FC Montreal Loses 1-0 To Rochester Rhinos

Riggi Scores But Montreal Drops Derby Match, Still Winless

SportsTristan D’Amours — Published May 3, 2015

The bleu-blanc-noir wanted to avenge their 3-0 loss to the Rhinos a few weeks prior. Instead, the team remains at the bottom of the United Soccer League standings. FC Montreal is in the midst of a five-game losing streak and they have yet to record a point.

Six players from the Montreal Impact started the match for FC Montreal including goalkeeper Maxime Crépeau, fullback Eric Miller, centre-back Wandrille Lefèvre, midfielder Jeremy Gagnon-Laparé and strikers Anthony Jackson-Hamel and Romario Williams.

Williams and Jackson-Hamel were put together as a duo in the attack, but the two were often limited by a powerful Rochester defence. Despite missing left-back Onua Obasi, who was effective in the previous matchup between Montreal and Rochester, the Rhinos held FC Montreal scoreless through the first half.

During the 57th minute of play, Christian Volesky broke free from the Montreal defence and headed in Sean Totsch’s cross past Crépeau, giving his team a 1-0 lead.

In the 64th minute, Volesky scored a second goal for his team following a pause in the match. The Rochester striker has four goals in two games against FC Montreal.

In the 88th minute, Riggi received a pass from fellow winger Frédéric Lajoie-Gravelle to score the first home goal in FC Montreal history. A passing display between the two strikers fooled the defender and pleased the home crowd.

“The coach puts us on for a reason, to change the game, I came on, I did the best I can and got one. I came in and did my job so I’m happy about it,” said Riggi. “It felt good that we finally clinched our first one by [the forwards on the team].”

Despite the goal, FC Montreal was still unable to secure its first victory. FC Montreal’s Fabio Morelli feels his team needs to stop making mistakes in order to eventually attain that goal.

“Those teams don’t outclass us. We are up there with them and it’s only little mistakes that costs us points,” said the Swiss winger. “We need to eliminate those mistakes and then we will get points.”

Having lost five straight, FC Montreal’s head coach Philippe Eullaffroy made it clear that winning was not his club’s primary focus.

“This team is not built to win, it is built to develop and at the end of the day, we will see at season’s end who benefitted from that experience and will have more chances to sign with the first-team,” he said.

FC Montreal will spend their upcoming week off doing a number of team-building activities as they travel to Mount Washington, New Hampshire. According to Morelli, the activities will be beneficial and will give the team the opportunity to talk amongst one another and to get even closer than they already are.

FC Montreal’s next game will be Thursday, May 14 at home as they host another USL powerhouse team, the Charleston Battery, at Saputo Stadium’s turf field.