Friends, Mauro Biello has officially called it quits. After 19 seasons of professional footy in Montreal, the Montreal Impact captain has decided to retire and take up a position as head coach Marc Dos Santos‘ assistant.

429 Games played, 90 goals, 73 assists, good for 253 points…and only one ejection. Other stats include three league championships (1994, 2004 and 2009), five regular season championships (1995, 1996, 1997, 2005 and 2006), seven Voyageur Cups (2002-2008) and the US Open Cup with Rochester in 1999. Biello won the Giuseppe Saputo Trophy awarded to the Impact team’s MVP four times (1997, 1998, 2001 and 2005). He was also selected on five occasions to the All-League First team (1997, 1998, 1999, 2004 and 2005) and once in the All-League Second team (2002).

Drafted by the Montreal Supra, he played with them for two seasons in 1991 and 1992 before joining the newly-created Montreal Impact. He was the last active player to have been part of the inaugural season in 1993.

Having met him once or twice, I have to say that he’s quite the gentleman. Thanks Mauro for all you’ve done for the sport in Québec. You’ve paved the way for many Montrealers and Quebeckers and shown just what it means to represent the Montreal Impact with honor and dignity!

Before the match started, the Ultras pulled out an impressive tifo with the word Victoire (Victory) spelled across it. The game was set: Victory or nothing!

The first half started out rather quietly, but soon enough, the Impact took the majority of the possession and began their attack. Once again, a Whitecaps player was ejected, this time defender Shaun Pejic for a tackle inside the box, which led to a penalty, and Montreal’s first goal. Tony Donatelli scored on the penalty (30′), while Joey Gjertsen (40′) and Roberto Brown (42′) added two more before Ansu Toure (44′) took one back for Vancouver.

The second half was more quiet, with Montreal moving the ball around, wasting time before the inevitable happened: we won! We beat Vancouver with a total aggregate score of 6-2. The Ultras tore down the safety net behind the goal, some fans rushed on the field to celebrate the Impact’s third league title after a perfect 6-0 run in the playoffs.

After a truly up and down season, le onze montréalais proved they were champions. The ghosts of Santos Laguna and The Disgrace (Nutrilite Championship) have vanished once and for all.

After meeting with Montreal Mayor Gérald Tremblay at City Hall and an ovation at the Bell Centre before a Habs game, the Impact went to Quebec City to meet with Québec Premier Jean Charest before returning to Montreal for a downtown public celebration where Team Captain Mauro Biello thanked the fans for sticking with the team even when things were terrible, and Head Coach Marc Dos Santos said all that needs to be done is to repeat next season.

Once again, here are some highlights from this week, with most photos courtesy of the Impact’s official photographer, Pépé, and some taken from my own collection.

Game highlights:

The Ultras’ Victoire tifo:

In the 45th minute, Stephen DeRoux’s center for Roberto Brown went off a Whitecaps defender and into the back of the net.

In the 51st minute, Whitecaps Captain Martin Nash retaliated after a Roberto Brown tackle by providing his own dangerous tackle on Brown. Nash got a red for his actions, and will sit out the final match of the series.

Down ten men to the Impact’s eleven, the Whitecaps’ Marcus Haber intercepted a stray pass by DeRoux, and bolted down the pitch before sending a powerful right footed kick past keeper Matt Jordan in the 56th minute to tie the game up 1-1.

Peter Byers scored his second goal of the playoffs by putting one behind Caps keeper Jay Nolly in the 63rd minute, but two minutes later, midfielder Wes Knight recovered his own throw-in and sent a perfect cross into the box to Marlon James who headed one in the back of the net to tie it again, 2-2.

With Eduardo Sebrango and Rocco Placentino subbed in, both teams were attacking and it seemed that anything could happen. And then it did. In the 89th minute, Rocco sent a hard shot that Nolly had trouble controlling, sending the ball up in the air, with Sebrango leaping in and heading it into the net to give the Impact a 3-2 win, and a slight advantage coming into next Saturday’s game at Stade Saputo in Montreal.

