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Last-Minute Penalty Kick Sends FC Edmonton to 1-0 Win over Armada

October 23, 2016 - North American Soccer League (NASL)
FC Edmonton News Release


Last-Minute Penalty Kick Sends FC Edmonton to 1-0 Win over Armada
Last-Minute Penalty Kick Sends FC Edmonton to 1-0 Win over Armada
(FC Edmonton)

EDMONTON, AB - FC Edmonton (14W-9D-8L) registered a 1-0 win in their last regular season home match against Jacksonville Armada FC (5W-13D-13L) in North American Soccer League (NASL) action on Sunday, October 23rd.

Daryl Fordyce scored the lone goal of the match off a penalty kick in stoppage time, while NASL Golden Ball nominee Matt VanOekel tied a league record for wins by a goalkeeper with 15 on the season.

Colin Miller made several changes to Sunday's line-up. FC Edmonton Academy product Marko Aleksic made his first professional match, while Karsten Smith and Johann Smith also got the start in defence. Salvadoran winger Dustin Corea also started in today's match on the left-wing.

The Eddies dominated possession in the opening 10 minutes of play and side nearly opened the scoring after a delightful pass from Dustin. The Eddies winger picked out Tomi Ameobi with a ball overtop the Armada defence. Ameobi controlled the ball with his chest and found himself on a breakaway, but his chipped attempt was saved by Miguel Gallardo.

The visitors' first chance of the half fell on 24 minutes after a cheap giveaway from the Eddies in midfield. Zach Steinberger carried the ball up-field before finding Jemal Johnson at the back-post, but the midfielders' attempt would go wide of VanOekel's near post.

FC Edmonton nearly opened the scoring shortly thereafter. Ameobi made a strong run down the right wing before picking out Dustin with a low cross to the back post. The Salvadorian winger was unable to find the back of the net from in-close, keeping the score line at 0-0.

A wide-open match saw both teams creating their share of scoring chances. Armada's best chance of the half fell on 31 minutes when Keita found space in behind the Eddies defence. Keita attempted to fire a shot past VanOekel, but the 6'4 shot-stopper made a big save to keep the score level.

The Eddies continued to push forward for a goal and nearly did so on 41 minutes. The Dustin-to-Ameobi combination continued as Dustin found his teammate in the box with a cross, but the strikers' header on goal was saved by Gallardo.

The 0-0 score line would hold through 45 minutes of play.

FC Edmonton carried their attacking momentum into the second half and nearly opened the scoring in the opening minutes of the half. Midfielder Ben Fisk dribbled through a crowd of Armada defenders before firing a shot from a tight angle that was well saved. Another Eddies opportunity saw Shamit Shome directing a header towards goal, but it would go just wide of Gallardo's far post.

The home side created two back-to-back chances in the last 15 minutes of play in hopes of opening the scoring. Dustin fired a shot from a free-kick that was heading for the corner of the net, but Gallardo made the save. Shortly after, second half substitute Sainey Nyassi set Daryl Fordyce up for a shot from 18-yards-out, but his attempt would go high.

It wasn't until deep into stoppage time that the Eddies would find their goal. Nyassi was pulled down just inside the area, resulting in a penalty kick opportunity for the Eddies. Fordyce stepped up to the spot and made no mistake, sending a blistering strike to the back of the net for the match-winning goal.

"I'm very pleased with the performance," FC Edmonton head coach Colin Miller stated. "We had to make a lot of changes and I'm delighted for the staff and thank the players for all the hard work they put in on the training ground because we didn't skip a beat there.

"I thought it was a terrific team performance here today," Miller added. "I'm very proud we finished the league [schedule] at home in a very positive manner. The crowd was right behind us until the death and Fordyce once again stepped up when we needed him."

FC Edmonton closes out their regular season next week on the road against Miami FC, October 28 at FIU Stadium. Kick-off in the match is set for 6:00 p.m. MT. The match will be streamed live on NASL.com in Canada and the United States and broadcast live in the United States on ESPN 3. For more information, please visit www.fcedmonton.com.

Scoring

FC Edmonton: Daryl Fordyce (Penalty Kick, 90+3')

Jacksonville Armada FC: None

Cautions

FC Edmonton: K. Smith (12'), Shawn Nicklaw (90+2')

Jacksonville Armada FC: Jerome (73')

FC Edmonton

VanOekel; Nicklaw, Aleksic (Diakite, 87'), K. Smith, J. Smith; Dustin, Fordyce, Ledgerwood, Shome, Fisk (Nyassi, 74'); Ameobi (Keegan, 83')

Jacksonville Armada FC

Gallardo; Bahner, Ruthven, Jerome, Wallace; George, Scaglia (Maripuu, 71'), Eloundou, Steinberger, Johnson (65'); Keita (Gebhard, 87')

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Last-Minute Penalty Kick Sends FC Edmonton to 1-0 Win over Armada
Last-Minute Penalty Kick Sends FC Edmonton to 1-0 Win over Armada
   



North American Soccer League Stories from October 23, 2016


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