A2-3 season stats

issue 007 2012 edition

A6-7 recaps A8-9 Eddie Awards A13 They Had a BallA11 Hammy Burger finale

NASL Commissioner David Downs was in town to join in the conversations—By Andreas Morse

Representatives from FC Edmonton (FCE), along with members from the North American Soccer League (NASL), the Canadian Soccer Asso-ciation (CSA) and the Alberta Soccer Association (ASA) met with Mayor Stephen Mandel, city manager Simon Farbrother and the minister of Tour-ism, Parks and Recreation on Sept. 20 to discuss the soccer club’s future in the city.NASL commissioner David Downs, chairman of the board Aaron Da-vidson, CSA board member Derryn Donaghey and ASA executive direc-tor Richard Adams joined FCE own-ers Tom and Dave Fath and general manager Tom Leip in the meetings.The biggest news to come out of the day-long conversations was the may-

or’s inquiry into building a soccer-specific stadium in the city, which he put to his executive committee to establish the feasibility of a 10,000 seat, soccer-specific stadium along with a full-field indoor facility.“There’s clearly a need for this type of facility in the city,” said FCE owner/president Tom Fath. “The outdoor facility is obvious. The indoor facility would allow us to work closely with the ASA and the CSA on its long-term player development plan. The mayor acknowledged it’s time so we’ll continue to work with he and the city, as well as the province, to get this done.”Fath and Leip had follow-up meet-ings with city and provincial officials over the following weeks.FCE also met with council members and corporate leaders as well as members of the city’s soccer com-munity.

WWW.FCEDMONTON.COM

— Club Cuts Ties with Coaching Staff —

FCE Involved in Important Meetings for the City’s Soccer Future

FCE owner/president Tom Fath (left) and GM Tom Leip (centre) met with NASL Chairman of the Board Aaron Davidson to discuss the club’s future plans in late September

Head Coach and Assistant Coach Released for Budgetary Reasons—By Andreas Morse

FC Edmonton announced the release of head coach Harry Sinkgraven and assistant coach Hans Schrijver for bud-getary reasons on Friday.“Both coaches have been loyal to the club and it was a hard decision to let them go,” said FCE owner/president Tom Fath. “It’s been fortunate for us to have two such high level coaches

with us over the last few years and I will personally miss both of them. We are committed to succeeding and we will continue to strive for the league championship next season.”Sinkgraven joined FC Edmonton in December, 2010, prior to the club’s inaugural season in the NASL; taking over from departed coach Dwight Lodeweges.As head coach, Sinkgraven lead the team to a 10-6-12 record in 2011; good enough for fifth in the league stand-ings and a quarterfinal appearance. The team lost to the Fort Lauderdale

Strikers and were eliminated from the postseason. “I don’t have hard feelings; this is the way it goes. The season was disap-pointing for everybody and the owner needs to save money,” Sinkgraven said. “I had a beautiful time here. I got to experience another culture, another country, and I love the people here. I want to thank everybody and I wish the club well. I hope the city helps Tom (Fath) succeed.”In 2012, Schrijver rejoined the club which he helped build along with Lodeweges, after spending 2011 in

Japan.The team fell to a 5-10-13 record this season under Sinkgraven and Schrijver and missed the playoffs for the first time.“I feel very sad because I really liked it here in Edmonton but the season was not good and the team has been spend-ing a lot of money for three years now so they had to make a change. I was proud to be a part of FC Edmonton and I hope the city embraces the team because it’s a good club and a good owner.”Schrijver said he will return to Holland to pursue opportunities but is mostly looking forward to spending time with

his children.FC Edmonton technical director Joe Petrone will handle all team-related issues in the interim, including hiring a new coaching staff, something he said the club will take its time with.“It’s tough to lose Harry and Hans be-cause they’re good people, nice people,” Petrone said. “Tactically and technically they are as good as there is in Europe or North America. They’ve been instru-mental in making our kids better; they are hard workers and were dedicated to FC Edmonton.”

WWW.FCEDMONTON.COM

A2First team stats

GOALKEEPERS # NAME MIN GAA GA SAVES YC RC

1 Lance Parker 1400 1.27 19 40 1 -22 David Monsalve 90 0.00 0 3 - -23 John Smits 630 1.29 9 30 - -25 Michal Misiewicz 360 1.50 6 14 - -

DEFENDERS# NAME MIN ASSISTS GOALS YC RC

2 David Proctor 698 - - - -3 Adam West 751 - - 2 -5 Kévin Hatchi 1729 - 1 5 213 Jonathan 1122 - - 5 1 Joseph-Augustin15 Dino Gardner 10 - - - -18 Paul Hamilton 2084 - 1 2 124 Antonio Rago 1952 - - 4 127 Fabien Vorbe 423 - - 1 -

MIDFIELDERS# NAME MIN ASSISTS GOALS YC RC

6 Shaun Saiko 1818 6 7 5 -8 Ilja van Leerdam 1247 3 1 5 - 16 Kenny Caceros 1381 1 1 1 -20 Chris Kooy 1815 1 - 1 -21 Dominic Oppong 848 - - 1 -28 Bryan Arguez 1170 1 1 1 -

