Road Game a Big Test for Whitecaps in Montreal

Six games in 18 days: that’s the brutal schedule the Montreal Impact are dealing with at the moment. When it comes to the Amway Canadian Championship, though, the Impact seem to find another gear… especially at home.

Montreal won the inaugural ACC five years ago, and have shown an ability to rebound from bad performances. They displayed that skill in a home-and-home series with Toronto FC where they fell 2-0 at BMO Field April 24 only to destroy the Reds 6-0 in the return leg at Saputo Stadium one week later.

Not that they would have much to fear from the Vancouver Whitecaps, who are one of the poorest road teams in Major League Soccer. It was on July 4 of 2012 when the ‘Caps last won away from B.C. Place, but they did beat FC Edmonton 3-2 in Alberta (along with a 2-0 win in Vancouver in the return leg) to secure their spot in this ACC final.

The fact remains, though, that Vancouver doesn’t score much on the road — three times in five MLS away games in 2013. So what plan will be employed by head coach Martin Rennie in tonight’s match? Will he instruct his charges to “park the bus” in front of their own net, or will he have his squad push forward? Whitecaps goalkeeper Joe Cannon knows what he’d like to see.

“I think the best teams, when they’re on the road, tend to be even more aggressive in that first leg because they know what a blow an away goal can be,” Cannon said in an interview with the Vancouver Sun. “I’m just hoping we ride the confidence we’ve got (from Saturday’s 3-1 home win against the L.A. Galaxy). The locker room is kind of buzzing right now. Guys are starting to feel a little bit more unified. Before, we were just searching for answers and now we have a couple.”

Montreal, a -139 favourite at Sports Interaction, may be feeling fatigued, and with Davy Arnaud and Alessandro Nesta they do have a couple of significant injuries. Nevertheless, they recognize the significance of this two-game set (the return match is scheduled to take place in Vancouver in exactly two weeks’ time).

“In a career, you don’t often play finals,” midfielder Patrice Bernier said on Tuesday. “You can count those on the fingers of one hand, two if you’re lucky and playing with a very good team.

“We’ve got to go for it, knowing that we have 10 days to then get ready for the next sequence and rest those who need rest.”