On August 28, in a breathtaking game between FC Montreal and their Toronto FC II rivals at the Ontario Soccer Centre, Louis Béland-Goyette scored a precise goal with great technique that helped his team equalize early in the game, but also saw him getting nominated for the USL Goal of the Week and, later, for the August Goal of the Month.
Following the popular voting process, his goal won this honour in front of nine other nominees.
Alessandro Riggi started the action of the goal, sending a long ball to the right flank for Aron Mkungilwa, who controlled well before facing the defender in the box. He crossed it to the far post but a defender cleared the cross with a header, the ball going in the middle right in front of the box. Béland-Goyette took his time to adjust his feet before hitting the ball on a half-volley with his first touch, sending the ball in the top of the net.
“We played the ball on the opposing side like we usually do in a game,” said Louis Béland-Goyette. “When this happens, I always stay in front of the box to get the second ball. The ball hit the defender’s head and went right where I wanted. From there, it hit the ground and I connected perfectly with it. The ball also did an outside curve before touching the back of the net.”
In this game, there was another challenge as Toronto FC’s (MLS) number one goalkeeper, Clint Irwin, was in front of the opposing box.
“We usually don’t look too much at the opposition or who is playing in front of goal, but before the game, with Riggi, we knew it was an MLS goalkeeper, so we wanted to show him what we could do offensively,” added Béland-Goyette. “I was happy because we both scored in the first half.”
Alessandro Riggi’s goal, just as impressing, was the third goal scored by FC Montreal in this game, who added a fourth one late in the game to get three well-deserved points against a rival.