STRIKERS# NAME MIN ASSISTS GOALS YC RC

4 Sérisay Barthélémy 1230 1 1 2 -9 Michael Cox 937 - 2 1 -11 Matt Lam 1218 1 - 6 -14 Paul Craig 661 1 2 1 -17 Elvir Gigolaj 172 - 1 - -19 Kyle Porter 1790 - 3 - -29 Yashir Pinto 1362 2 3 2 -

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Reserve Stats

Goalkeepers# NAME: SHUTOUTS:

1 Norbert Janas - * Lance Parker 2* David Monsalve 5* Michal Misiewicz 2

Defenders# NAME: GOALS:

2 Mallan Roberts -5 Andre Duberry -12 Amir Didic -15 Marko Aleksic -* Dino Gardner 1

Midfielders# NAME: GOALS:

3 Mark Kadlubicki 14 Allan Zebie 19 Edem Mortotsi 610 Hanson Boakai 316 Julian Sansano -

Strikers# NAME: GOALS:

7 Ajeej Singh Sarkaria 98 Ajay Khabra 311 Bruno Zebie 514 Aymar Sigue 6* Alex Semenets 2* Elvir Gigolaj 3* Kyle Yamada 1

* - indicates first team players

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A3

/ 780 439 7529

Reserve Schedule Results

May 11 vs Lethbridge A 6-0 (W)

May 13 vs Lethbridge A 1-0 (W)

May 25 vs Calgary Callies A 0-0 (D)

May 27 vs Calgary Callies A 1-3 (L)

June 1 vs Calgary Villians A 0-1 (L)

June 3 vs Calgary Villians A 0-0 (D)

June 8 vs Calgary Dinos A 3-1 (W)

June 10 vs Calgary Dinos A 1-0 (W)

June 13 vs Edmonton Drillers H 7-1 (W)

June 20 vs Edmonton Scottish H 1-0 (W)

June 27 vs Green and Gold H 6-0 (W)

July 18 vs Edmonton Croatia H 9-0 (W)

July 25 vs Green and Gold A 0-4 (L)

Aug. 22 vs Edmonton Drillers H 6-0 (W)

FC Edmonton 2012 ResultsApril 7 vs Fort Lauderdale Strikers A 0-1 (L)April 14 vs Tampa Bay Rowdies A 0-1 (L)April 18 vs Puerto Rico Islanders A 0-0 (D)April 22 vs Minnesota Stars FC H 3-4 (L)May 6 vs Carolina RailHawks H 3-0 (W)May 12 vs Atlanta Silverbacks A 2-0 (W)May 19 vs San Antonio Scorpions A 0-2 (L)May 27 vs San Antonio Scorpions H 2-2 (D)June 3 vs Atlanta Silverbacks H 1-2 (L)June 10 vs Fort Lauderdale Strikers H 1-0 (W)June 16 vs Fort Lauderdale Strikers A 0-1 (L)June 23 vs Carolina RailHawks A 0-2 (L)July 1 vs Puerto Rico Islanders H 0-0 (D)July 4 vs San Antonio Scorpions A 0-1 (L)July 7 vs Puerto Rico Islanders A 1-1 (D)July 15 vs Tampa Bay Rowdies H 0-1 (L)July 21 vs Atlanta Silverbacks A 2-1 (W)July 28 vs Tampa Bay Rowdies A 0-1 (L)Aug 4 vs Minnesota Stars FC H 1-1 (D)Aug 8 vs San Antonio Scorpions H 1-1 (D)Aug 12 vs Puerto Rico Islanders H 1-0 (W)Aug 18 vs Carolina RailHawks A 2-3 (L)Aug 25 vs Minnesota Stars FC A 1-1 (D)Sept 2 vs Atlanta Silverbacks H 0-2 (L)Sept 8 vs Minnesota Stars FC A 1-1 (D)Sept 12 vs Carolina RailHawks H 2-2 (D)Sept 16 vs Tampa Bay Rowdies H 0-3 (L)Sept 23 vs Fort Lauderdale Strikers H 2-2 (D)

WWW.FCEDMONTON.COM

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The Canadian Soccer Association has announced the 2013 schedule for the sixth edition of the Amway Canadian Championship. The six-match schedule will once again feature the nation’s top-four profes-sional clubs, with Vancouver White-caps FC, FC Edmonton, Toronto FC and Impact Montréal all playing for the honour to lift the Voyageurs Cup and represent Canada in the 2013-14 edition of CONCACAF Champions League.

Canada’s three MLS clubs will be ranked first, second and third based on the league’s 2012 regular-season standings. With one month to play Vancouver and Montréal are caught in a tight race for the top seed. The final 2012 Canadian ranking will be confirmed after the final 2012 MLS regular-season matches on 28 Octo-ber 2012.

