Troy Perkins’ final season with the Montreal Impact didn’t quite go as he and the club had planned. After a stellar 2013 campaign in which he led MLS in saves and guided Montreal to its first playoff appearance, Perkins lost his starting job 17 matches into the 2014 season and the Impact finished with the worst record in the league.
Montreal chose not to keep Perkins after the season, instead signing fellow goalkeeper Evan Bush to a new contract. Yet heading into this weekend’s match against his former team, the now-Sounders FC keeper claims there are no hard feelings between the two sides.
“There’s not a whole lot of disdain that I have towards them,” Perkins said this week. “It’s a good group of guys and it’s a good club.”
Perkins arrived in Montreal during the summer of 2012, when the Portland Timbers traded him for Donovan Ricketts. He became the starter right away, playing in each of the Impact’s remaining nine games. Perkins then set personal bests in 2013 with 33 appearances and 2,970 minutes played, all while recording the second most regular-season victories among MLS keepers (14).
On Saturday in Montreal, the Sounders and Impact will meet for the only time this season. Perkins’ former club has been tough to beat at Stade Saputo, owning a 5-2-1 record at home in 2014 compared to just a 1-6-2 mark on the road.
“At home they’re a different team, a completely different group of people,” Perkins said. “They’ve been playing well at home and have had good support this year. They’re certainly trying to get up the table, as well, and we’re trying to get points. They’re going to come out flying and fighting.”
According to Head Coach Sigi Schmid, there’s a good chance Perkins will man the Sounders FC net for the third straight game on Saturday. Stefan Frei, who started the first 19 matches of the year for the Rave Green, is still working his way back from the shoulder injury he suffered on July 3.
“Troy’s played well. It allows us to give Frei the time he needs,” Schmid said on Wednesday. “He’s a quality goalkeeper. We’re not worried if Stefan can’t play.”
Although Perkins is performing well in Frei’s absence, the Sounders have dropped 1-0 results in each of the last two games. After remaining atop the Western Conference standings for an extended period of time, the club now sits in fifth place, but just three points behind first-place FC Dallas.
“You keep driving. You keep pushing on,” Perkins said. “You don’t sit here and hang your head and say, ‘I should have done this, or I should have done that.’ Then it gets worse. …It is not the end of the world. We still have points in the bank, and we are in a good spot. Like I said to a couple of the guys, it’s better we are doing it now than come September or October.”
Saturday’s match in Montreal kicks off at 5 p.m. PT with local television coverage on JOEtv.