The game starts at 2:30pm EST, and is available on Radio-Canada television and Fox Sports World.

I don’t usually take pics directly from other sites, but in this case, I figured I’d do so, so long as I give the quote. The pics on this post are from the Montreal Impact’s official photographer, Pépé:

Eddie Sebrango’s winning goal, in the 89th minute. Sebrango and Roberto Brown celebrate the winning goal. Peter Byers is surrounded by his teammates after scoring the Impact’s second goal.

Again, still playing right from the first kick-off, we came out strong, scored early agan (Peter Byers, 2′), and basically hung on long enough to win it. Things were worrisome late in the game when Joshua Hansen scored on a penalty in the 86th minute, and bringing it to a one-goal game, but Eddie Sebrango managed to put one past Bill “The Wall” Gaudette in the 90th to put it, and the Islanders, away for good (well, for 2009, at least). Matt Jordan, for his part, was stellar in goal, making a dozen key saves.

We now face the Vancouver Whitecaps in what will certainly be a classic revenge series, the caps still vividly remembering our mess-up at the hands of TFC in the Nutrilite Canadian Championship.

The first leg will be held this coming Saturday, October 10 at Swangard Stadium in Burnaby, BC at 9:30pm EST (6:30 local), with the game being available online at radio-canada.ca, and on the radio on CKAC Sports and THE TEAM 990. The return leg will be held the following Saturday, October 17 at Saputo Stadium at 2:30 pm EST, this one will be on TV on Radio-Canada (it should be online as well) as well again on the radio on CKAC Sports and THE TEAM 990. It’s my understanding that USLlive and Fox Soccer Channel will have both games as well.

We need a third title!!!!!

It was a cold night in Montreal, a chilly 7C (45F) at Stade Saputo, and while there were only 10000 or so sold tickets, it seemed like less. But, the ones who were there were certainly into it. Tony Donatelli once again showed why he’s a clutch player in important games. After strong performaces in last year’s Champions’ League, and scoring in the return leg against Charleston, he scored the first goal of the game off a free kick in the 8th minute, and kept the play alive in the 20th minute, feeding the ball to Peter Byers, who sent crossed it into the box for Roberto Brown, who headed it past Bill “The Wall” Gaudette. Islanders‘ Jonathan Steele rifled a shot from 35 meters out in the 31st minute to bring it to a one-goal affair. In the second half, the Islanders came on much stronger, but the Impact, thanks to some good containment and some stellar saves by keeper Matt Jordan, were able to take the win and the one goal advantage to Puerto Rico. It certainly helped that Islander defender Cristian Arrieta was out, serving the first of a three-game suspension. He’ll also miss the return leg on Sunday.

Yes, we won, though it was barely enough. I’m worried knowing that we’re heading into Juan Ramon Loubriel Stadium in Bayamón, Puerto Rico for Sunday’s return leg of this series. It’s a hard place to play, the Islanders were 11-1-3 29GF 11GA in the regular season. They scored about 2 goals per game at home on average, while giving up a two goals every three games on average. Rocco Placentino won’t make the trip, as he’s getting married Saturday in Montreal. Seriously Rocco, you couldn’t have chosen a better time to get married, say, in December or January?

After making it through the Charleston Battery 4-1 on aggregate, we’re facing a tougher opponent in the Puerto Rico Islanders tonight. Just like Charleston, we haven’t beaten them this season. In fact, our record is even worse against the Islanders: 3 losses (3-2 in Bayamon, 1-0, at Stade Saputo, and 1-0 again in Bayamon). The last two games were especially close.

Tonight we face a mostly rested Islanders team who decided to take it easy in the CONCACAF Champions League on Tuesday night against Cruz Azul, who were already qualified for the next round, while the Islanders were close to elimination (and who are now eliminated after a 2-0 loss at Estadio Azul) La Tropa Naranja are better with ball possession than Charleston, and are especially dangerous on set plays and on the counterattack. Le Onze Montréalais need to get under the skin of Bill “The Wall” Gaudette, big time. That’s our key to success.

