FC Edmonton coach Harry Sinkgraven will be missing a key part of his regular starting XI when his club heads to Montreal to face the Impact Saturday. Forward Kyle Yamada, who plays on the left side of the 4-3-3, hurt his ankle in the second half of Tuesday’s 4-0 win over FC Tampa Bay. Yamada had scored earlier in the game — and he unintentionally set up Kyle Porter’s opening goal, ringing the initial shot off the post, then seeing Porter tuck the rebound into an empty net.

While the Montreal Impact’s scoreless tie against the Fort Lauderdale Strikers provided netminder Bill Gaudette with his third clean sheet of the season — in a game that had him not have to make a single save along the way — his success was more than counterbalanced by the Impact’s continuing offensive impotence, an affliction that has plagued the club since its May 1 5-0 rout of FC Edmonton.

A 3-0 loss to FC Tampa Bay Saturday showed just how far behind schedule the Impact are when it comes to being ready for Major League Soccer. Other than keeper Bill Gaudette, who made several outstanding saves to keep the scoreline from being more severe, there wasn’t an Impact player on the pitch who looked anywhere close to being what anyone would call an MLS prospect.

“We always have a good game against this team. I really liked it,” said Barbara, who has scored in every NASL game he’s played in this season and already set the RailHawks record for most goals in a season with nine. “Any game we play against Montreal could go either way. Right now I’m on a streak and everything is happening automatically. I could have got another hat trick today.” Reminded that the Impact is moving on up next season Barbara expressed his interest in doing the same thing. “I came here with the intention of not staying in this league. Although I love playing in Carolina my aim is always to play in a higher league. I hope to make an impact because I want to play in MLS.”

But, the Montreal Impact should be the one going through. All Gerba had to do was convert what was a pretty automatic scoring chance in the dying seconds of extra time. But, with Whitecaps keeper Jay Nolly at his mercy and no defender in sight, Gerba's header crashed off the post. The Whitecaps escaped with a 2-1 aggregate win; a 1-1 draw on the night.

The Montreal Impact sent all of NASL a message on Sunday night. And FC Edmonton showed some serious defensive and goalkeeping frailties. The Impact routed FCE 5-0 in the first NASL game played at Foote Field, with league commissioner David Downs in attendance.

That concern is extended to what’s happening at Stade Saputo. Or, more accurately, what’s not happening at Stade Saputo. Through two home dates, there have been a concerning number of unused blue seats.

Projected to come out on the short end of a one-sided affair against the relentlessly offensive visiting Whitecaps, Marc Dos Santos’s pink and black-kitted crew surprised by showing far better ensemble play than they did on Saturday in its NASL game against Tampa Bay FC and made the game a close one, losing a 1-0 decision to Major League Soccer's Vancouver representative.

The Montreal Impact was hoping to record its first victory of the 2011 campaign over FC Tampa Bay in front of 13,000 fans this afternoon — but inclement weather kept the attendance down as the home team had to settle for a 0-0 draw in front of considerably fewer spectators. Near-freezing temperatures and winds that regularly gusted beyond 30km/h combined to make for an afternoon during which only the 36 media folk on the press gallery and the Ultras in section 114 — their drums banging, flags flying and vocal cords fraying — seemed to be immune. It was weather more appropriate to November than late April.

While the tornadoes that touched down in the Raleigh area earlier today may have kept some fans away from WakeMed Soccer Park, the weather did not put a damper on the Carolina RailHawks, who defeated the Impact 2-1, handing Montreal its second straight loss to open the NASL season.