FC Edmonton Fall to the Hawks in Carolina

FC Edmonton fell 2-0 to the Carolina RailHawks on Saturday afternoon, dropping their league worst, fifth road game of the year. Next up for FC Edmonton will be a Canada Day clash against the Puerto Rico Islanders at Clarke Stadium.

PHOTO CREDIT - FCEdmonton.com

Edmonton - June 24, 2012 - The action started early on Saturday evening in Cary, North Carolina as the Eddies took on the RailHawks for the second time this season.

In the third minute, FCE ‘keeper Lance Parker was forced to make three extremely difficult saves in a row to keep his team tied early. The first shot came in and Parker got a fingertip on it and was just able to push the ball on to the post. The ball rebounded back into the box but Parker was able to push it away from an oncoming attacker but the ‘Hawks got another shot off that Parker saved and the play was eventually whistled down for a foul in the box.

FCE midfielder Ilja van Leerdam had the Eddies first good offensive opportunity at the quarter-of-an-hour mark but the Dutchman didn’t get everything on the shot and it was saved by Carolina ‘keeper Ray Burse as he dove to his right.

Parker was forced into another big save in the 23rd minute off a hard shot from the left side inside the 18-yard box. In the 34th, Nick Zimmerman was able to slide and keep the ball alive near the touchline and managed to pull it by defender Paul Hamilton and his shot beat Parker on the near post to take a 1-0 lead.

In the 38th minute, Breiner Ortiz doubled the RailHawk lead with a wide-open shot from inside the 18-yard box, which he tucked into the net just inside the far post. Parker had no chance on the goal.

The ‘Hawks took that two-goal league into the half. “I think the start of the game wasn’t good,” said FCE head coach Harry Sinkgraven. “We lost the ball too easily and the start wasn’t good. In the defense, we gave chances away too easily as well. Cox made some good runs but we have to improve on that in the second half.”

At halftime Sinkgraven made a change in the midfield bringing newly-married Sérisay Barthélémy on after being out for an extended time with an injury. Yashir Pinto replaced Michael Cox up front in the 60th in an attempt to spark the offense but it was Shaun Saiko who had the first chance on net in the second half in the 65th minute; Burse was able to make the simple save from a long-range effort.

The Eddies got some help from the referee in the 78th when Amir Lowery was sent off for his second yellow after a hard and late tackle on Saiko, who minutes later, missed a great chance off a hard shot from distance. The chances for the visitors came often in the second half, a chippy half in which a number of yellow cards were shown. But in the end, the RailHawks held serve on their home pitch and the Eddies return home without a point.

“We played better in the second half than the first but unfortunately, no goals,” Sinkgraven said at full time. “We had some good crosses but no goals. We showed spirit in the second half though.”

Next up for FC Edmonton will be a Canada Day clash against the Puerto Rico Islanders at Clarke Stadium.