Eddies say they can hang with league’s best team
FC Edmonton acknowledges Cavalry FC of Calgary have been the class of the Canadian Premier League in its inaugural season.
Yet, heading into their game against Cavalry on Wednesday (7 p.m.) at Clarke Stadium, FC Edmonton feel they are not far behind, and definitely do not feel intimidated by the Spring Competition champions, who are coming into the game off an 8-0 thrashing of Winnipeg ’s Valour FC last week.
“I think all the guys are excited to finally get another crack at Calgary,” said FC Edmonton midfielder Ajeej Sarkaria, following Tuesday’s practice. “They’ve (Cavalry) been playing really well, they just came off an 8-0 win and it would be really big statement if we could beat them here at home, cement our position in the league, and also give us a really good shot for the playoffs.”
FC Edmonton are going to the latest edition of the Al (Alberta) Classico having lost just two of its past 14 games since they were defeated 3-0 by Cavalry at home on June 15.
However, Edmonton has tied six of those games and have slipped into third place in the
Fall Competition standings, six points behind Forge FC of Hamilton. With eight games remaining on the schedule, Edmonton needs to turn ties into victories to try to make up the difference.
“We have to score our first goal on them,” said FC Edmonton head coach Jeff Paulus. “Every game we’ve played them, we’ve played them really well, even the one here where we lost 3-0, for 68 minutes I thought we were on top. We played good football that day and then gave up the one. I think (if ) we can get that first goal and settle ourselves in, I think we’ll be OK.”
Edmonton have lost two of the three games against Calgary this season, also dropping a 1-0 decision in May. The two teams played to a scoreless tie in their previous encounter on Aug. 16 in Calgary. It was a game for the taking for FC Edmonton, as Cavalry went in playing their fourth game in nine days.
“We’re confident, the team has lost only two of 14, but it’s too many draws because we’re not scoring,” Paulus said. “That will be the whole thing for us (Wednesday), it’s just that one piece that’s missing.”
Cavalry won the 10-game Spring Competition by five points over Forge to book a spot in the CPL final. They will face the winner of the Fall Competition or the team with the second-best overall record if they go on to win the second half of the year as well.
FC Edmonton is currently six points back of Forge in the Fall Competition and seven points behind them in the combined standings. “How do you say this when they’re the top team in the league? But our players believe that we’re every bit as strong and I’m sure there is a large part of our group that believes we’re even stronger,” Paulus said. “But you have to prove it and we’ve not done that. They have bragging rights and they’ve earned it.
“But we’re a confident group because we believe we’re so close. If some of these results are wins and not draws, we’re in the fight to win the Fall Season. I still think we have an outside chance but we have to start winning our final league games and then we’ll see where it falls. It all starts (Wednesday).”
Defensively, FC Edmonton have been strong this season, it’s scoring that has been an issue. Outside of the game against Halifax where FC Edmonton registered just one attempt on net, the team has been able to create numerous opportunities, but are not taking advantage of them.
“It can be frustrating, because we’re getting close, we’ve only lost two of our last 14 games,” Sarkaria said. “It’s frustrating getting that close, but it’s really important to try and get those three points, because we need those to try and get in that playoff game and try to close the gap against Calgary.”
Having played with Calgary Foothills for three seasons, who now make up the core of Cavalry FC, Sarkaria is very familiar with Wednesday’s opponent.
“I think they all are on the same page, they work together really hard and (head coach) Tommy (Wheeldon) has been building that program for a couple of years now, so they have the familiarity with each other and I think that really helps them,” Sarkaria said. “I think they do have some weakness. We know they’re going to work hard, but if we match their work ethic our talent will come through and we have a lot of talented players. Hopefully, we’ll be able to find a couple of goals.”