“We do not want to be close to the playoffs, we want to be in the playoffs. We want to reach our season-ticket subscription objective. We do not want to experience a dip in attendance like we had in our first game at Saputo Stadium. We do not want to leave points on the pitch by allowing so many late-game goals.”

The Impact pressed the host Fire early, and took a 1-0 lead thanks to some guile from striker Marco Di Vaio, but the Impact’s experience in the defence was outweighed by its lack of movement, as it surrendered three unanswered goals.

Whether credit for the 1-0 win should go to midfielder Sanna Nyassi, or the 75-strong group of supporters who made Gillette Stadium sound like Saputo Stadium is a question of debate, but there is no doubt that the Impact stole one tonight as it won its second road game of the year.

Andrew Wenger, playing up top in place of Marco Di Vaio, presently in Italy facing questions in that country’s most recent game-fixing scandal, gave the Impact a one-goal lead moments before the interval.

Marsch also threw laurels at his young goalkeeper, saying, "We like Evan Bush a lot. We think he’s a good goalie and he has a great future. He’s moved himself along this whole season. I watched him play last season and I knew he was a very good goalie last year so the performance he gave tonight was not surprising."

Nesta was officially unveiled as an Impact player Friday, in a press conference that was aired live on RDS. But, without a working knowledge of the Italian language, the viewers would have to be happy to admire the legendary central defender in an Impact polo shirt, as he doesn’t speak English or French well enough to communicate to the Canadian media.

Make no mistake. Castrillon’s goal was one of the weirdest you will ever see. But it should never, ever have counted. Why? It came after referee Mark Kadlecik blew the whistle and indicated that the ball was out of play.

A match against SKC? Sure loss, right? Wrong. The Impact won its first ever road game, 2-0 over the hosts and, frankly, put together the most impressive 90 minutes in the club’s short MLS history.

Playing to a draw is usually the best a road team can hope for. Toronto FC came out of the first leg of its Amway Canadian Championship encounter with the Montreal Impact having achieved its objective, playing to a scoreless tie and setting the stage for next Wednesday’s second game.

“They’re just here for a week and they’re heading back to Italy tomorrow. I saw my mother but my father was probably walking around the stadium somewhere. He has a difficult time watching me play.”