The 2013 Amway Canadian Cham-pionship features a one-vs-four and two-vs-three semi-final format. The four semi-final matches will be

Association Announces Dates for 2013 Amway Canadian Championship

Four players released following end of the regular season —By Andreas Morse

FC Edmonton announced the release of seven players following a disap-pointing 2012 season which saw the team finish last in the league with 25 points from 28 games.Defenders Fabien Vorbe, Kévin Hat-chi and Jonathan Joseph-Augustin along with midfielders Matt Lam and Ilja van Leerdam, striker Sérisay Barthélémy and goalkeeper Michal Misiewicz were all given their release papers and are welcome to pursue other opportunities.“At this point we felt that changes had to be made,” said technical director Joe Petrone. “We’re looking at fresh faces so we need to make room. We want to keep the core intact but we also need to look at new players to bring in. Each of the players did well for our team and we wish them all well,” he added.

Off-season Moves Under-way at FC Ed-monton

Quick Stats:

Fabien Vorbe (D)NASL – 423 minutes, 1 yellowAmway – 90 minutes

Kévin Hatchi (D)NASL – 1,729 minutes, 1 goal, 5 yellows, 2 redsAmway – 180 minutes

Jonathan Joseph-Augustin (D)NASL – 1,122 minutes, 2 yellows, 1 redAmway – 90 minutes

Matt Lam (M)NASL – 1,218 minutes, 1 assist, 6 yellowsAmway – 159 minutes

Ilja van Leerdam (M)NASL – 1,247 minutes, 3 assists, 1 goal, 5 yellowsAmway – 103 minutes, 1 assist

Sérisay Barthélémy (S)NASL – 1,230 minutes, 1 assist, 1 goal, 2 yellowsAmway – 21 minutes

Michal Misiewicz (GK)NASL – 360 minutes, 1.50 GAA, 6 GA, 14 saves

played on 24 April (first leg) and 1 May (second leg). Each home-and-away semi-final series will advance the team that scores the most goals over two matches. The two home-and-away final-series matches will then be played on 15 May (first leg) and 29 May (second leg). The champion will qualify as Canada’s representative for the 24-team CONCACAF Champions League competition, from which the 2013-14 CONCACAF champion then qual-ifies for the FIFA Club World Cup in 2014.

Through the first five editions of the Amway Canadian Champion-ship, Impact Montréal were inau-gural champions (2008) followed by Toronto FC who won the Voya-geurs Cup in four successive sea-sons (2009 to 2012). In CONCACAF Champions League, both Impact Montréal (2008-09) and Toronto FC (2011-12) have reached the quar-ter-final phase of continental club championship.

2013 AMWAY CANADIAN CHAM-PIONSHIP

SEMI-FINAL SERIES:1st Leg on 24 April 2013 – #4 vs. #1 1st Leg on 24 April 2013 – #3 vs. #2 2nd Leg on 1 May 2013 – #2 vs. #3 2nd Leg on 1 May 2013 – #1 vs. #4

FINAL SERIES:1st Leg on 15 May 20132nd Leg on 29 May 2013

WWW.FCEDMONTON.COM

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Canada’s men’s U-20 team will partic-ipate in the four-team Marbella Cup during a 10-day camp in Spain from 7-16 October 2012. Canada will face USA on 10 October, Azerbaijan on 12 October and Scotland on 15 October. The Canadian camp will be based at the Marbella Football Center in Mar-bella, Spain.

For this project, Canadian U-20 coach Nick Dasovic has selected 20 players. This marks coach Dasovic’s third 2012 project for 1993-born play-ers, with an eye towards next year’s biennial CONCACAF & FIFA compe-

titions. Canada will compete in the 2013 CONCACAF Men’s Under-20 Championship from 18 February to 3 March in Mexico. Four teams from the 12-team tournament will qualify for the FIFA U-20 World Cup Turkey 2013.

Canada’s team features goalkeepers Ricky Gomes and Quillan Roberts, defenders Doneil Henry, Manjrekar James, Nikola Paunic, Jon Dollery, Marco Lapenna, Allan Zebie, and midfielders/forwards Bryce Alderson, Keven Aleman, Caleb Clarke, Dylan Carreiro, Mauro Eustáquio, Ben Fisk,

Jonathan Lao, Kevin Luarca, Michael Petrasso, Samuel Piette, Alessandro Riggi, and Stefan Vukovic.

The Canadian squad features players from professional teams in Canada plus five European nations. In fact, eight of the 20 players play for either Vancouver Whitecaps FC (Residency), FC Edmonton (Reserves), Toronto FC (Academy) or Impact Montréal (Aca-démie) in Canada. Other players have been called in from clubs in England, Germany, Hungary and Spain.

FC Edmonton reserves player Allan Zebie heads off with the team

FC Edmonton Reserve member called up for national team tour-nament

Canada’s men’s U-17 team will partici-pate in the eight-team 2012 AGS Cup this September and October in Spain. The Canadian team will spend 17 days together from 27 September to 13 Oc-tober, with opening group matches against Morocco, Mexico and Russia. Other teams participating in the 2012 tournament are Azerbaijan, Georgia, United Arab Emirates and USA.

