Etobicoke Centennial Stadium is anything but a field of dreams for the Toronto Lynx.

Lynx general manager/coach Peter Pinizzotto made that point loud and clear after his team's 2-0 loss against the Montreal Impact in the home opener at the undersized city-owned field.

With bare spots in the grass and flying dust causing the ball to bounce uncontrollably, the A-League soccer game didn't exactly provide top-notch entertainment for the crowd of 2,555.

"This field is by far not a professional field," said Pinizzotto, whose team entered the home opener with plenty of confidence after a season-opening 2-0 road win over the Pittsburgh Riverhounds last Saturday.

"The city should be able to look at it. If you want a professional team, you need a professional field. This is brutal."

Pinizzotto, however, wasn't making excuses for the Lynx. Toronto (1-1) had next to no offensive flow on the poor surface and Pinizzotto ripped his team for its poor effort.

"Way too many guys didn't come to play," he said. "They didn't show up."

Impact midfielder Martin Nash, on the other hand, showed up and delivered a spectacular performance. The brother of Dallas Mavericks guard Steve Nash, Martin set up both Montreal goals by Brazilian Ze Roberto.

Roberto headed the Canadian national team player's corner kick past Lynx goaltender Theo Zagar in the 30th minute to open the scoring. In the 52nd minute, Roberto headed another Nash cross behind Zagar.

Nash came to Montreal this season after playing the past three seasons with the Rochester Raging Rhinos. Nash won championships with Rochester in 2000 and 2001, but was looking for a change of scenery after returning from a season with Division III Macclesfield Town in England last month. He called the Impact and, after several weeks of negotiations, signed a contract with the team.

"I was looking for a place to play this summer. I had nothing to do," said Nash, who did not want to return to Rochester. "After three years in one place, you kind of get stale."

The Lynx return to action for their annual school day game, Wednesday at noon against the Syracuse Salty Dogs.

Copyright © 2003, CANOE, a division of Netgraphe Inc. All rights reserved.

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