EDDIES ENJOYING VIEW FROM THE TOP
Ambitious FC Edmonton squad eyeing first-place showdown with Calgary Friday
Things are starting to come together for FC Edmonton and head coach Jeff Paulus.
An impressive 3-1 win against Pacific FC on Saturday at Clarke Field lifted FC Edmonton into a first-place tie with Cavalry FC in the Canadian Premier League Fall Competition.
FC Edmonton travels to face Cavalry FC of Calgary on Friday with an opportunity to move into top spot outright.
“Our goal is to finish top two in overall points,” Paulus said after Saturday’s victory. “I know that it’s a split season and I know how you get to championship final in this league, but we want to be top two in overall points and this gets us between four points of Forge FC.
“This is our goal and this will be our goal until the end. This is the ambition of our club, we want to be up there. We should be wanting to push to try and catch Calgary in the overall points as well. We know they’re quite a bit ahead, but this is where we want to be as a team at the end of the year.”
Cavalry FC has already booked a spot in the league final by virtue of its first-place finish in the CPL 10-game Spring Competition. They await the winner of the Fall Competition or the team with the second-best overall record if Cavalry also wins the second half of the split-season format.
Cavalry still has a game in hand on FC Edmonton, who managed to earn eight of a possible 12 points on a four-game homestand.
Paulus had mixed feelings when asked if he was happy with the way the homestand played out. FC Edmonton tied its first two games with Winnipeg’s Valour FC and Forge FC of Hamilton before earning victories against HFX Wanderers and Pacific FC.
“I am and I’m not,” he said. “I felt that we should have taken full points versus Valour and Forge. I thought we were the better side in those games. But we’ve been the lesser of the two sides in some games we’ve taken points in, so that’s football. To draw the first two and them come back with two straight wins, yes, I’m happy with this. I think eight of 12 points not having lost a game makes us happy.”
Edmonton finished third in the Spring Season standings with 14 points, five back of Forge FC for second and 10 behind Cavalry. There are still 23 games remaining in the 18-game Fall Season, but FC Edmonton is coming up on an important stretch with road games against Cavalry and Valour before returning home to host York 9 on Aug. 25.
“This is important,” Paulus said. “We’ll go play in Calgary on Friday night and then we’ll go and race home that night and try to get a day of recovery in and fly out to Winnipeg on Sunday. It’s not a long flight, so we’re not going to worry about distances and time zone change, that’s not a bother.
“Ramon (Soria) was only out Saturday, but if it was a final, he would have played. And if it was near the end of the season he would have played. It’s good to have Ramon Soria back for Friday’s game in Calgary as well.”
Cavalry FC will be going into Friday’s game on two days rest, hosting the Montreal Impact of the MLS in the second leg of the Canadian Championship on Wednesday.
Having clinched a spot in the CPL final, their focus at the moment is trying to upset Montreal at home and move into the national final, likely against Toronto FC. Cavalry lost 2-1 in Montreal this past Wednesday.
FC Edmonton were knocked out of the Canadian Championship by York9 early in the competition and their sole focus is earning a spot in the league final.
The club is coming together at the right time and they are doing it with homegrown talent, developed through its academy, the FC Edmonton academy, which was set up during the team’s time in the North American Soccer League.
“We had six players start the game that went through our academy,” he said. “That was a dream of mine to have half our starting roster come through the academy that Tom and Dave Fath have funded. For them to go out there and have that performance, I’m delighted with everyone.”
I felt that we should have taken full points versus Valour and Forge. I thought we were the better side in those games.