Impact qualifies for CONCACAF quarter-finals

MONTREAL – The Montreal Impact are headed to the quarter-finals of the CONCACAF Champions League.

The New York Red Bulls’ 0-0 draw with CD FAS in San Salvador on Wednesday night guaranteed that Montreal will finish atop Group 3 and reach the final eight.

Teams will play the first leg of the two-goal, aggregate goals quarter-finals either Feb. 24 or Feb. 25, with the return leg March 3 or March 4.

The Impact were hoping to salvage a miserable Major League Soccer season by reaching the knock-out stage of the Champions League. The team is last in the Eastern Conference at 6-17-6 and has been eliminated from the MLS playoffs.

“Great news this morning. @impactmontreal will head to next round of #Concachampions. Some light at the end of the tunnel this season,” team captain Patrice Bernier wrote on Twitter.

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He added: “Soccer in February. Who doesn’t like that?”

It will be Montreal’s second trip to the quarter-finals. In 2009, they won the opening game 2-0 over Mexico’s Santos Laguna before 55,571 spectators at Olympic Stadium, but collapsed in the second half of the return leg to fall 5-2 and lose the series.

The eight quarter-finalists will be seeded according to points accumulated in group stage play. Montreal is 3-0-0 after a pair of wins over CD FAS and a 1-0 victory at home over New York. There is one match left to play Oct. 22 at Red Bull Arena, but New York (1-1-1) cannot catch the Impact.