A goal from midfielder Antonio Ribeiro in the 61st minute of play gave the Montreal Impact a 1-0 victory over the Vancouver Whitecaps at Saputo Stadium, Friday in the first leg of their USL semifinal.

Ribeiro collected the rebound off of Peter Byers' shot in the six metre box and scored his second goal of the playoffs into an empty net, as Whitecaps goalkeeper Tyler Baldock was sprawled out on the pitch. 
   
"I work hard and keep my concentration so that I can give my best effort to the team," said Ribeiro. "I had a few chances to score, but on that play, I was just there at the right moment. I'm glad I was able to help the team win."

Whitecaps goalkeeper Jay Nolly was given a red card and was ejected in the 52nd minute for grabbing Antonio Ribeiro by the throat. On the play, Ribeiro went aggresively into the box and tried to get a foot on the ball as Nolly made the save. Tyler Baldock took over in goal, thereby making his debut in a Whitecaps uniform. Nolly will miss the second leg of this series in Vancouver while serving a one-game suspension.

The Impact dominated 14-8 in the shot column and missed a number of chances to add a few more goals, notably Peter Byers in the 10th, 26th and 76th minutes.

"We missed several chances tonight and we would have loved to score more goals, but we won the match and we'll go to Vancouver with intentions of winning the second leg," said captain Mauro Biello.

“We tried to get as many players forward on the field, but we were missing some movement in the offensive third,” said Impact head coach John Limniatis. “The Vancouver defence was blocking everything and we did not have enough space to get through. We were not taking enough risks to get that second goal, which would have made a huge difference in the series. But overall we played well and we are now forcing Vancouver to win on Sunday.”

Midfielder Leonardo Di Lorenzo missed the game due to a light concussion, while defender Adam Braz was serving a suspension for a red card he picked up in the second leg of the Seattle series.

In the other semi-final, the Rhinos blanked the Puerto Rico Islanders 2-0 at PAETEC Park in Rochester.

The Impact will leave for Vancouver on Saturday afternoon ahead of the second match of this series, which will take place on Sunday at 6:30 pm ET at Swangard Stadium in Burnaby, near Vancouver (FSW, CKAC Sports, THE TEAM 990).

On Monday, the Impact will then travel to Trinidad and Tobago as they prepare for their next CONCACAF Champions League match, to be played against Joe Public FC on Wednesday.