NASL Midweek Action: FC Edmonton Regain 2nd Place
FC Edmonton snapped a two-game slump – in which they were shut out by Montreal and Carolina – by earning their own shutout, downing the Puerto Rico Islanders 3-0 at Foote Field Wednesday evening. The Eddies climbed back into 2nd place in the NASL standings after the win, as they’ve been jockeying with NSC Minnesota over the past weeks for the spot behind the near-perfect Carolina RailHawks. The Islanders drop to a 4-2-4 record, even with Fort Lauderdale with 14 points and the fourth spot in the table.
The youthful FC Edmonton squad indicated that they have the fortitude and mental toughness to come back from being held goalless for 180 minutes. Edmonton’s Kyle Porter skillfully ended the drought early in the contest, as he muscled his way past the Islanders’ defense to set up Shawn Chin for his second tally of the season. It can realistically be said that Porter, 21, who has four goals on the season so far, has become an attacking force to reckon with in the NASL, and his form continues to ratchet upwards.
Porter and veteran Daniel Antoniuk combined for Edmonton’s next score in the 35th minute. With Porter earning his side a corner kick, Antoniuk got his head on the ball and was credited with a goal, although upon review the ball actually struck the Islanders’ David Foley and was an own goal. Still, the well-traveled Antoniuk was awarded Man of the Match for his efforts throughout the contest. The Eddies’ final goal came from the spot in the 57th minute. Chin had drawn a foul from Islanders’ defender Jamie Cunningham, and midfielder Shaun Saiko converted for his third goal of the year. Saiko is also tied for the second spot in the NASL assist category with three in 2011.
The Islanders were not without opportunities, even though they looked to be suffering the effects of the long-distance travel. Nicholas Addlery, who wasn’t included in Jamaica’s Gold Cup squad despite previous international experience and trailing only the otherworldly Etienne Barbara in goals, rattled the Edmonton post with a shot. Cunningham missed an open goal when his up-close-headed shot sailed over the crossbar in the second half. Edmonton keeper Rein Baart, back from his second suspension of the season, earned his third clean sheet for the expansion Eddies, but not without the help of a strong defensive effort from backliners Antonio Rago, 20 years old, Paul Hamilton 21, John Jonke, 24, and Alex Surprenant,23. Being able to shut down the Islanders’ duo of Addlery and Jonathan Fana, two premier NASL goal-getters, is certainly a feather in the cap of Harry Sinkgraven’s club. Both clubs had five shots on goal, although FC Edmonton doubled the amount of corner kicks earned by Colin Clarke’s men, 8-4.
Although FC Edmonton may have had an advantage playing at home over a travel-weary Puerto Rican side, it’s one thing to have an advantage, and another to use it. FC Edmonton continue to display the kind of teamwork, poise, talent and effort necessary of a successful club. The only disappointment for Eddies’ fans would be the evening’s attendance, which was only 797. Hopefully this was a fluke and not an indication of any dissatisfaction or loss of fans for a club that has averaged roughly 2,000 attendees for their previous home games.
The Islanders will get a bit of rest and some home cooking as they return to the island for a Sunday match with the reeling Montreal Impact, while FC Edmonton head to Minnesota for a Saturday tilt with the Stars.
NASL News
The Montreal Impact announced Wednesday that they have released defender Kevin Hatchi. The 29-year-old Frenchmen had joined the Impact in the offseason, and played in eight matches with Montreal this season. Although this was Hatchi’s rookie season in North America, the Paris native had previously played professionally in Belgium, South Korea, Cyprus and France.
“We looked thoroughly at the situation before taking this decision,” said Impact sporting director Nick De Santis. “Kevin Hatchi had certain qualities, but he didn’t fit in the group. We took this decision for the well-being of the team. All our players need to walk in the same direction, especially when the team is going through difficult times.” The struggling Montreal team has also lost goalkeeper Bill Gaudette for several weeks to injury, and one wonders how long will owner Joey Saputo wait to make more changes in the team, as he did mid-summer last year. Montreal is in their final season in D2 before moving up to MLS.
