Draws have been the norm for Impact, who will seek rare win against Revolution | iNFOnews | Thompson-Okanagan's News Source
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Draws have been the norm for Impact, who will seek rare win against Revolution

MONTREAL - It's getting to the point where draws are not enough for the Montreal Impact.

Six of the Impact's last eight outings have ended in ties and, while they are solidly in fourth place in the MLS Eastern Conference with two games in hand over the three teams ahead of them, at some point they will need to start winning to stay in a playoff position.

They hope to fix that when the eighth-place New England Revolution visit Saputo Stadium on Saturday.

"It's tough because you feel you can have a lot more points," said defender Hassoun Camara, who is expected to play his 100th game for Montreal. "We're in the upper middle position in the standings but at the same time we didn't win since Los Angeles (on May 28)."

The Impact started the season 4-3-0, but since then have one win, a loss and six draws.

The latest came last week, when they surrendered leads twice in a 2-2 tie at home with Kansas City.

It hasn't helped that top defender Laurent Ciman has been away at the European Championship with Belgium and that there has been injuries on defence, notably fullback Donny Toia who is not expected back until next week. Ciman should be back soon as Belgium suffered a shocking 3-1 loss to Wales in the quarter-finals on Friday.

"Even when Laurent was here we had a bit of trouble, but he's a big piece of the team," said Camara. "We need him back for sure, but we have guys doing their best to take his spot.

"And at the same time, he (was) having a fantastic adventure in Europe. It's great for him and we have to accept that."

The club also put fullback Maxim Tissot on waivers this week and signed another homegrown player from its academy — midfielder David Choiniere.

Coach Mauro Biello acknowledges that some of the draws have been disappointing, but they are better than defeats.

"I look at it, if you said the team would go through a difficult phase during the middle of the season and after that they start transforming those ties into wins, I'd take it," said Biello. "Up to now, we've been going through a phase where we're not converting those ties into wins but we've still go to believe in what we're capable of doing.

"The good news is that we've been difficult to beat. We've been in every game."

The Impact (5-4-6) should have an edge because some of the Revolution's starters may be fatigued from playing in a 3-2 victory on Wednesday night over the New York Cosmos in U.S. Open Cup play.

But New England (4-5-7) also brings an old Impact-killer in the form of striker Kai Kamara, who was traded to the Revolution by Columbus shortly after Montreal's 4-4 draw with the Crew on May 7.

The rangy Kamara, who tied for the league lead with 22 goals last season, was the Crew's star as they eliminated Montreal from the second round of playoffs last fall.

"It's a guy that we have to watch carefully," said Biello. "His aerial power in the boxes is very strong and we have to do a good job of box defending and double team him when we can and not give him that space."

Another threat comes from playmaker Lee Nguyen, who leads New England with four goals.

Montreal's scoring leader, Ignacio Piatti, has nine goals, including one in each of his last three league games.

News from © The Canadian Press, 2016
The Canadian Press

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