Published On: Mon, Jun 20th, 2011

Strikers Unbeaten Streak at Five as Defense Remains Strong

FORT LAUDERDALE, FL – The Fort Lauderdale Strikers extended their unbeaten streak to five games today after a tough road game ended in a 0 – 0 draw in front of 13,034 partisans at the Montreal Impact’s Saputo Stadium. The Strikers had excellent chances on the day and were rewarded with another point earned on the road in a superb defensive effort. Goalkeeper Matt Glaeser records his fourth shutout of the season with a remarkable job in goal for the Strikers. The team will now travel back to Lockhart Stadium to face the Puerto Rico Islanders on Saturday, June 25th at 7:30p.m.

“Today our guys earned a hard fought point in a tough environment,” said head coach Daryl Shore. “We felt like it should have been 3 but overall we are satisfied with the result.”

The Strikers had many chances to score in the first half and if not for some excellent saves by Impact goalkeeper Evan Bush, certainly would have. Early on, at the six minute mark, Paulinho Le Petit took one of his trademark blasts from just outside the 18 yard box right on net. Bush had to make a jumping save to deflect it away. Yoximar Granado had a good chance from about 15 yards away and Bush had to make a good move to corral it. The game got physical at times as three Montreal players, Tsiskaridze, Di Lorenzo, and Gatti, were given yellow cards in the first half.

The Strikers best chance of the half came on a Montreal turnover when Abe Thompson picked off a pass and headed for net with an Impact player trailing a few yards behind him. Thompson dribbled just inside the box and tried to shoot across his body, but Montreal’s Evan Bush made the save falling to his right. At the 40 minute mark of the half, Cristian Arrieta lobbed an excellent pass to Thompson and Abe made an excellent cut back to give himself space, but couldn’t get any power behind his left-footed shot on goal and Bush again made the save.

The second half saw more of the same as the teams exchanged scoring opportunities. The warm weather on the day also seemed to have an affect on the players as several Strikers and Impact players showed signs of fatigue. The tough play continued as well, as both Abe Thompson and Martyn Lancaster were shown yellow cards.

Strikers goalkeeper Matt Glaeser came up huge for the Strikers again this game with several sparkling saves. In the 60th minute a long Impact cross saw Montreal’s Reda Agourram make a powerful diving header from point blank distance and Glaeser was in perfect position to make the save diving to his right. The shutout is the fourth for Glaeser, and his goals against average drops to just 0.50 on the season.

The Strikers had several strong counter attacking opportunities as the warm weather took its toll on the Impact. In the 63rd minute Brian Shriver had an excellent run into space that produced a clear shot from 20 yards out, but was deflected on its way toward net and ended up being an easy catch for Bush. Then in the 69th minute, Shriver again found himself running up the left side with Abe Thompson to his right. Shriver was unable to find a passing lane to Thompson, so he cut across the top of the penalty box and fired a shot that sailed just wide of the net.

This was the Strikers only road game of this trip as they will return home for two games. The first is against the Puerto Rico Islanders on Saturday, June 25 at 7:30p.m. and then the Strikers finally welcome back FC Tampa Bay on Wednesday, June 29 at 7:30p.m.

 

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