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MONTREAL — Ignacio Piatta scored once.

Then he scored once more.

But in his bid to turn a hat-trick, his shot veered wide of a yawning net.

To boot, his fourth attempt was stopped by goalkeeper Marco Carducci.

In holding the Argentine attack to a brace, Cavalry FC kept itself in its Canadian Championship semifinal round with the uber-talented Piatta and the Montreal Impact.

While a 2-1 loss isn’t exactly what the Cavs had hoped to pull out of their first-leg visit to Montreal, it could have been worse — much worse — Wednesday night at Stade Saputo.

Instead, call it a quality escape, made impressive by holding the Impact to just two goals and getting one of their own on Sergio Camargo’s slick goal.

“We’re still in the fight,” declared Cavalry head coach Tommy Wheeldon Jr., with the trademark grin that makes him so affable.

“We don’t feel lucky. We worked for that result.”

Indeed, they did despite looking overwhelmed at times, especially in the first half and to begin the second half against an established club — a Major League Soccer one — that many believe should be able dispose of the Canadian Premier League’s Cavs easily.