Impact can take positives from painful defeat

As the underdog always has to, the Montreal Impact punched above their weight class right through the MLS playoffs. That was until the bell rung for extra time at BMO Field on Wednesday night.
 
The soccer played over the 120 minutes might not have been classic, but what the 36,000 rain-sodden fans packed into the stands witnessed was one of the most classic moments in MLS history.
 
Soccer historians are likely still arguing amongst themselves about exactly where to place the 2016 MLS East Conference Championship in their annals.
 
In the second leg, Toronto FC ruthlessly exploited what has ailed the Impact for way too long — set pieces and balls delivered from wide areas. What also must be factored in is the relative bench strength of both clubs. 
 
Just as he did in the first leg to allow his club to claw their way back into the contest, Greg Vanney used Toronto FC’s superior bench strength to his club’s full advantage Wednesday night. Although Vanney’s job this season still has one final chapter to be written, if the 42-year-old Virginia native hailed from one of European football’s more desirable locations you’d be guaranteed even Giorgio Armani would have been in touch by now.
 
This in no way takes away from the remarkable job Montreal’s Mauro Biello did during the playoffs. It was so good that it had everyone forgetting how poorly the Impact performed after the All-Star break. Biello’s team had absolutely no right to be but 20 minutes or so away from an MLS Cup appearance.
 
It was exactly this time last season, on the day the Impact coach and his players met the media to recap their season, that team president Joey Saputo announced Biello’s interim tag had been removed. Biello has performed wonderfully in his time as head coach for a team that was rudderless when Frank Klopas was fired in late August of 2015. He has provided desperately needed stability, while also exceeding the playoff expectations which had been set preseason.
 
Chastened by 2015’s disappointing exit in extra time at the semi-final stage, Wednesday night’s defeat is amplified by the fact the Impact took the lead twice only to allow their opponent to seize the initiative back. It was much in the same manner that the Impact’s five-minute defensive meltdown in the first leg allowed Toronto FC back into the contest.
 
The Impact’s weary limbs will recuperate quickly over the coming weeks, but the psychological scars of reliving those defining moments where fatigue causes a player to forget the most elementary and basic aspects of defending set pieces will take far longer to heal. If it’s any comfort, each and every one of them, along with their erstwhile opponents, are now forever enshrined in Canadian soccer folklore.
 
If the 1986 World Cup Finals appearance was the watershed international moment for our men’s national team, the MLS Eastern Conference Championship is the moment Canadian club football finally came of age. The winners not have the opportunity to make an indelible mark in the sport’s century-plus history across the nation.
 
The Impact players have more than played their part during the playoffs, rightfully earning the plaudits and winning over a number of new admirers that have added an entirely new dimension to the club’s relevancy in La Belle Ville.
 
It’s now up to the club’s front office and those tasked by Saputo to grow the Impact’s footprint, ensuring the hard work and accomplishments of the playing squad and coaching staff over the past six weeks don’t come undone over the off-season.
 
See you at Olympic Stadium next March.