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Edmonton, Ottawa, and Rayo OKC Kick Off Week 5 With Victories

FC Edmonton wins seventh straight home game thanks to pair of late goals
NASL Staff (@naslofficial} | Jul 27, 2016

Photo credit: FC Edmonton

FC Edmonton won its seventh straight home game on Wednesday night, scoring twice in the final 11 minutes to defeat the visiting New York Cosmos, 2-1, at Clarke Field. The late rally, which featured goals from Nik Ledgerwood and Daryl Fordyce, served as an exciting start to Week 5 of North American Soccer League (NASL) Fall Season.

Not to be outdone, Rayo OKC returned home to snatch a 1-0 win against the visiting Tampa Bay Rowdies, vaulting into first place in the Fall Season Standings in the process. In the only other midweek tilt, Ottawa Fury FC scored a goal in each half to defeat the Carolina RailHawks, 2-0, for its second straight victory.

FC Edmonton 2, New York Cosmos 1

A sequence of four passes led to the Cosmos (3W-1D-2L, 10 points) jumping in front, 1-0, in the sixth minute on Juan Arango’s team-leading sixth goal of the year. FC Edmonton (3-1-1, 10) goalkeeper Matt VanOekel kept his team in the game with two critical saves, first on Cosmos midfielder Sebastián Guenzatti, before the interval; and then an open-field stop on Yasmani Duk in the second half.

The Eddies knotted the score in the 79th minute. Tomi Ameobi smashed a shot off the post, but Ledgerwood, a Canadian international, was right there to power the rebound past Jimmy Maurer. The Eddies won the game in second-half stoppage time after Maurer saved an Ameobi shot, but Fordyce jumped on the rebound and scored. The Cosmos are 2-1-6 in road games this year and have yielded more than half of their goals against in the final 15 minutes of their games.

Rayo OKC 1, Tampa Bay Rowdies 0

Rayo OKC returned to Miller Stadium on Wednesday night after its six-game unbeaten streak was stopped last week in Puerto Rico, and responded with a victory against the Tampa Bay Rowdies.

Billy Forbes of Rayo OKC (3-2-1, 11) had the best scoring chance of the first half-hour when he chested down a Tampa Bay (1-2-2, 5) clearance from a corner kick and cracked a right-footed shot off the crossbar. Forbes made the most of another chance just before the end of the first half when a long lead pass was mis-hit by Rowdies goalkeeper Matt Pickens as he rush outside the penalty area and the Rayo OKC striker was there to head it into the open goal for a 1-0 lead.

Ottawa Fury FC 2, Carolina RailHawks 0

Ottawa Fury FC won its second straight contest and ended Carolina’s three-game unbeaten run with the victory at TD Place.

Carl Haworth scored his fifth goal of the year to give Ottawa (2-0-3, 6) the lead in the 8th minute, slotting a right-footed shot low and past Carolina (2-1-2, 7) goalkeeper Akira Fitzgerald after a 20-yard run off a pass from Bryan Olivera. Fury FC doubled the lead only four minutes into the second half when Olivera’s inswinging free kick from the right flank bounced in the six-yard box and ricocheted off former Ottawa defender Drew Beckie and into the RailHawks’ net for an own goal. Fury FC goalkeeper Romuald Peiser, last year's Golden Glove Award winner, recorded his fourth shutout of the year.

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