Suspensions will force both Montreal Impact coach Jesse Marsch and Whitecaps’ boss Martin Rennie to make some adjustments in the coming weeks.

“This is another positive step for our football club, signing another promising young defender for the long term,” said Head Coach and Director of Soccer Operations Paul Mariner in a release issued by the club.

Ferreira nabbed 15 of the 18 first-place votes cast by members of the North American Soccer Reporters.

“A lot of it depends on the stadium because we’re building a stadium in San Jose,” San Jose Eartquakes President Dave Kaval explained. “The stadium here (in Montreal) has been renovated recently so I wanted to sit down with Joey Saputo and with all the team here and discuss with them what they built. There are lessons here for us and our design as we move forward with our construction and so that’s the key reason.”

The Montreal Impact continued its drive toward the playoffs this evening with a decisive 3-1 victory over the league-leading San Jose Earthquakes in front of a sold-out house of 19,441.

"It was a bit of a nothing match, to be perfectly frank," said TFC head coach Paul Mariner.  "It was a bit of a stalemate and then suddenly they got the goal."

The MLS Disciplinary Committee has suspended Vancouver Whitecap Barry Robson for Saturday afternoon’s Cascadia Cup derby match in Seattle. But the timing is what’s interesting — the announcement came mere hours before the Sounders and Whitecaps are to do battle.

“It was just one of those games that never got going,” head coach Martin Rennie said. “It was stop, start, all the time. "

"How many teams in MLS can have five starters out and put on a performance like that?" Mariner asked. "When you ask players to come in after months of layoffs… if you factor those things in, with Portland having most of their guns firing and us coming out with 2-2, I'm reasonably happy with what's going on."

Los Angeles Galaxy forward Landon Donovan became just the fourth player in MLS history to register four assists in a match, putting him in a select company of players that includes Canadian Dwayne De Rosario.