NASL FC Edmonton

Eddies Fall to Cosmos in Home Opener

Published on April 19, 2014 under North American Soccer League (NASL)
FC Edmonton News Release


EDMONTON, AB - FC Edmonton (http://www.fcedmonton.com) played its second game of the 2014 North American Soccer League (NASL) season and first on home turf at Clarke Stadium on Saturday evening as the team took on the New York Cosmos in the 2014 Canadian Tire Home Opener in a 1-0 loss.

The first 45 minutes saw little Eddies' offense, with the first genuine scoring opportunity for the home side coming on a missed header by Horace James in the 15th minute that was just over the crossbar after a beautiful cross from right midfield. New York also had a missed opportunity early on when Stefan Dimitrov drove a ball over the crossbar from the top of the 18-yard-box.

It was the visiting team who drew first blood. In the 37th minute, New York's Sebastian Guenzatti and his cheeky back heel found the back of the net past FCE 'keeper John Smits to put the Cosmos up 1-0 heading into the second half.

"We are still very much in it," said FCE head coach Colin Miller at the half. "There's not much to change, but we have to be better in the final third."

The first 20 minutes of the second half had the Eddies on the defensive. New York had a great opportunity in the 57th minute when a strike from just inside the penalty area was blocked and deflected by Edmonton centre back Albert Watson and nearly resulted in an own goal.

The next scoring chance came from the home side in the 70th minute, when Frank Jonke blasted one towards net from close range, but Cosmo 'keeper Jimmy Maurer managed to cut down the angle to make the save. Not long after, in the 78th minute, the Eddies had another beautiful chance off a free kick and put the ball just over the crossbar once again.

The match would see no further chances from either side. Guenzatti's first half strike would end up being the lone goal of the contest, and sealed the victory for the defending league champion New York Cosmos, whose record improves to 2-0-0, while the Eddies drop to 0-1-1 on the season.

The anticipated sellout for FC Edmonton's Canadian Tire Home Opener was confirmed at halftime with a record-breaking crowd of 4,399 at Clarke Stadium.

FC Edmonton now heads back on the road to take on the Ottawa Fury in the Amway Canadian Championship on April 23 at Carleton University in Ottawa (7:30 MT KO). The Eddies next league game takes place in Minnesota against Minnesota United FC on Saturday, April 26 (5:30 p.m. MT KO).

Tickets for future FC Edmonton home matches can be found at www.fcedmonton.com. Tickets start at just $10 in the YMCA Family Fun Zone and can be purchased at all Edmonton YMCA locations. For all other tickets, please contact the FC Edmonton Front Office at 780.700.2600 or visit www.fcedmonton.com.

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North American Soccer League Stories from April 19, 2014


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