MONTREAL – FC Montreal plays the Wilmington Hammerheads FC for the first time this season this Thursday, at 2:30pm, at Stade Saputo. Admission to the game is free.
The Bleu-blanc-noir is returning from two road games where they earned one point in a 0-0 draw in Richmond, on June 13. They followed that with a 1-0 loss in Pittsburgh last Saturday.
While both teams have had a hard time getting positive results in the first half of the season, one thing they have in common is their defensive efficiency. Wilmington conceded only three goals in their last four games as FC Montreal conceded only one in their last two games.
“I think we need to focus on our defensive efficiency,” said head coach Philippe Eullaffroy. “In Pittsburgh, we played against the best attacking team of the league and we were really solid on defence. Now, the next step is to be solid offensively. That’s what we have to see tomorrow against Wilmington.”
Hammerheads forward Nick Zimmerman is the team’s best scorer with three goals. However, Wilmington is in a difficult situation as the team had scored only one goal in its last four games, with one draw and three losses.
“We approach this game as any other,” said forward Charles Joly. “Every game is important, whoever we play. We need to prepare as if we were playing the first team in the league.”
“We passed the first part of the first year,” added Eullaffroy. “It was a discovery phase where we evaluated the level and adapted to it. We noticed that we could be competitive against every team. Now, we have to prove that we can win against any opponent.”
The game will also be available at www.impactmontreal.com/fcmontreal.
FC Montreal will play its next game against rivals Toronto FC II on Saturday, July 4 at 3pm, at the Ontario Soccer Centre.
