The Eddies, with the squad at the strongest it has been, is set to make a run for The Championship

FC Edmonton is hitting its stride. Scoring in bunches over the course of 2015, it’s been the return of a typically stout defense that has the Eddies thinking postseason.

Currently, just outside a place in The Championship, the NASL’s four-team postseason tournament, there is reason to believe the best is still yet come from the Canadian side.

Picking up points without a plethora of regulars due to injuries and international call-ups earlier in the Fall Season only set the tone for the Eddies’ second half of the season. Now, with almost a fully healthy squad, and the addition of Salvadoran international Dustin Corea, FC Edmonton is hitting its peak form at an important time.

“I think it’s the best we’ve been,” head coach Colin Miller told NASL.com. “There is a bit of everything in the team and the squad, I have to say, is the best it’s been since I’ve been at the club. We can bring in a guy like Daryl Fordyce, Lance Laing, Tomi Ameboi, and the back four starting to play well. I’d have to say one of the keys in the Fall Season has been the play of [goalkeeper] Matt VanOekel.

“The most difficult part is trying to pick a squad of 18.”

Starting in all but one contest in the Fall Season, defender Kareem Moses, who has featured across the back line, agreed with his coach.

“With all the guys fit, the competition is very tough,” Moses said. “The practice sessions are much better knowing that we have a full squad and if you have a bad game or something isn’t going right, there’s someone right on the door knocking so it keeps everyone sharp.

“If you take out one person for someone else, it doesn’t make a difference right now.”

The Eddies have conceded just eight goals – to go along with four shutouts – in a transformation from a Spring Season that saw the ball hit the back of the net too early – several times in the game’s first minutes – and often.

“I think it’s the belief in the team,” Moses said. “At the start of the Spring Season, goals in every minute, every two minutes of the game. That wasn’t our aim at the start of the season.

“Our team has a reputation in this league for not conceding goals – we’re very strong in the defense. I think we started the Spring Season out of form, but we’re much better than that. Defense wins championships and goals win games.”

And the stronger defensive run has continued to allow the attacking players to flourish. Lance Laing and Tomi Ameobi are tied for the team lead in goals with seven, while the Jamaican international has added six assists. The Eddies currently have the best goal differential in the Fall Season.

“We always tell the forward players – Laingy, Tomi, Sainey – just give us something to defend. We tell them just to give us something to defend, something to hold and we’ll do our job at the back, and so far it’s looking good.

“Tomi is in a crazy run of form right now and that’s what we need.”

Adding to the attack, Corea tallied for the first time in the Eddies’ most recent win – a 3-0 victory over Carolina – and has fit in seamlessly into the team.

“The first couple of weeks we tried to get his fitness up,” Miller said of Corea. “As skillful of a player, and attack-minded as he is, he’s bought into the job of having to match fullbacks’ running and doing the job defensively. He’s bought into how we want him to play – there’s no question of his soccer ability.

“He’s an international, which is fantastic for us, and we’ve spoken at length about this that he’ll return to El Salvador a better player because of the way he is working on both sides of the ball.”

And the current blend of staunch defending, deadly counterattacks, and a squad that is finding top form could put FC Edmonton to the position they’re hoping to reach – a place in The Championship.

The Eddies narrowly missed out a year ago, after their own strong run of form fell prey to the Fort Lauderdale Strikers’ scintillating run that led them to The Championship Final in 2014. But within striking distance again, the experience gained from last year should prove pivotal.

“The word experience is huge,” Miller said. “We have a very young bench, with a lot of Canadians, but at this point in time the senior guys are definitely stepping up. We have a great balance, but we have experience – Thiago de Freitas has added a great deal, having Ritchie Jones back in the squad, Christian Raudales. We have real competition with experienced players.”

Moses added: “I think we need to stay focused, we can’t afford any more injuries. We need to keep this squad and guys need to remind themselves of last year – we were so close yet so far – and this year we really want to make it.

“We’re on a good run here, so hopefully we can keep this run and make it into the postseason.”

Moses, in his second year with FC Edmonton, is ready to experience the postseason with the Eddies.

“I really want to get to the postseason and see how it is,” Moses added. “It would be really good for our fans, they’ve been waiting for a championship. I think this is the strongest team in a while, we can actually bring it home for them.”