ORLANDO, Fla. – Forward Mike Fucito, acquired a little more than a week ago by the expansion Montreal Impact, scored the first goal for his new team as the Impact tied Sporting Kansas City 1-1 on Sunday afternoon in the Disney Pro Soccer Classic.
Sporting could have taken the lead at the half-hour mark when Soony Saad was brought down in the box by Montreal center back Hassoun Kamara. But Saad’s penalty kick struck the base of the left post to keep the match scoreless.
Seven minutes later, the Impact took the lead on a breakaway as No. 1 overall SuperDraft pick Andrew Wenger raced by Sporting defender Cyprian Hedrick into the KC penalty area. Wenger crossed the ball at full speed to the far right post, where Fucito tapped it home for a 1-0 lead.
Sporting KC nearly equalized on either side of halftime as headers by Michael Harrington and Dom Dwyer finished off target.
Wenger continued to wreak havoc midway through the second half, collecting a pass from Bryan Arguez and firing a shot on the turn that was stopped by Sporting goalkeeper Jon Kempin.
Sporting made the save count when Saad equalized on a spectacular move in the 70th minute. The second-year pro received a ball in the box, lifted it to himself and poked it past goalkeeper Evan Bush to tie the score at 1-1.
As the procession of subs began late in the match, both teams made runs at goal but none that threatened to produce a game-winner.
Scoring Summary:
MTL – Mike Fucito (Andrew Wenger) 37
SKC – Soony Saad (Michael Thomas) 70
Disciplinary Summary:
SKC – Cyprian Hedrick (Professional foul) 42
MTL – Calum Mallace (Reckless tackle) 56
Lineups:
Sporting Kansas City – Jon Kempin: Michael Harrington (KevinEllis 64), Cyprian Hedrick, Sacir Hot (Lawrence Olum 45), Korede Aiyegbusi (Shawn Singh 74); Michael Thomas, Konrad Warzycha, Paulo Nagamura (Mozzi Gyorio 62); Jacob Peterson, Soony Saad, Dom Dwyer (Kyle Miller 80)
Montreal Impact – Greg Sutton (Evan Bush 45); Callum Mallace, Hassoun Camara (Jeb Brovsky 78), Shavar Thomas, Karl Ouimette; Sinisa Ubiparipovic (Gerson Mayen 60), Collen Warner, Bryan Arguez, Andrew Wenger (Andrew Schoenfeld 80); Mike Fucito (Steven Miller 54), Luis Acosta (Justin Braun 71)
FULL HIGHLIGHTS: Montreal 1, Sporting KC 1
