MONTREAL – Another week, another Impact nominee for the AT&T Goal of the Week award.
After teammates Felipe Martins and Sanna Nyassi earned that honor the past two weeks running, some good work from Patrice Bernier and Lamar Neagle during Montreal's 3-1 win over the San Jose Earthquakes last Saturday has placed another IMFC strike in the running for top honors. Bernier's clever dribbling on the edge of the Earthquakes penalty area set up Neagle for his second goal of the season, a fine, yet tricky, finish that was a tribute to Neagle’s ability to adapt during the game.
AT&T Goal of the Week Nominees: Week 24
With both teams down to 10 men, the 25-year-old was asked to move to the right flank. While he had not played the majority of a game in that role in almost a year, his right-midfield reflexes came back to him straight away. After all, he's had the position’s specifics committed to memory since childhood.
“I’m right-footed, so I grew up kind of playing on the right,” Neagle told reporters on Tuesday. “I kind of switched late. Either side, I’m pretty comfortable. Being on the right is fine with me as well.”
As his finish rippled the net behind San Jose goalkeeper Jon Busch, Neagle immediately turned to a visibly thrilled Bernier, who buried his teammate’s face in his shoulder not once, but twice.
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“This is a guy who hasn’t played a lot of minutes lately, yet he steps up and scores,” Bernier said. “He comes in, like Sanna the last time, and even though he's been on the bench, he responds that way. He’s showing the coach that he’s there to play, and I’m happy for those guys, because you can see the work they put in at training.”
Understandably pleased with the Goal of the Week nomination, Neagle is quick to credit Bernier, whose footwork in front of four opponents retained possession for the Impact.
But more importantly, the Impact’s No. 25 accurately noted that Montreal’s string of GotW nominations match the team’s form.
“It’s good, and it's a credit to our streak as well as to what we've been doing,” Neagle said of the nomination. “We just happen to score some good goals.
"I think it was more Patrice’s play than mine that got me on there, but I’ll take it if it happens.”