Even though Impact head coach Marc Dos Santos is absent after being given a red during the return leg of the Charleston series, he’s provided us with his starting XI:

Matt Jordan
Adam Braz – Cédric Joqueviel – Nevio Pizzolitto – Stephen deRoux
Patrick Leduc – David Testo – Leonardo DiLorenzo
Tony Donatelli
Roberto Brown – Peter Byers

The first leg is tonight at 7:30 and is available at these locations:

In English: USLlive.com

In French: radio-canada.ca/sports

The return leg will be held on Sunday.

David Testo got the party started with a hefty kick from a good 30 yards out that sailed into the net in the 10th minute.

While Montreal had the lion’s share of possession this game, the momentum shifted at the start of the second half, and it seemed hard enough to get underway, but we everntually settled in with the help of a few key subs.

Charleston’s Matt Bobo got tossed in the 45th after getting a second yellow, so the Battery were forced to play with ten men for half the game. I figure we could have, should have, taken the opportunity to score a few more goals just to be on the safe side (remember Santos Laguna?), but Charleston was good at simply collapsing in their own half, while leaving the sides open for the Impact to attack from.

Another solid performance from Peter Byers and Roberto Brown up front, and it’s nice to have someone from the bench score, this case being Rocco Placentino in the 88th, with another nifty left-footed roofer from close in. Matt Jordan had a relatively quiet night.

Finally, props to the Ultras, for coming out with probably their best showing of the year, in large numbers, tossing streamers, confetti and smoke bombs onto the pitch before the kickoff and then saving a few streamers and bombs for once the Impact scored.

The decisive game will be on Sunday.

The Good: We’re playing our best footie of the year right now, with Peter Byers scoring four goals and one assist in his last seven games. The Impact lost only once last eight regular season matches, ending with a 5-1-2 10GF 6GA record. We finished with the second best defense at home in the league this season, having only conceded 9 goals in 15 matches at Saputo Stadium. Carolina gave up only 8 goals in 15 home games. We’ve only given up one goal in 3GP this season against the Battery.

The Bad: We’ve yet to score a goal this season against the Battery. We played a pair of 0-0 draws, one at home, one on the road, and lost 1-0 at home. Stefano Pesoli is out, purging his one-game suspension.

The Ugly: We’re under .500 lifetime against the Battery in regular season play, posting a record of 8-10-2 18GF 19GA in 20GP. We’ve only won twice against them in our last 10 confrontations (2-6-2).

Probable starters:
Jordan
Braz, Joqueviel, Pizzolitto, de Roux
Testo, Donatelli, Di Lorenzo, Gjertsen
Brown, Byers

Now with Eddie Sebrango out with a fractured wrist, will Byers get the start from now on? After his performance, will head coach Marc Dos Santos finally see the light and let him be a regular starter? Regardless, let’s give this team some credit: undefeated in their last 6 (5-0-1), the team has learned how to play together, something that’s been difficult at times this season, all the while finding ways to not give up three points, that is, to play a full 90 minutes.

Sunday we face Minnesota in our final home match of the regular season.

They beat us twice in the Canadian Championship. We beat them twice in the USL. We,re 4-0-1 in our last 5, while Vancouver is 2-0-5 in their last 7. I’m guessing this one will end 1-1.

Previous meetings:
20/05/2009 Vancouver Whitecaps 2 @ IMPACT 0 NUTRILITE CANADIAN CHAMPIONSHIP
27/05/2009 IMPACT 0 @ Vancouver Whitecaps 1 NUTRILITE CANADIAN CHAMPIONSHIP
07/06/2009 IMPACT 2 @ Vancouver Whitecaps 1 USL Regular season
20/06/2009 Vancouver Whitecaps 1 @ IMPACT 2 USL Regular season

Noteworthy: Matt Jordan is out with back spasms, Srdjan Djekanovic is in.

Probable starters:

——————–Djekanovic———————-
————–Pizzolitto——–Pesoli——————
——Braz——————————-DeRoux——-
–Donatelli——Testo——Gjertsen——DiLorenzo-
—————Brown—–Sebrango——————-