If only that performance had come earlier in the year with more in the standings to witness it...though I suppose at the end of the day success in the playoffs is more important. That's why I wanted the 4 seed, Edmonton didn't put up any competition whatsoever (and Tampa lost). Once one went in the floodgates opened. Hopefully international duty and having the second game help give us the edge against Puerto Rico. We're definitely playing our best of the season at the right time, with our best lineup (Arrieta's suspension aside) healthy and firing on all cylinders.
(Waving a white flag). Congrats on the win! Eddies were not with it at all. Great up side for Ft. Lauderdale to now be facing PR. They have WCQs (Oct 7 vs. St.Kitts & Nevis @ home in PR & Oct 11 vs. Canada in Toronto). I suspect that a number of Islanders will be tied up in national team duties. Good luck!
And, as we were hoping they would, the Strikers most definitely brought their A+ game to the match... Thanks for the good wishes and I hope both teams are back in the NASL next season....
That match was just amazing. We watched them attack in the 1st half with gusto, over and over again. The Strikers just couldn't seem to put it past the keeper. Kudos to the keeper for a couple of game-savers. Then Shriver slots that "pass" into the goal just before half with a look on his face like, 'Was I really that open? Are you sure I wasn't offside? Really?' Nature called at the end of halftime and I hear the crowd roar above me when Abe scored 28 seconds in. After that, we might as well have been playing a PDL team. With the exception of a couple players, Edmonton showed no desire to comeback after that second goal. Not only was it the first playoff match won by this organization (dating to 2006), there were other firsts. According to my records, Miami FC scored 5 goals only once in a 5-3 home win against Seattle (2006). Also, they had never won a match by more that 3 goals. This could definitively be ranked as the GREATEST match ever played by the Strikers or Miami FC. Now, assuming the team sticks around for many years to come, we may not have need to draw upon the Miami FC history (there are some aspects I'd like to forget). However, is it really a different entity? I kind of feel there was continuity there with the same organization, some of the same players and then the transition of venues. We could always look upon the Miami FC time as the "lean years". I am not sure we should conveniently forget them like the metal band Pantera "forgets" its first 4 glam albums.
Especially for those of us that supported the team from 2006-2010, I think it is important that we do remember the Miami FC years. We were there during the tough times, and even though the team sucked, and I never saw them make the playoffs(first heard of the team in 2007), I have some great memories and met many great friends following Miami FC. Now that perseverance through the tough times has paid off, with a team we can all be proud of. Also, Miami FC did score 5 goals one other time, last year in the Open Cup vs. the Central Florida Kraze. Being one of the 30ish people who were at the Cricket Stadium to see it, I'll never forget that game. We went into extra time tied 1-1, then the PDL kids got tired and Paulo Jr. ran circles around them scoring 4 goals in the final 15 minutes.
A demolition of truly historic proportion! Great to see the boys put it all together--gives PR something to really think about, eh?
For the record: this was on page 12 of the Miami Herald's Section D "Sports" section, on the bottom of the horse racing page under the "Local Sports" heading. It was a 5 paragraph lead story that was followed by local college women's volleyball (Barry U & Nova Southeastern U) & Nova SE women's soccer. I was certainly hoping for it, but your guys didn't keep up your end of the bargain. Please cut us a little slack on seeing our season long nemesis, FCTB is the only team we haven't beaten this season, and primary foe take an unexpected early fall from grace in the playoffs. Not that Puerto Rico is any easier, but you guys have our number big time. I honestly can't see us beating you. Maybe, possibly, perhaps we'll pull off a minor miracle & go all the way against PR & get to the final. Once there it's Minnesota or Carolina. I like our chances against them a whole lot better than against FCTB.... A Striker/"Rowdies" final would have been great fun & a boost for the league, but it's not to be this year. I feel that the 2 teams will return to NASL next year. Let's hope for them to play against each other in the final then....
I honestly feel bad for you... because your team lost. Was hoping to hold onto hope of that Florida final a little bit longer, but, oh well.
Watched the game on the NASL site. Congrats to the Strikers and hope you make the finals. My question is for anyone who was at the game and might know, who were the fans nearest the announcers screaming and heckling throughout the last half of the game? I could hear it while watching the stream, and it was funny at first but got a bit irritating after a while. I had trouble hearing the play by play even. From what I noticed most of the crowd was on the opposite side of the tv cameras/play by play announcers.
That mic wasn't anywhere near the supporters section (115). The drums & chanting would have been deafening. I have a feeling it was on the opposite side near the party-on-the-pitch section. They were heckling the keeper opposing quite a bit, so that makes the most sense.
Wow, I should have bought a lottery ticket the day I wrote the above! LOL Finally! Finally!! Mr. Befuddled (LOL Ultras!) figured out how to write down his best lineup as the starting 11. I still say I'd rather see Chacho in for Palacio because of his quality on set pieces, but you can't argue with results. Saturday night these guys proved me right when I said that if Shore plays the right lineup, they can beat anyone. I don't care who would have been on that field Saturday night, that team playing the way they did would have won. We were all sitting in our seats saying here we go again until first half stoppage time. They completely outplayed their opponent and had nothing to show for it. Then Shriver's shot went in. And it's funny, it was probably the only goal they scored were you'd say the Eddies keeper didn't do well. But that was the trigger. Going into halftime actually having been rewarded for dominating the first half by having the lead was the catalyst, and Abe finishing that header less than a minute into the second half was the nail in the coffin. The Edmonton players who already looked overmatched were noticably demoralized after that, and the game turned into the Strikers possessing the ball and using the Edmonton goal as a shooting gallery. These guys have to be confident on a different level than they have been all year. To come out in an elimination game and dominate like that all over the field has to really give you a boost going into Puerto Rico. I can't seem to find it anywhere, but does anyone know of the away goal rule is in effect for the rest of the playoffs? At least a tie has to be the goal in PR, and after this past performance, even breaking the Islanders' home unbeaten streak this season seems very possible. Do we know yet how many of their players will be out this Saturday because of National Team duties? The Strikers have to take advantage of that situation. Last thing I want to say is although the crowd was very loud and proud, I was disappointed in the number. If we hadn't of played so pitifully in the regular season home finale against the last place team, I think we would have seen a bigger crowd. I really hope the team puts some kind of effort into promoting the game on the 15th. We have got to represent at Lockhart!!!!!
It is long after the fact, but here is a player's perspective of the 5-0 loss to Ft. Lauderdale. http://www.edmontonsoccerfans.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=55&start=20 (scroll down to the most recent post called "No Football, No Money"). FC Edmonton's Dutch midfielder Ilja Van Leerdam has been keeping a semi-regular blog about his time in Canada. The posts are written in Dutch (translated with the magic of Google Translate + a few editorial fixes here and there) and they are sporadic in nature; often weeks after the fact. The most recent post deals with the lead up and aftermath of the playoff game in Fort Lauderdale. The most interesting tidbit from the blog was the admission of having wrongly scouted Ft.L: Too bad that Ft.L lost to Minnesota in the final, but kudos on the playoff run. As evident from a player's perspective, you certainly schooled FC Edmonton.