It was not the start envisioned by FC Edmonton going into the 2017 North American Soccer League season.

And it was not a mistake expected from their newly-appointed captain.

FC Edmonton lost 1-0 in their season opener on the road to the Jacksonville Armada FC on Sunday, conceding the only goal of the game off an untimely giveaway by captain Nik Ledgerwood.

“I’m disappointed with the outcome, clearly,” said FC Edmonton head coach Colin Miller. “I said at halftime to the players that it would be a mistake from us, rather than something brilliant from Jacksonville to lose the game, and that’s exactly what happened that created their opportunity.

“I’m disappointed, although we were playing in very difficult conditions, it was very warm, 90 degrees when we arrived at the stadium, not the type of weather we had in Edmonton, although I don’t want to make excuses.”

J.C. Banks scored in the 77th minute, intercepting an errant pass from Ledgerwood and going on to place a left-footed shot past FC Edmonton goalkeeper Chris Konopka.

Ledgerwood tried to play the ball back to his defenders, which Banks intercepted and then took off on a solo run. The Jacksonville midfielder was able to work his way past Edmonton centrebacks Papé Diakite and Albert Watson before beating Konopka with a low shot to the far corner of the net.

“We weren’t quite up to the level (Sunday),” Miller said. “But we’ll regroup and we get an opportunity to get back at them on Saturday in our home opener.”

Outside of the one mistake, FC Edmonton did not give up much defensively as they sat back on the Armada and attempted to strike on the counterattack.

Jacksonville had 10 shot attempts to Edmonton’s five, and had nearly 60 per cent of the possession.

Edmonton’s best came 13 minutes into the contest, when left back Netan Sansara was able to get up the field and whip a low cross across the face of the six-yard box. Striker Tomi Ameobi, however, was unable to direct the ball past Armada goalkeeper Caleb Patterson-Sewell.

“That was a good chance,” Miller said. “I said to the guys that we would be able to create a good chance, and unfortunately, it was thwarted away. I’m not blaming the big fellow (Ameobi), but not taking chances can make or break a decision.”

The Armada had the run of play in the first half and Banks came within inches of giving his team the lead eight minutes into the contest, bending a left-footed attempt just wide.

Later in the half, Jacksonville defender Aaron Pitchkolan got a foot on a corner kick headed down to him, but also rolled the ball just wide.

The heat began to take its toll on FC Edmonton in the second half. Apart from their preseason tour in England, Edmonton had spent the majority of time training indoors in comfortable temperatures.

The unseasonably warm weather in Florida made it difficult for Edmonton to mount much in the way of an attack in the second half.

“It was a little bit warmer than we’ve trained in Edmonton,” Miller said. “In fact, on Monday we were in the Commonwealth Stadium Fieldhouse. It was a little bit difficult for us, but the guys kept working right until the very end. They were still trying to get the equalizer, so I can’t fault the players for their effort.

“We just lacked that little bit of quality in possession of the ball. We were very direct at times.”

After conceding the goal, Edmonton tried to mount a comeback and earned a number of corner kicks as they pressed players forward. On one of those corners late in the second half, an Armada defender nearly headed the ball into his own net. It proved to be Edmonton’s best opportunity of the half.

“Through the preseason, we worked on trying to get players in possession quicker,” Miller said. “We’ve worked on trying to get players beyond defenders. We saw it a bit at times and we saw a lot of it in England, so that’s the disappointing thing for me. We were poor at times in our decision making.”

Edmonton hopes to exact a measure of revenge on the Armada on Saturday (7 p.m.) at Clarke Stadium in their home opener. The loss dropped them to the bottom of the NASL standings.

“We’re looking forward to getting another shot of them,” Miller said. “Hopefully, we get one or two breaks and come out on top.”

Dvandiest@postmedia.com

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