It may have been Ottawa Fury FC's third game of its second season, but the club officially shed its tag as North American Soccer League newbies on Saturday.

Though the players were quick to point out the 1-0 blanking of Minnesota United FC in Fury's home-opener was nothing more than a big three points on the league table, the victory was much more than that.

It was a dominant performance, at home, against the best regular season in the team in the league last season and expected to challenge for the top of the table again in 2015. It was the home debut of Julian de Guzman, the captain of Canada's men's national team and the most accomplished Canuck to play the sport. But mostly it's an indication of the step forward this club has taken with the changes coach Marc Dos Santos made in the off-season. Expansion team or not, Dos Santos hated having a losing season last year, not having had much experience in that department during his career and promised improvements.

There were growing pains early this season as Fury dropped its opener to Carolina and settled for a draw in Atlanta in Week 2. There was none of that in the Minnesota game.

Dos Santos isn't the type to do cartwheels out of excitement, but there was nothing he was unhappy with, except possibly Fury not scoring in the first half despite launching nine shots on target.

Asked what his side did right to shut out Minnesota, Dos Santos said: "Everything."

"I was at fault in Carolina, we (had a) bit of a defensive and passive mind(set) in the first half," he said. "The best way to attack your enemy is to really attack them ... and we had to suffer. If you want to win big games you have to suffer a little bit. We had a fantastic attitude."

While Ottawa gave up goals in the dying seconds to Minnesota three times last year, there wasn't the expected concern Saturday that history would repeat itself. The back line of Ryan Richter, Rafael Alves, Colin Falvey and Brandon Poltronieri was outstanding and Nicki Paterson turned in a strong performance next to de Guzman as Dos Santos ran a 4-2-3-1 formation that should be the new normal for Fury. From kick-off, Tommy Heinemann looked like he wasn't going to leave the pitch without a goal, which came in the form of the 68th-minute winner after a number of earlier chances.

There's little time for Fury to savour its first victory of the season with the first leg of the Amway Canadian Championship against FC Edmonton set for Wednesday night at TD Place. The players may be the only ones in the city not distracted by Game 4 between the Ottawa Senators and Montreal Canadiens happening 15 minutes away.

"It's important we understand we haven't won anything," Dos Santos said. "We won a very important game, we have four points (on the league table) and we continue to focus on our objective of making the playoffs. But we haven't won anything, we have to be careful of that, we're still in April."

That's the key. Saturday's win won't be the pivotal step it should be if Fury doesn't at least challenge for a playoff spot. The Minnesota game kicked of a stretch of five games in two weeks for Fury, a busy bit of scheduling that proved too much for an expansion Ottawa team still feeling each other out last year.

This time around, Ottawa has quality depth that should ensure mostly fresh legs on the pitch as Fury tries to exact some payback on their Canadian rivals.

Full squad ready for Edmonton

It's the kind of problem Fury FC coach Marc Dos Santos loves to have.

Who starts Wednesday in Edmonton?

With a full squad expected to be healthy for Wednesday's match at TD Place with the return of Richie Ryan and Sinisa Ubiparipovic, the coach has some decisions to make. And there could be a few.

Of the moves Dos Santos could make, there are a few he won't. Goalkeeper Romuald Peiser has been great and will continue to own the net, while the towering Rafael Alves is proving to be a force at centreback. Otherwise, it will depend how players feel. Expect to see Mike Randolph return at left back and Ryan to start alongside de Guzman, while Mason Trafford could make his debut if Dos Santos decides to give Colin Falvey a rest.

Dos Santos wasn't offering up hints after Saturday's game.

"I'm going to play with my kids (Saturday) night, they didn't see me all week," he said. "(Sunday) I'll think about Edmonton."

Twitter: @chrishofley