NFL, MLB, NHL, NBA, CFL stats



FC Edmonton

Character on Display as Shorthanded FC Edmonton Squad Collects 1-0 Win

July 17, 2016 - North American Soccer League (NASL)
FC Edmonton News Release


Nik Ledgerwood scored his first goal as an Eddie, while goalkeeper Matt VanOekel earned his league-leading sixth clean sheet of the NASL season. The Eddies were forced to play a man down for a half hour after defender Pape Diakite was shown a red card for two cautions in the second-half.

The Eddies' opening chance of the match came on eight minutes when Daryl Fordyce played a ball over the top for Jake Keegan. The New York native brought down the ball before firing a shot just wide of Romauld Peiser's net.

Former Eddies defender Eddie Edward came close to opening the score line on 22 minutes. Edward found space behind the Eddies back line, but his shot went just over VanOekel's near post.

Salvadorian international Dustin Corea came close to registering his first goal of the NASL Season on the half-hour mark for the home side. Ledgerwood picked out Corea with a ball behind the Fury defence. Corea's chipped attempt beat Peiser, but went inches over the bar.

The 0-0 score line would hold until the half-time break.

Eddies 'keeper VanOekel- one of the Eddies' top performers this season- made two strong saves in the opening 15 minutes of the second half. VanOekel made a stop on an Edward header. Shortly after, midfielder Carl Haworth curled a free kick from outside the box, but VanOekel was there once again to dive across his net and make a crucial save.

Shortly after receiving a yellow card for a strong challenge, Eddies defender Diakite was shown red after receiving his second caution of the match. Announced as the Eddies newest signing earlier in the day, centre back Kartsen Smith was substituted on shortly afterwards.

Looking to take advantage of a shorthanded Eddies side, the Fury broke through the Eddies back line on 71 minutes after second half substitute Giuseppe Gentile ran onto a through ball. The forward's shot on goal was saved by VanOekel before being cleared from danger.

The Eddies took the lead on 82 minutes after second half substitute Sainey Nyassi carried the ball down the right wing. The winger played a pass a low pass to Ledgerwood who met the ball with a first time strike to give the Eddies a crucial 1-0 lead.

The Eddies league-best defence performed well once again, sustaining Fury's pressure in the final 20 minutes to secure a 1-0 victory.

"The fans were incredible today," FC Edmonton head coach Colin Miller stated post-match. "The amount of support they provide us is fantastic. We are very grateful for their support and the players appreciate everything they do for us. Six games unbeaten at home takes some doing in any level of soccer and with this sort of character on the team we have every chance to achieve our goals this season."

FC Edmonton travels to Michael A. Carroll Stadium, July 23 to take on Indy Eleven at 5:30 p.m. MT. The match will be broadcast on ESPN 3 in the United States and streamed live on www.nasl.com in Canada. For more tickets and more information, please call 780.700.2600, click HERE (https://tickets.fcedmonton.com/?mc_cid5521ca16b2&mc_eid[UNIQID]), or visit www.fcedmonton.com.

Scoring FC Edmonton: Ledgerwood (82') Ottawa Fury FC: None

Cautions FC Edmonton: Diakite (54', 60') Ottawa Fury FC: None

FC Edmonton VanOekel; Nicklaw, Watson, Diakite, Eckersley; Corea (Nyassi 76'), Shome (K. Smith 62'), Ledgerwood, Fordyce, Keegan (J. Smith 76'); Ameobi

Ottawa Fury FC Peiser; Edward, Alves, Roberts, Timbo (De Guzman 80'); Bailey (Olivera 76'), Rozeboom, Tissot; Stewart, Haworth, Chin (Gentile 69')

-

Check out the FC Edmonton Statistics

• Discuss this story on the North American Soccer League message board...

North American Soccer League Stories from July 17, 2016


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central