Edmonton Journal

Eddies keeper misreads kick to allow late goal

- DEREK VAN DIEST Dvandiest@postmedia.com twitter.com/DerekVanDi­est

For all the good FC Edmonton goalkeeper Chris Konopka did against the visiting San Francisco Deltas Sunday at Clarke Stadium, he’ll be remembered for his one mistake, costing his team the game.

Konopka misread a free kick curled into the penalty area by Deltas midfielder Cristian Portilla in the 88th minute and allowed it to bounce into the corner of the net for the only goal, giving San Francisco a 1-0 win in North American Soccer League action.

Up to that point, Konopka made a number of excellent saves to keep his team in the contest.

“It’s absolutely devastatin­g. I feel so bad for the players to put so much in for those 90-odd minutes and to get nothing back from it,” said FC Edmonton head coach Colin Miller. “It was bad enough we were going to be drawing the game, but to throw it away the way we did at the end was criminal. It was a shocking free kick to give away and then we don’t defend it. The ball bounced inside the sixyard box and it should have been dealt with.”

Edmonton captain Nik Ledgerwood conceded the free kick down the right sideline, 30 yards from the net when he fouled the Deltas’ Brazilian midfielder Jackson.

Portilla send the free kick into the penalty area looking to pick out a teammate, but the ball sailed over everyone’s head, and bounced into the net.

“It’s a disappoint­ing one, I’d need to see it again before I pass comment on whether it was poor goalkeepin­g or whatever,” Miller said. “I haven’t seen it close enough yet to analyze it, but the ball travelled a long distance and there were a lot of bodies in there that could have won the header that didn’t win the header and I don’t know if it bounced just inside the six-yard box or not.

“But I’m just gutted for the players, because I didn’t think we deserved to draw the game, never mind lose it.”

The loss was Edmonton’s fifth in seven games this season. The club currently sits seventh in the eight-team NASL Spring Season standings.

“We were on top of the game for pretty much all of it,” said FC Edmonton striker Jake Keegan. “They were dangerous on free kicks and set pieces, but for the most part, that was it. Obviously, I had a chance that I should have scored on and we had a few other chances throughout the game, but that’s the way it goes sometimes.”

Edmonton played well against the expansion Deltas, who are coached by Canadian Marc Dos Santos and moved into second place in the standings.

Keegan should have put Edmonton up 1-0 three minutes into the second half, when he walked in all alone on the San Francisco net after Deltas defender Reiner Ferreira mistakenly allowed the ball to bounce past him.

Keegan, however, was not able to convert the opportunit­y, rolling his left-footed shot just wide at the near post. The miss proved to be costly for Edmonton, which has a win and a tie to show for its efforts this season.

“I was trying to send the keeper the wrong way, which I did, and I just sent it wide,” Keegan said. “From where I was, it was probably a little tight to go near post, looking back on it, but obviously hindsight is 20/20.”

FC Edmonton had an number of other chances throughout the contest it was unable to convert. To its credit, San Francisco created chances of its own, but was unable to beat Konopka until its final attempt on net.

“I think overall — especially because of our first half where we created more, we were more dangerous — I felt we deserve to come out at half time with a 1-0 lead,” Dos Santos said. “Then the second half, we knew it was going to be difficult, especially because of the wind. The long balls played behind our back line come faster.”

The teams seemed destined for a scoreless tie until Portilla’s cross found the net.

“We knew we had to stay focused, stay very aware. We knew (Edmonton) has a dangerous team, they’re always a team that are built the right way,” Dos Santos said. “I think they’re just going through a bad spell right now. It happens to everybody; soccer is like that.”

 ?? SHAUGHN BUTTS ?? FC Edmonton’s Dustin Corea, left, is challenged by the San Francisco Deltas’ Tyler Gibson on Sunday at Clarke Field. The Deltas won 1-0.
SHAUGHN BUTTS FC Edmonton’s Dustin Corea, left, is challenged by the San Francisco Deltas’ Tyler Gibson on Sunday at Clarke Field. The Deltas won 1-0.

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