mallace, Sinisa Ubiparipovic (Kevin Luarca-Echeveria* 90+1’), Josh Gardner; F - Andrew Wenger

Substitutes Not Used: GK - Greg Sutton; D – Amine Meftouh*

*Impact Under-21 player

New York: GK – Luis Robles; D – Jon Borrajo, Tyler Ruthven, Stephen Keel, Brandon Barklage; Josh Janneire**, Adam Najem*, Carl Haworth**, Erik Sa* (Ethan Decker**); Jose Angulo, Jhonny Arteaga

Substitutes Not Used: Jeremy Vuolo

*Youth players

** Guest player