Eastern Conference quarterfinal this Sunday in Montreal
The MLS Cup playoffs have officially begun.
CF Montréal will host Orlando City SC, this Sunday at 8pm at Stade Saputo, in the Eastern Conference quarterfinal. You can follow the game live on TVA Sports, TSN, BPM Sports or TSN 690.
This year’s MLS Cup playoffs will feature only elimination games, meaning there will be no home and away series at any point of the playoffs.
Montreal heads into the postseason tournament as the hottest team in the league. Head coach Wilfried Nancy’s men have just one loss in their last 15 MLS games and have strung together four consecutive wins to end the regular season. They finished the season ranked third leaguewide and second in the Eastern Conference standings.
“We’re confident,” said centre-back Kamal Miller. “We’ve been strong all season and it’s been a good week of training leading up to the game. We feel ready for the game on Sunday.”
They now get set to take on an Orlando side that just squeaked into the playoffs on MLS Decision Day, thanks to a win against Columbus Crew in the game’s dying moments.
These two sides faced off twice in 2022, with Orlando taking the first game 2-0 in Florida on February 27, and Montreal winning 4-1 at home on May 7.
“I didn’t change anything in my weekly routine to prepare this game. The other players didn’t either,” said midfielder Samuel Piette. “We trained like we’ve been training since the beginning of the season. We see it as the 35th game of the season. It’s just a continuity of the things we’ve been doing since the beginning of the year and if we do that, we’ll be fine for Sunday.”
Arrive early this Sunday, as the first 5000 fans through the doors will receive a free tuque, courtesy of BMO! Also, a blue square will be on everyone’s seats, to be lifted in the air to create a stadium wide blue out as the players walk onto the pitch.
With a win, Montreal would qualify for the Conference semifinals, which would be played at Stade Saputo on Sunday, October 23, at 1pm, against either New York City FC or Inter Miami CF. Tickets would go on sale next Monday at noon. Allez Montréal!