“This is a great opportunity for our players to be exposed to international football,” said Canadian U-17 coach Sean Fleming. “This is another im-portant step for our team as we pre-pare for the 2013 CONCACAF Men’s Under-17 Championship in April.”

Canada, Mexico and USA are nine other CONCACAF teams will partici-pate in the 2013 CONCACAF Men’s Under-17 Championship from 6-19 April in Ciudad Panama. Only four teams from CONCACAF will qualify

Canada m17 to participate in AGS Cup in Spain

for the FIFA U-17 World Cup UAE 2013 (which runs 17 October to 8 No-vember).

For the tournament, coach Fleming has selected 20 players born 1996 or later. This marks Fleming’s second project in 2012 for players in this age group. In all, he has featured 25 dif-ferent players over the two project.

“It is encouraging as to how many of our players have joined club with good daily environments,” said Flem-ing. “It was a very difficult process to select these 20 players for this proj-ect.”

Of note, five players are making their national-team youth debut in Spain: Matthew Chow, Paco Deckers, Elias Roubos, Hayden Simmonds-O’Grady, and Samuel Vinson. Two other youth players are taking part in their first project this season: Kevon Black and El Mehdi Ibn Brahim (both of whom previously appeared in a U-15 camp).

CANADAGK- Marco Carducci | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC ResidencyGK- Daniel Milton | CAN / Ajax ThunderCB- Elias Roubos | CAN / Toronto FC AcademyFB- Kevon Black | CAN / Toronto FC AcademyFB- Aron Mkungilwa | CAN / Académie Impact MontréalD- Samuel Vinson |M- Mikaël Cantave | FRA / FC NantesM- Alex Comsia | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC ResidencyM- Paco Deckers |M- Kianz Gonzales-Froese | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC ResidencyM- Jordan Haynes | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC ResidencyM- Derick Sequeira | CAN / Toronto FC AcademyM- Hayden Simmonds-O’Grady | CAN / Capital UnitedM/F- Hanson Boakai | CAN / FC Edmonton ReserveF- Matthew Chow | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC ResidencyF- Jordan Hamilton | CAN / Toronto FC AcademyF- El Mehdi Ibn Brahim | CAN / Braves d’AhuntsicCM/F- Marco Bustos | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC ResidencyF/W- Andrew Gordon | CAN / Hearts AzzuriFB/CB- Ian Fernandes | CAN / West Rouge SC

CANADAGK- Ricky Gomes |GK- Quillan Roberts | CAN / Toronto FCCB- Doneil Henry | CAN / Toronto FCCB- Manjrekar James | HUN / PMFC-MATIASCB- Nikola Paunic | CAN / Toronto FC AcademyFB- Jon Dollery | ENG / Crawley Town FCFB- Marco Lapenna | GER / FC Erzgebirge AueFB- Allan Zebie | CAN / Edmonton FC ReserveM- Bryce Alderson | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FCM- Keven Aleman | ESP / Real ValladolidM- Dylan Carreiro | ENG / Queens Park RangersM- Mauro Eustáquio |M- Ben Fisk | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC ResidencyM- Jonathan Lao | GER / FC Rot-Weiß ErfurtM- Kevin Luarca | CAN / Académie Impact MontréalM/F- Michael Petrasso | ENG / Queens Park RangersM- Samuel Piette | GER / Fortuna DüsseldorfM- Alessandro Riggi | ESP / Celta de VigoF- Caleb Clarke | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FCF- Stefan Vukovic |

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SeptemberMATCH RECAPS

Stars still in reach for final play-off spot, despite the loss—By Andreas Morse

Edmonton, Ab. (September 2, 2012)– It was obvious from the get-go that the Eddies were going hard for goals on the afternoon of Sept. 2 at Clarke Stadium in front of 1,475 fans as the squad battled the Atlanta Sil-verbacks for their playoff lives.A loss would be devastating and it was the visitors who got the first meaning-ful chance in the 19th minute when Atlanta’s Pedro Mendes pounced on a defensive mistake and was staring at a wide-open net. The striker took the shot but Paul Hamilton was able to get

Saiko ties it in injury time to keep playoff hopes alive—By Andreas Morse

Blaine, MN. (September 8, 2012) – In a game that FC Edmonton need-ed to get points from to stay alive in the playoff race, leading-scorer Shaun Saiko scored a goal in injury time to save the Eddies’ season. It was the defending champions Min-nesota Stars FC who opened the scor-ing early in the first half when Amani Walker hooked onto a cross from Justin Davies in the box and slotted

