CF Montreal Looks To Build Momentum On The Road Against NYCFC

It’s a short turnaround for CF Montreal after securing their second straight win after a long break, and they’ll now look to make it three in a row on Wednesday against NYCFC.

“It would be nice to keep this momentum going”, Losada said Monday morning at a hybrid media availability. “Winning games and taking points, and we know it’s a very important week.”

After facing NYCFC on Wednesday night, the team will fly home to prepare for Saturday night when former head coach Wilfried Nancy and Rudy Camacho return to Montreal as the Columbus Crew come to town.

“We have a game on Wednesday that is below us in the standings, and you don’t want to give them hope. They have played five games in a row at home so anything is possible, and we need to be ready.”

The two teams most recently met on July 1 at Saputo Stadium with the visitors winning 1-0, but the opposition has changed with seven new signings and the return of Maxi Moralez.

“They got seven new players during this transfer window, so they got some reinforcements for the final playoff push. They have a lot of quality.”

I asked Mathieu Choiniere and Bryce Duke ,who were made available to the media, how important it is to keep the momentum going, especially against a team like NYCFC.

“We are trying to make the playoffs”, Choiniere responded. “We started after the break with two wins. Iit’s good momentum and we want to keep going.”

“Coming back and winning the first two games after Leagues Cup is important”, Duke similarly answered. “Hopefully we can keep this momentum and winning going and these last nine games are going to be extremely important for locking a spot in the playoffs.”

He then gave his analysis on what he expects from NYCFC, especially playing on their smaller pitch.

“It’s always a tough team to play against, especially at home, and playing on a baseball field is never what you want to play on, so it’s something that we have to overcome – but it is doable.”

I also asked about Aaron Herrera, who according to social media will be out for the next 4-6 weeks. Losada told me he couldn’t confirm a timeline but says it will indeed be a few weeks.

On the positive side, we did get confirmation that Ariel Lassiter is fit and ready for Wednesday’s game against NYFC after he missed the last two games with his own injury.

NYFC is also the team that knocked CF Montreal out of the playoffs last year in stunning fashion.