FC Edmonton Fall Short in Second Leg of Amway Semi-Final

This article was last updated on April 16, 2022

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Down to 10-men, Eddies couldn’t muster any offense in Vancouver

FC Edmonton once again looked like the underdogs in the second leg of the Amway Canadian Championship semi-final against the Vancouver Whitecaps FC at BC Place on Wednesday night. 

Resting some regular starters – Shaun Saiko and Daryl Fordyce on the bench – and without head coach Colin Miller, who was sent off in the first leg of the championship, and forced to watch the game elsewhere, the Eddies side was a lot different since last Wednesday’s narrow loss against the Whitecaps at Commonwealth Stadium. 

Six minutes in, it was the Whitecaps that held the majority of the possession and the chances, outshooting the visiting team 11 shots to four. Vancouver forward Tom Heinemann put two chances just wide of the net in the opening few minutes and it took nearly 20 minutes for FC Edmonton to play the ball out of their own half. 

The best chance for the home side came 31 minutes in with striker Darren Mattocks streaking in and sending out a shot that rang off the far post and then out for a goal kick.

FC Edmonton’s only chance of the half came near the end of added time with midfielder Robert Garrett dancing around the edge of the 18 yard box to get a shot away that just flew over the crossbar. 

Ending the half 0-0, the Eddies should have felt good coming out for the second half with an upset win not being completely out of their grasp. 

Bringing on Daryl Fordyce for Michael Nonni at the restart, the Eddies looked to kick-start their offense. 

But that plan was stopped short when FC Edmonton defender Adrian LeRoy was considered the last man and took down Vancouver forward and half time sub Cory Hertzog on his way through on net. LeRoy was given a straight red, leaving the Eddies to battle out the last 40 minutes with 10 men. 

It didn’t take long for Vancouver to capitalize on their man advantage and it was Hertzog that took the chance to strike 35-yards out which beat Lance Parker at the near post to put the home side up 1-0. 

The Whitecaps were fortunate to double their lead 2-0 off a Russell Teibert corner, when Shaun Saiko, in attempt to clear, headed the ball into the FC Edmonton net leaving Parker grounded. 

There was not much that the Eddies could do except keep the Whitecaps to two goals on the night. Parker made six saves on the night to keep the Eddies close as the final score favoured the Whitecaps with a 2-0 victory to take them to the final leg of the Amway Canadian Championship against the Montreal Impact (who won their series versus Toronto FC earlier in the evening).

“From what I remember of this team from my time coaching in the NASL, they are a much improved side,” Whitecaps head coach Martin Rennie said after the match. “(In the Amway series) they gave us a hard game last year and they gave us a hard game this year.”

“The Whitecaps played well in the first half,” Eddies head coach Colin Miller shared after  spending the match away from the team’s bench. “I genuinely felt we could get something in the second half – but regardless I’m very proud of the boys and there are so many positives coming out of their performances over the past two games.”

FC Edmonton have very little time to hang their heads as it’s a quick flight down to Tampa to play their next NASL league game on Saturday versus the Tampa Bay Rowdies (May 4, 5:30pm MT K.O).