Porter scores twice to earn Man of the Match—By Andreas Morse

Edmonton, Ab. (September 12, 2012) – In a game that didn’t mean much in the standings for FC Ed-monton, the home team played with a purpose in front of 1,251 fans.The game didn’t start well for the Eddies. In the fifth minute, Lance Parker made a mistake with the ball and handed it to the RailHawks’ Ty Shipalane who danced around Jona-than Joseph-Augustin and passed it across to Nick Zimmerman who slotted it easily passed the Eddies’ ‘keeper.It could have gone badly from there on for FC Edmonton but Kyle Porter

back in time and cleared the ball off the line.The Eddies had a chance of their own in the 23rd minute when Séri-say Barthélémy was taken down from behind and Kyle Porter stepped up to take the free kick. The midfielder struck the ball from 25 yards out but he couldn’t beat the cross bar and the teams remained even going into the break.FCE head coach Harry Sinkgraven made a change at half time in search of some offense, bringing Shaun Saiko on for Yashir Pinto but it was the Sil-verbacks who struck first.Matt Horth got the ‘Backs on the board in the 56th minute thanks to a well-placed shot that eluded Lance

it past Lance Parker in the Edmonton goal in the 18th minute. The Eddies struggled to get any offen-sive pressure on the Stars in the first 45 and the Stars looked like they were cruising to the sixth and final playoff spot. In the second half, Minnesota kept the pressure on and several of the Ed-dies’ chances were either stopped by Matt Van Oekel or missed the Minne-sota goal to keep the score at 1-0. It looked liked the season was over for the Eddies, but the referee added two minutes of injury time at the end of the 90 and Saiko took full advantage

had other ideas. Michael Cox broke down the right wing and sent a menacing cross into the box. Porter stretched for the ball and connected perfectly to beat Akira Fitzgerald for the striker’s fourth of the season.Both teams continued to keep the offensive pressure on in a back-and-forth first 45 minutes but neither team could find the go ahead goal.They went to the locker room tied 1-1.The Eddies came out hot in the second half and it was Porter once again who scored the goal. The striker started the play by steal-ing the ball from a RailHawks de-fender. The ball got to Shaun Saiko who sent a nice pass through to Por-ter who had continued his run. Por-ter waited out three defenders and

Parker in the Edmonton net.It didn’t take long for the Silverbacks to double their lead. This time it was Horth using his head. The striker beat two Edmonton de-fenders to a long throw in and slotted it passed Parker to make it 2-0.Sinkgraven brought another striker, Michael Cox, on in the 64th in search of a goal and Bryan Arguez came close in the 76th but his screamer of a shot sailed just wide of the far post.The 2-0 loss put the Eddies in a tough spot as far as the playoffs were con-cerned.They trailed Minnesota Stars FC by eight points with just four games re-maining.

of the extra time. With the last kick of the ball, Saiko did what Eddies’ fans have become accustomed to and hammered a men-acing shot past Van Oekel into the Stars net to tie the game 1-1. The draw left Edmonton eight points behind the Stars in the playoff race with just three games to go. FC Edmonton finished its regular sea-son with three games at home while the Stars faced league leaders San Antonio Scorpions and the Puerto Rico Islanders and simply needed two points from their remaining three games to knock the Eddies out.

put the ball passed Fitzgerald for his second of the game, his fifth of the season.Much like the first half, but oppo-site, the RailHawks didn’t take long to answer Porter’s goal.Zimmerman came barrelling down the middle of the pitch and had his first shot blocked. The rebound came right back to him and he ripped a shot passed Parker for his second of the game.Coach Harry Sinkgraven started making changes in the second half bringing Chris Kooy on for Adam West, Sérisay Barthélémy on for Cox and Elvir Gigolaj on for Saiko.The changes didn’t result in a goal and both teams settled for the 2-2 draw.

— FC Edmonton Drop Crucial Points at Home —

— Last Minute Goal Saves the Eddies —

— Eddies Play to a Draw against the ‘Hawks at Clarke —

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FC Edmonton carried play but could not score—By Andreas Morse

Edmonton, Ab. (September 16, 2012) – It was a tough day for the Ed-dies as they played host to the second place Tampa Bay Rowdies in front of 1,376 fans at Clarke Stadium on the afternoon of Sept. 16.After a stretch of good games for the striker, it was Kyle Porter who or-chestrated FC Edmonton’s first good chance of the game in the 13th minute when he beat the Rowdies defender to a ball in the corner and sent a tempt-ing cross into the box. Kenny Caceros got his head to the ball but guided it

Club ends season in last place despite point—By Andreas Morse

Edmonton, Ab. (September 23, 2012) - After spending most of the season with the reserve team, sur-prise starter Elvir Gigolaj made his mark in the last game of the season.It was Fort Lauderdale who struck first, however, in the 12th minute after the referee deemed that Abe Thompson was obstructed from the

just wide of the far post.It was the Rowdies who struck first however, against the run of play in the 21st minute. Tampa won a free kick from 30 yards out and Luke Mulhol-land stepped up to take it. The mid-fielder sailed a ball into the box and former Eddie; Daniel Antoniuk, beat everyone to the ball and placed it passed John Smits in the Edmonton goal.The Rowdies doubled their lead in the 43rd minute thanks to a Mike Amber-sley shot that eluded Smits. Keith Sav-age provided the assist on the goal.The Rowdies took the two-goal lead into the half despite FC Edmonton having the best chances and the most possession.

