Bush’s shutout streak earns him Impact’s final NASL honour

The Montreal Impact has received its final consolation prize from its last NASL campaign. Keeper Evan Bush was named the NASL’s Player of the Month for September, as he got shutout victories in each of the Impact’s last three games of the season, as the club made a furious push to try and overtake the NSC Minnesota Stars for the final playoff spot. But, the Impact’s abysmal start to the season was too much to overcome, as the Stars held on. But the September voting for Player of the Month was a tribute to the Impact’s late surge, as Bush finished just one point ahead of on-loan striker Ryan Pore, who scored six times over the final four games of the season. Bush is part of the Impact’s pre-MLS evaluation camp, along with veteran keepers Bill Gaudette, on-loan Canadian netminder Greg Sutton and teenager Maxime Crepeau. Bush also won the Golden Glove Award for having the best season, statistically, of any goalie in NASL. Bush allowed just 14 goals in 19 matches after Gaudette suffered an early-season injury. Though Gaudette was brought in as a high-profile signing from the Puerto Rico Islanders, and was thought to be the man most likely to move with the Impact from NASL to MLS, it’s now Bush who is the favourite to get a shot at the No. 1 job when the team makes its MLS debut. Pore, on loan from the Portland Timbers, is also at the evaluation camp.