Good News Department: Injured Edmonton goalkeeper Lance Parker was released from the hospital in time to take in the Eddies’ triumph Wednesday at Foote Field. The former Missouri State Bear suffered a broken arm against Carolina last week, and has done well deputizing for starter Rein Baart. Best wishes for a speedy and full recovery.
Commentary: One has to wonder if we will see some of FC Edmonton’s talented Canadian youngsters get a chance to shine for the Canadian National Team in this World Cup qualifying cycle. Canada’s elimination from the Gold Cup Tuesday evening was another step back for the team that only scored two goals in three 2011 Gold Cup matches, both from the penalty spot. The Edmonton youngsters, most of whom are products of the Canadian college/university and amateur clubs, are serving notice that they can play the beautiful game effectively despite their professional inexperience. Canada certainly should have done better in the Gold Cup competition. Whether the problems be tactical or involve the proper use of team personnel, their performance could kindly be labeled a disappointment despite the individual talents on the club.
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Being that Vancouver was playing in the 7th game of the Stanley Cup at the same time I’m surprised they even had almost 800. Did those attending get cited by the police for attending a soccer match as I thought it was the law that you had to always watch hockey if you are Canadian……
Duh, thanks for picking me up on that one. The Stanley Cup finals, especially involving the Canucks, explains it all. My apologies to FC Edmonton fans…..I’ve been on the road and knew the Bruins won it all but didn’t realize the game was Wednesday night. And I’d even seen parts of Game 6 Monday….oops.
Stellar review of last nights game! It was awesome to see live, and I think you hit how the team is gelling right on the head. Should be a killer game on Saturday and a nice development in a good rivalry! Play up you Eddies!
Indeed, Game seven of the Stanly Cup finals with a Canadian team playing in a Canadian city. I think our nation almost stopped to hold it’s breath yesterday.
And those poor Canuck fans wanted to flip and burn the Boston bandwagon, but it isn’t a tangible object, so they chose the very city they love.
Seeing Edmonton whip up on PR makes me feel better about The Rowdies getting worked there a few weeks back. We had them on the ropes down here in early May before they got off with a draw. Tough team and only looking to get better!
@ Daniel Blodgett…My wife is from the Boston area and I greatly wanted that bandwagon flipped (especially after they beat my Lightning!) still a happy home, though, as she could care less about hockey. Tough going for The Canucks and hopefully there is still some semblance of Vancouver since its a beautiful city!
@ Nathan…..Thanks for the kind words, but the credit goes to the fine reporters and publicists in NASL cities like Steve Sandor in Edmonton, Ignacio Rodriguez with the Strikers, Alex Haueter with NSC Minnesota, Neil Malone in Atlanta, Kartik in the NASL office and many others in those cities, Montreal, Cary, Bayamon and Tampa who do the heavy lifting and are making the 2011 NASL season fun to follow. I rely heavily on their reporting on NASL and club sites and it’s a challenge to match their quality every week.
The problem is not that Vancouver was in the Stanley Cup, although it explains why the attendance may have been low, the issue is that the gate receipts can never be recovered, no matter what the reason was.
This hurts Edmonton financially.
Coincidence or not Minni and Edmonton have a bit of a rivalry going. Since the top 2 teams get a first round bye and a home playoff date there is something to play for. Eventually though you have to go through NC for the championship so good luck to everyone there.
As for the PR game it looked like the front office itself had given up on the night. Missing food vendors, souvenir booths, 50/50 etc. If I had traveled to Edmonton for this game and did a take on the field, crowd, amenities, and WEATHER it might cross my mind “what the hell is this”. I was one of the 800 but believe me it was more 200. Forget it and move on as they say. Looking forward to the game in Minnesota now. Your webcast is one of the best.
Edmontonians need to see the team survive for more than two years. They will have more poor attendance nights, but the city has been burnt by other fly by night sports teams (not just soccer). A new facility announced, and a real season ticket drive that doesn’t start less then two months before the first kick happens. I do see this being a very successful franchise. Will we see that by the end of this year? I have no idea. Edmonton is the new, quiet kid in the corner who hasn’t finished all of his introductions. 800 tickets sold on a night most Americans can’t grasp the implications for us here… Awesome. You can’t predict that. Christmas day might sell more tickets then game seven, and by might I mean probably.