ball in the box. The striker stepped up to the penalty spot and tucked the ball home passed a diving Lance Parker.Aside from two decent chances for the Strikers, it was the Eddies who looked the more dangerous side in the first half but the issue that plagued the team all year persisted and the home team failed to score.The sides went into the half with the Eddies down 1-0.The second half started similar to the first. Strikers’ Thompson went down

Tampa Bay picked up where they left off in the first half. In a ping-pong play, the ball ended up on the foot of Mulholland who made no mistake and put the ball in the net to put his team up 3-0.Porter looked the more dangerous of the strikers for the home team in the second half. In the 76th minute, Porter worked his way into the box, through three defenders, and got a hard shot off that was saved well by Jeff Attinella in the Rowdies’ goal.FC Edmonton had plenty of chances in the game but as the story of the sea-son goes, they had trouble finding the back of the net.

in the box again but this time the ref kept the whistle in his pocket and the teams played on.Head coach Harry Sinkgraven made a change at the half, bringing striker Paul Craig on for Kévin Hatchi, hop-ing that the offensive move would re-sult in a goal.But it was defender Paul Hamilton who got the first good chance. Sérisay Barthélémy crossed the ball in and Hamilton attacked the pass but his header just missed the near post.Hamilton got a second chance off his

head in the 60th and the ball near-ly trickled over the line but it was cleared by the Strikers defender at the last second.The Strikers looked like they had iced the game in the 78th off the boot of Aly Hassan to make it 2-0.But Gigolaj had other ideas. The young striker, nearing injury time, turned the game on its head. His laser strike found the top corner beating Dave Martin and bringing the score to within one.The halftime sub, Craig, cemented the

draw three minutes into injury time. The striker’s shot found the inside of the post leaving Martin with no chance.The Eddies finish the season on a high. The draw felt like a win and the fans went home cheering.During the offseason, keep tabs on FCE’s reserve squad as they tear up the indoor pitches across the city.

— Tampa Bay Hands Eddies a 3-0 Loss —

— Eddies End Season with a Draw —

WWW.FCEDMONTON.COM

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Eddie AwardsYou have been voting all month long on our Facebook and Twitter pages for the Eddie 2012 Awards. The results are in and here are the winners chosen by the fans!

Michal Misiewicz

Paul Hamilton

WWW.FCEDMONTON.COM

A9

Shaun Saiko

Serisay BarthelEmy

Serisay BarthelEmy

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A10

Summer break allows for in-creased alignment with inter-national calendar

The North American Soccer League (NASL) has announced a change in its regular season competitive for-mat for the 2013 season. Beginning in 2013, the NASL’s regular season will feature two separate and dis-tinct round-robin competitions with the winners of the each competi-tion meeting in a single game on the weekend following the conclusion of the second competition. The winner of that match will claim the Soc-cer Bowl trophy as the NASL’s 2013 champions.

GM Comments on the NASL Schedule Change—By Thomas Leip

There seems to be some confusion over the schedule format announced today by the North American Soc-cer League. Our fans deserve some clarification as follows:

The first, or spring, championship will kick off in late March or early April and will culminate on Thurs-day, July 4. NASL member teams will then have roughly one month before the start of the second cham-pionship and each team is free dur-ing that period to prepare for that competition as they see fit, includ-ing touring or scheduling exhibition matches. The break will occur dur-ing the international transfer win-dow that is open throughout much of Europe, Latin America and North America.The second, or fall, championship will commence late July or early August and run through November

- We feel this provides competitive advantage to FC Edmonton with-out sacrificing premier days for our fans.

- While the season may begin in late March, we will continue to open our season on the road. For instance, our season began at home on April 22 this year. A likely season-open-ing home game in 2013 is Sunday,

2. Following the conclusion of the fall championship the winner of the spring championship will host the winner of the fall championship (or, in the event the same team wins both competitions, the team with the second-best record for the full year’s games) to determine which team will be inscribed on the Soccer Bowl as the NASL’s annual cham-pion.Each individual championship will consist of a full round-robin sched-ule in which each NASL team plays every other NASL team once at home and once on the road. Other than the tie-breaking procedure to determine the opponent for the

April 21.

- While we are eliminating three weekends in July, we pick up the five weekends devoted to playoffs this year in September and October. These remain prime dates for our fans and do not conflict with the festival season in Edmonton.

- We will only play a home game

spring championship winner in the Soccer Bowl, there will be no carry-over of points from the spring to the fall competition.The new competitive format for the 2013 season was adopted by a unanimous vote of the NASL’s Board of Governors on August 24, 2012. It had been under discussion since the inception of the league.“Our Scheduling Sub-Committee arrived at this recommendation af-ter an exhaustive review of a num-ber of alternatives,” said NASL Commissioner David Downs, “and the new format takes into consid-eration a variety of factors includ-ing fan and player comfort in our

in November if we play host to the championship game. We’d love to get Puerto Rico up here for one game to decide it all in November. Now, that’s a home-field advantage. Our fans would turn out for that game and make the Islanders feel right at home.

