Gap between NASL, MLS closing — coach
Eddies’ Miller says results ‘great advertisement for our league’
The Tampa Bay Rowdies and Carolina RailHawks of the North American Soccer League both defeated Major League Soccer teams on Wednesday in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.
The Rowdies edged the Seattle Sounders 1-0 with a goal in the 75th minute by Georgi Hristov and a dramatic late penalty save by Deigo Restrepo, while the RailHawks upset the defending MLS champion Los Angeles Galaxy for the second year in a row, this time 2-0 in the thirdround stage of the Cup.
“It’s a great advertisement for our league,” said FC Edmonton coach Colin Miller. “The gap between the NASL and the MLS, certainly in one-off situations, is closing.
“We had two very good games against the Vancouver Whitecaps,” Miller continued. “We were just about eight minutes to go and then a shocking penalty kick went against us and we ended up losing 3-2.”
The Eddies, who play the Rowdies on Sunday at Clarke Field, had a 1-1 draw at Tampa Bay earlier this season despite it being their third game in seven days.
Tampa Bay has the tough schedule this time around, but the team will be coming off a high with Wednesday’s win, plus it hasn’t lost a regular-season game on the road this year and has a sevengame unbeaten streak against Edmonton.
Miller said the well-coached Rowdies should make Sunday’s game exciting to watch. He is also hoping for another big turnout after the crowd size doubled from about 1,200 people to 2,400 last week with the addition of extra seating at Clarke Field. Some 700 young soccer players from the city’s Free Footie league have been given tickets to the game and will be in the new bleachers in the southeast end zone.
GOAL KICKS: With goalkeeper Lance Parker out of the lineup, FC Edmonton made a loan agreement with the Vancouver Whitecaps for ’keeper Simon Thomas to join the Eddies for Sunday’s game ... Miller is hoping injured midfielder Neil Hlavaty can return for Sunday’s game, but Trinidad & Tobago international Carlyle Mitchell is out week-to-week after suffering a sprained ankle in last week’s game ... The Eddies have a Pink Up the Park promotion on Sunday, where $5 from each ticket will be donated to the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation. Edmonton players will wear pink training jerseys during the warm-up that will be made available to fans during the game.