Grabbing an away goal in the first leg of the Amway Canadian Championship Semifinals, and they can become the first NASL side to reach the final if they hold onto their lead

FC Edmonton has played a crushing number of games since mid-April, but none more significant than the one the NASL club will host on Wednesday night.

The Eddies are one result away from becoming the first NASL club to advance to the finals of the Amway Canadian Championship. The competition’s winner will earn a berth in the 2016-17 CONCACAF Champions League. But before they look ahead to a possible meeting against the Montreal Impact, there is the business of the second leg against the Vancouver Whitecaps of MLS.

The first leg, which was scheduled to be played the first week of May, was moved to British Columbia because 8 inches of snow fell on Clarke Field, forcing the shift. So on May 13, the Eddies, after making a cross-continent trip from New York after losing to the Cosmos, rose to the occasion and left BC Place with a 1-1 draw and a crucial away goal.

“This one takes a bit of significance just because of where we are,” Edmonton head coach Colin Miller told NASL.com. “We lost, 3-2, to San Antonio and even though I didn’t think we deserved to get beat, we managed to rest five, six players (including Tomi Ameobi and Lance Laing). We will have to be at our very best on Wednesday. Because of a good performance in Vancouver, we’ve given ourselves a chance. Now it’s up to the players.”

Edmonton has played seven matches, in all competitions, since April 19. While the club has hit a rough patch in the 2015 NASL Spring Season, with one victory, two draws, and three losses through the first six games, the Eddies are unbeaten in the Amway Canadian Championship. Edmonton, which has scored 11 goals in league play, scored six over two legs in ousting Ottawa Fury FC in the preliminary round.

“I think we’ve managed this spell of games really well,” Miller said. “When guys have needed a break, we’ve given them a break. We’re fortunate that, other than the trip to New York, we haven’t had a great deal of traveling. I know, that as a former player, the guys would much rather play games than train.”

The Eddies’ attack has been powered by Ameobi, who Miller called “a revelation”, Laing, who was recently called up to Jamaica’s national team in preparation for next month’s Copa America as well as Ritchie Jones and Daryl Fordyce have all combined to score 10 of Edmonton’s 11 league goals. Ameobi scored the lone goal in last week’s draw against the Whitecaps. For its part, Vancouver, led by Octavio Rivero’s six goals, has been playing at a high level so far in the MLS season and trails FC Dallas by one point in the league’s Western Conference standings. The Whitecaps are coming off a 2-0 loss to visiting Seattle in a Cascadia Cup match last weekend.

Where Edmonton has struggled, particularly in league play, has been on defense. The club has yielded the most goals (15), but received a boost of sorts with the return of the captain and central defender Albert Watson. Watson missed the match at the Cosmos and the first leg against Vancouver with a knee injury, but played the full 90 minutes in Sunday’s loss to the visiting San Antonio Scorpions that snapped the Eddies’ home unbeaten streak at 11 matches, in all competitions. The club conceded five goals in the two games Watson missed.

“I don’t think it’s easy to explain, we’ve been giving up some some pretty uncharacteristic goals,” Edmonton’s Canadian defender Eddie Edwards said. “Some of the goals have come at unfortunate times. We just need to continue to stay focused. Our defense normally is very strong. We need to get our confidence back and a clean sheet here or there.

“Yeah, we’ve been giving up some flukey goals early in games and now the coaches are having us start with some quick sprints before games to wake us up and get the legs going. Since the New York game we haven’t given up any early goals, and we need to continue to stay focused because now teams are beginning to think we are vulnerable early.”

In the first leg, Ameobi’s goal in the fifth minute stood up until Vancouver’s Gershon Koffie scored in the 87th minute to deny Edmonton the victory.

“I’ve said it before and will say it a million times: Any NASL team on any day is capable of beating any MLS team, and I’m saying that with the greatest respect,” Miller said. “I knew that if we could make it tight in Vancouver we would give ourselves a chance in Edmonton. The guys were fabulous in Vancouver. We limited the 'Caps to late chances, and I thought we more than matched them. Now we have to be as good or better. We’ve made it interesting for Wednesday. I prefer the second leg at home and now, minus the snow and cold, we’re hoping for a sellout.”