NASL FC Edmonton

FC Edmonton Match Preview: vs Tampa Bay Rowdies

Published on June 4, 2015 under North American Soccer League (NASL)
FC Edmonton News Release


EDMONTON, AB (June 6, 2015) - FC Edmonton (2W-3D-3L) takes on Tampa Bay Rowdies (3W-4D-1L) in the penultimate match of both sides' North American Soccer League (NASL) Spring season, with kick-off set for June 6, 5:30 p.m. MT at Al Lang Stadium in St. Petersburg. The sixth-place Eddies will aim to close a four-point gap with Rowdies, Carolina RailHawks and Minnesota United who sit second through fourth in the league table with 13 points apiece.

Coming off a match that saw their side finishing with eight men on the pitch, Rowdies will need to regroup with three regulars suspended due to red cards issued versus Indy Eleven. In addition to their suspensions, Tampa will have to overcome a last-minute Indy Eleven goal that stole a precious two points from their grasp in a heated race atop the table.

Tampa will face Edmonton without team leading goal scorer Maicon Santos, who was one of three Rowdies issued a red card alongside teammates Stefan Antonijevic and league assist leader Georgi Hristov. In addition to a goal this season, defender Antonijevic had started and played in every minute of the NASL season and will leave a major void on Tampa Bay's back line against Edmonton's league-leading offence. The team will also be without the services of midfielder Richard Menjivar, who departed Tuesday for national team duty with El Salvador.

Edmonton comes into Saturday's match following their strongest defensive effort of the season against Ottawa Fury FC. The team's performance earned them their first clean sheet of the year and goalkeeper John Smits an NASL Team of the Week nomination. Smits wasn't the only player to receive recognition this week as midfielder Lance Laing received a call up to Jamaica's 23-man roster for this month's Copa América tournament. Laing will feature in Saturday's match before departing next week to join his national squad.

"It's a huge game for us," FC Edmonton head coach Colin Miller explained. "We can go a point behind the Rowdies if we can get a result. They have got a terrific squad, I know they'll be missing four players that were involved on Saturday. They'll have to make some adjustments, but I know Thomas [Rongen] has brought in some quality players and there were some quality players already there before. We will still have to be at our very best, it's a difficult test."

The Eddies will have to overcome a projected 31-degree playing environment on Saturday when they kick-off against Rowdies, 5:30 p.m. MT at Al Lang Stadium. The game will be streamed live on TSN GO in Canada and on ESPN3 in the United States. The Eddies Official Viewing Party will take place at Alberta Beer Festival's Craft Beer Festival. For more information please visit www.fcedmonton.com.

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