Luke Kreamalmeyer scored in the 40th minute as the Montreal Impact defeated the Carolina RailHawks 1-0 in North American Soccer League action Sunday.
The win moved the Impact within three points of the Minnesota Stars for the sixth and final playoff spot with two games remaining.
Kreamalmeyer scored his first career goal with the Impact on a cross towards the goal that was caught by Carolina goalkeeper Brad Knighton behind the goal-line.
"The team worked hard today and we had a great team effort," Kreamalmeyer said. "This victory means a lot to all of us and those three points are very important. We want to go out and get the six remaining points."
The Impact dominated 18-4 on shots. Impact goalkeeper Evan Bush registered his seventh shutout of the season.
The Impact got the first scoring opportunity of the game at the eighth minute of play. After receiving a pass from forward Mignane Diouf, midfielder Ryan Pore took a low shot near the penalty spot, but the shot was saved by Knighton.
The Impact had several chances in the first half, including a point-blank shot from Diouf at the 17th minute, and a shot from Miguel Montano one minute later, but both were stopped by Knighton. Diouf finished the game with four shots, while Montano took five shots at Knighton.
Bush came through in the 72nd and 84th minutes after stopping two free kicks from the RailHawks, first from striker Etienne Barbara, who leads the NASL in goals and points, and then from teammate Pablo Campos.
Impact striker Eduardo Sebrango returned to action in the 75th minute after missing the last two games with a thigh injury.
Defenders Simon Gatti and Nevio Pizzolitto each received yellow cards and will both miss the next game with an automatic one-game suspension.