FC Tampa Bay plays to 0-0 tie with Montreal

A united, team performance helped FC Tampa Bay earn a point from its first road game of the season, though on a different day, it could have been all three.

The visitors dominated large portions of Saturday's game but couldn't find a way to score, drawing 0-0 in front of 12,060 fans in the Montreal Impact's home opener.

"For us to come here and dominate the game, particularly throughout the first half and keep possession well and give them very few opportunities to do anything or for the crowd to get involved it was very heartening," FC Tampa Bay coach Ricky Hill said.

"So hopefully, the players will take some confidence out of this game and use it in future games this season."

Less than five minutes in, FC Tampa Bay midfielder Tsuyoshi Yoshitake had one of the best scoring chances of the game, beating Impact goalkeeper Bill Gaudette to the ball, but only managed to hit the outside of the post. Yoshitake missed a penalty kick in FC Tampa Bay's season-opening 1-0 win over Montreal, which will move up to Major League Soccer next season.

Playing into a strong headwind in the first half, FC Tampa Bay (1-1-1, 4 points) kept the ball on the ground and relied on offensive movement built around quick passing.

"I think strangely enough, because of the conditions and the wind, I implored to the guys before the game that anything that came off the ground was going to be very difficult to handle," Hill said. "I'm pleased with the fact that the guys have trusted each other, shared the ball around to each other, worked very hard for each other."

Boosted by the debut of defender Andres Arango, who was suspended for the first two games of the season, FC Tampa Bay posted its second shutout in three games to open the season.

"The foundation of any good side is to have a solid defense," Hill said. "Hats go off to all of the back five...defending is a team game and the entire team played a large part in keeping a clean sheet today."

FC Tampa Bay returns home for a season-long three-game homestand that starts with Saturday's 7 p.m. match against the Atlanta Silverbacks.