For FC Edmonton, losing on the road to last place Miami FC this past Saturday, still stings.

Being eliminated from title contention by a club who had never won a game before is never good.

But such was the case when FC Edmonton fell 1-0 to the expansion squad from South Florida in their penultimate game of the North American Soccer League Spring Season.

Now, Edmonton have a week off to recover for their Spring Season finale June 12, at home, against the Fort Lauderdale Strikers.

“It was very disappointing in Miami, we didn’t create enough chances to win the game,” said FC Edmonton head coach Colin Miller prior to Wednesday’s practice at Clarke Stadium. “Neither did they, to be honest, and I said at halftime it was either going to take a mistake from us or a wonder goal to beat us and it turned out to be a bit of both. It was a fantastic strike that beat us.”

Miami FC midfielder Ariel Martinez scored the game winner with a left-foot rocket into the top corner, which sailed past the outstretched arms of FC Edmonton goalkeeper Matt VanOekel.

Edmonton went into the game a point behind the New York Cosmos in second place in the NASL Spring Season standings.

The loss dropped them into third place and out of Spring Season title contention with a game to play.

“It was a fantastic opportunity for us to hang on the coattails of the Cosmos at that stage,” Miller said. “But it is what it is, all our eggs weren’t all put into the Spring Season basket. We’re disappointed in that game, but otherwise, we’ve done very well, we deserve to be where we’re in the league. We will regroup and look forward to making a big push against a very good Fort Lauderdale team.”

The NASL season is divided into two parts. The 10-game Spring Season schedule is followed by a 22-game Fall Season, which begins for FC Edmonton on July 2 at Rayo Oklahoma City.

The Spring Season winner will be joined by the Fall Season winner and the two teams with the next best overall records in the NASL playoffs.

Despite missing out on the Spring Season title, FC Edmonton are still very much in the thick of the playoff chase.

“My focus has always been to make sure we’re in the top four at the end of the season,” Miller said. “I think if you put all your eggs in that Spring Season basket and if you don’t win that title, does that mean you’ve been a failure? Psychologically, from the players’ point of view, we’ve tried to keep everything one game at-a-time.

“Our focus has solely been getting into the top-four and there are still 23 games to go here now, so that’s how you look at it. There is no panic, we’ve been very, very pleased with our Spring Season form, it’s the best that we’ve had since I’ve been in charge, but we haven’t done anything yet. We’ve had a very good run and we deserve a lot of credit for that, but it still has not been enough to get us into that playoff spot.”

A win over Fort Lauderdale, who are currently seventh in the 11-team league and host the Cosmos this weekend, would put FC Edmonton in strong playoff contention at the start of the Fall Season.

The bye week comes at a good time for Edmonton, who have midfielders Nik Ledgerwood (Canada) and Dustin Corea (El Salvador) away on international duty. It also gives time for Miller to return home to Vancouver for his son’s university graduation.

“We have to regroup and make sure that Fort Lauderdale game becomes like a Cup final for us,” Miller said. “Because as good as a Spring Season as we’ve had, we still could get 17 points out of it, that’s going to be our focus from now on.”

Dvandiest@postmedia.com

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