THE CANADIAN PRESS
MONTREAL — Anthony Le Gall and Rocco Placentino each scored as the Montreal Impact wrapped up their USSF Division-2 regular season on Sunday with a 2-0 victory over the Austin Aztex.
Austin (15-7-8, 53 pts) finished the season ranked third in the league standings, which means it will face the Impact (12-11-7, 43 pts) in the quarter-finals, an aggregate-goal home-and-away series.
“We’ve reached a point in the season where everyone knows what they need to do and that’s what allowed us to win today,” said Impact head coach Marc Dos Santos. “This season really resembles last year, but I think the group is even stronger. A new season starts on Wednesday and we’ll need to be ready for a very intense match.”
Le Gall opened the scoring in the 26th minute, taking a deep pass from Patrick Leduc and releasing a powerful shot that beat goalkeeper Miguel Gallardo to his right.
Placentino scored the insurance goal at the 87th minute, his third of the season. Placentino scored on the volley, following Leonardo Di Lorenzo’s cross to the back post.
“It’s always important to win at home,” said Le Gall, who collected his first career point with the club. “It felt great to get a goal and contribute to the win today and I’m glad that I was able to show what I can bring to the team.”
The Impact played a man up as of the 20th minute. Forward Randi Patterson was ejected after taking exception to a tackle from central defender Wesley Charles. Patterson will sit out the first game of the Impact-Aztex quarter-final.
Goalkeeper Srdjan Djekanovic, who was playing his first match since July 21, registered his fifth clean sheet of the season.
The Impact won six of its final seven games of the season. During that sequence, the Impact scored 16 goals while only allowing three.
Montreal’s first match of the playoff will take place Wednesday night at Saputo Stadium, with the second leg scheduled for Saturday in Austin, Texas.
“We did exactly what we needed to do to win today,” said Impact defender Philippe Billy. “The victory was the perfect way to end the regular season. It allows us to keep our momentum and will create some great team spirit for Wednesday, because we know that wins usually lead to more wins.”