- We also eliminate the road trips to the Southeastern US in July. Our

many warm-weather cities.” “But the bottom line,” Downs added, “is that we believe this new competitive format will bring more excitement and meaning to each of our regular season matches for all of our teams throughout the year.”The 2012 NASL Regular Season will end on September 23 with the 2012 NASL Playoffs set to start the fol-lowing weekend, September 29-30. Please visit NASL.com for the lat-est news and information about the NASL Playoffs.

team has never played well on these trips.

The league will continue to strive to develop expansion cities in other ar-eas of the United States. Our latest edition, New York, is far from being a southern city.

NASL Announces Split-Season Format for 2013

Saiko Earns Offensive Player of the Week HonoursLate goal against Minnesota kept team’s playoff chances alive—By Andreas Morse

As the final seconds ticked away on Saturday, Sept. 8, it looked like the Minnesota Stars FC’s one-goal lead would knock the Eddies out of playoff contention with three games remain-ing.Shaun Saiko had other ideas however and with the final kick of the game, the midfielder scored a bullet to save the Eddies’ season, at least temporar-ily.Saiko is no stranger to the honour be-stowed by the league. This was the lo-cal product’s third Player of the Week honour in the 2012 season (Week 4 and 8) and he was named Player of the Month in May.Saiko lead, or nearly lead, the team in all categories this year, having played the third most minutes (1,818), hav-ing recorded the most assists (6) and goals (7). He was also in the top five in the league when it comes to shots.Saiko, a member of the NASL Best XI in 2011, first earned the honour of NASL Offensive Player of the Week in Week Four after his impressive hat-trick against the Carolina RailHawks, which saw the Eddies to a 3-0 victory. By fan vote, he also won the NASL Play of the Week for his hat-trick. He won the title of Offensive Player of the Week for a second time in Week Eight after his one goal and one assist game against the San Antonio Scorpions in a 2-2 draw.

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Players were on hand to pres-ent a cheque to the children’s hospital foundation—By Andreas Morse

Media were invited to join FC Ed-monton players Paul Hamilton and Chris Kooy at Delux Burger Bar’s Crestwood location on Friday, Aug.

Hammy Burger Proceeds Go to the Stollery

31 for a special cheque presentation.Every month Delux Burger Bar pres-ents a Celebrity Chef and creates a special burger in their honour. Dur-ing the month of August, Delux Burger Bar featured “The Hammy Burger” on the menu at both Delux locations (Crestwood and West Ed-monton Mall). One dollar from every “Hammy Burger” sold throughout

the month was donated to Hamil-ton’s charity of choice, the Stollery Children’s Hospital Foundation.Hamilton, Kooy, FC Edmonton staff, along with representatives from the Stollery Children’s Hospital Foun-dation and Delux Burger Bar gath-ered at the restaurant where the FC Edmonton centre-back handed over a cheque for $700 to the Stollery

Children’s Hospital Foundation rep-resentative.“I had a blast coming up with the burger and promoting it through-out the month,” said Paul Hamilton, FCE defender and Stollery ambassa-dor. “I wish we had sold a few more burgers but hopefully this money can go towards making a family that much more comfortable while they

deal with a tough situation. I look forward to keeping up my relation-ship with the Stollery, it’s truly an amazing place.”Over 400 “Hammy Burgers” were sold at the West Edmonton Mall De-lux Burger Bar and 300 at the Crest-wood location.

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EIYSA MISSION STATEMENTEdmonton Interdistrict Youth Soccer Association is the coordinating body of club soccer organizations dedicated to the leadership and development of elite youth soccer programs in the Edmonton and surrounding area. www.eiysa.com

— LOCAL PARTNERS —

PROUD SUPPORTER OF FC EDMONTONwww.albertasoccer.com

PROUD SUPPORTER OF FC EDMONTONwww.edmontonsoccer.com

Broadcast Partner of FC Edmonton

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A proud Sponsor of FC Edmonton — 780 451 3681 —

They Had a Ball—By Ken Jamieson

The NASL Star Ball, introduced by the original league in the 1970s, was just part of a move by a few North American leagues to jazz up their games. Today, that same design can be found on the field of the new NASL and in the hearts of those who followed the league that brought us Pelé, Kyle Rote Jr., and Kai Haas-kivi.I am not sure of the year the ball was introduced, although it seems to have been in regular use by 1976, followed the tri-colour ball used by the ABA (which was absorbed by the NBA in the mid-70s) and the blue

pucks used by the WHA (merged with the NHL in 1979). Prior to this, soccer balls were either white with black panels introduced in the 1950s (and came in to general use in the late 1960s) or the traditional brown ball one sees in the archive footage of English League and World Cup matches.The black and white panelled ball came into prominence in the 1970 World Cup when FIFA, for the first time, introduced it as the official match ball replacing the brown ball (which was last used a World Cup Fi-nals in England in 1966). When the NASL began in 1968, it was not un-usual for one or the other to be used in games but, like FIFA, the black and white panelled ball became the

standard by the early 70s (due main-ly to its higher visibility on televised games).With the introduction of the Star Ball in the mid-70s, the NASL cre-ated its first truly unique piece of iconology. Up to this point, jerseys were relatively tame, and in some cases down-right boring: mono-co-loured with the player’s number on the front and back and nothing else, often not even a club logo or crest. The mid-70s, with the disco era and increasing use of colour and fabric would see some rather innovative applications in team uniforms as the decade progressed.It was the introduction of the ball, along with changes to the offside rule and tie-breakers that made the

league unique. The labelling of the league as a home for washed-up for-eign players would be challenged with the arrival of younger interna-tional talent and the development of home grown players, but the instant recognition of a league game on the television simply by seeing the unique ball could not be denied.What is the ongoing result of the Star Ball? Beyond its reintroduction by the new NASL, the use of unique balls by leagues around the world and FIFA’s official match ball for each World Cup Finals (which start-ed with the Tango ball at Argentina 1978) is a clear effect on the game by this much-maligned league.On a personal note, while I have my new NASL Star Ball in my home

office, I lament the demise of my original Adidas ball from the origi-nal NASL that has long since fallen into disrepair. Having obtained the ball by mail order in the late 70s, my friends and I played many a game with that ball imagining we were playing in the league itself. Had I the foresight to jealousy protect the ball in mint condition, it would be a collector’s item today, however as a youngster with the desire to play, the ball provided me more joy on the field than it would have on the shelf. Now that my playing days are long past, my new ball will remain like myself, on the shelf.

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Celebrate Regular Season Championship

The team celebrated its NASL regu-lar season championship following the match and enters the NASL play-offs as the No. 1 seed.Forward Pablo Campos scored the lone goal for the Scorpions in front of a crowd of 7,996 at Heroes Sta-dium and finished the season as the league’s leading goal scorer with 20 goals scored in 2012.“You think about the journey and how far we’ve come and to be the team standing at the top after 28 games tells me that this is a true championship,” Scorpions Head Coach Tim Hankinson said.The Scorpions struck first in the 9th minute, when a pass by defender Ryan Cochrane to Campos into the box allowed the Brazilian striker to knock in a shot past Stars goalkeep-er Mitch Hildebrandt, giving San Antonio the lead.For Campos, it was his league-lead-ing 20th goal of the season, match-ing last season’s NASL Golden Boot winner Etienne Barbara’s goal total from 2011.Campos nearly broke the NASL single-season goals record set by Barbara in the 39th minute after knocking a header on goal after a well-placed cross by defender Wes

Scorpions Forward Led NASL with 20 Goals in 2012

San Antonio Scorpions forward Pablo Campos has earned the 2012 NASL Golden Boot award, given an-nually to the player with the most goals during the regular season. Campos’ 20 tallies equal the NASL single-season record set last year by Etienne Barbara of the Carolina RailHawks, and helped lead the ex-pansion San Antonio Scorpions to the NASL Regular Season Champi-onship.During Campos’ stellar 2012 season he was named NASL Offensive Play-er of the Week on five occasions and won Player of Month honors in July.Carolina RailHawks forward Nick Zimmerman finished second in the league with 15 goals followed by Fort Lauderdale midfielder Mark Anderson who recorded 12 goals for the season.

Knight, but Hildebrandt was able to make a save to keep it a one-goal match.On the other side of the ball, the Scorpions were able to limit the threats on goal to goalkeeper Daryl Sattler as the back line allowed just three total shots, only one of which was on goal.The Scorpions wasted little time looking to extend their lead in the second half, with Hans Denissen delivering a shot on goal off a free kick just outside the penalty area that was knocked away by a diving Hildebrandt in the 48th minute.In the 49th minute, it was Campos making a run down left side look-ing to add to his goal total, but his shot went wide of the net. Midfielder Walter Ramirez made his own run down the right side in the 51st min-ute, but his shot sailed high of the crossbar.But the Stars would score the equal-izer in the 69th minute when a num-ber of Minnesota players crashed the net and defender Kevin Fried-land was there to tip the ball past Sattler into the back of the net to even the match at 1-1.The Scorpions and Stars traded chances over the final 20 minutes of play, but neither squad was able to break the stalemate.

“I would like to thank and dedicate this award to my whole family. They were the reason why I could stay fo-cused and motivated the whole way. This award wouldn’t be possible without my teammates and coach-es,” said Campos.Scorpions Head Coach Tim Hankin-son remarked ““Pablo was a game-winner for us this year. Whether it was through great individual ef-fort or playing off services from his teammates, he showed that he is a true goal-scorer.”The 29-year-old Brazilian interna-tional joined the Scorpions from the Carolina RailHawks in Janu-ary 2012. Last season, Campos was tied for the second most goals in the NASL with 12. Campos also record-ed three postseason goals last sea-son. He is first on the NASL’s career scoring list with 37 goals in all com-petitions, including NASL Playoffs and the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup.

ScorpionsEnd SeasonWith Draw

Pablo Campos Earns 2012 NASL Golden Boot Award

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Congratulations to Paul Hamilton for taking the FCESG MVP Award this season!