FC Edmonton are in pursuit of history.

Only one team in the North American Soccer League has ever won 10 consecutive games at home, a standard set by the New York Cosmos earlier this season.

With a win against Puerto Rico FC on Sunday (2 p.m.) at Clarke Stadium, Edmonton would equal the mark.

They would also keep the ball rolling on, what has been, a magical season for the club. Sitting first in the Fall Season and Combined standings, Edmonton have proven to be legitimate championship contenders.

“For me personally it’s great,” said FC Edmonton head coach Colin Miller. “But there are no pats on the back, because we haven’t done anything yet. We will look to keep any run going for as long as we can, but we don’t look any further forward than Sunday and the three very valuable points at stake.”

Despite their 7-1-1 record, things have not come easy for FC Edmonton. They’ve had to grind their way to the top of the standings, currently two points ahead of the Cosmos with game in hand.

All seven of FC Edmonton’s wins in the Fall Season have been by a goal. They are currently on a five-game win streak, having pulled out victories in Puerto Rico and Tampa Bay. And they haven’t conceded a goal in 444 minutes of play, dating back to June 27.

“Every season we’ve given one team at least a bit of a pasting and I’d love to see that before the end of the season that we get two or three ahead and be able to relax a little bit,” Miller said. “At 1-0 it’s still a difficult scoreline to hang on to. We’re hoping that we get a few of these games where we get two or three ahead. Certainly at home it’d be nice to throw a few in for our own fans instead of them sitting on the edge of their seat biting their nails the way the staff are doing.”

Edmonton have been strong defensively this year, giving the club confidence holding on to narrow leads. Backstopped by goalkeeper Matt VanOekel, they have conceded a league-low 10 goals in 19 games all year.

“There is no panic when we’re 1-0 up and I think that’s really important, the guys for the most part, have shown terrific discipline when we’ve gone a goal up,” Miller said. “The game is not finished, at that point, we have to see it out, but I think the maturity of the group has managed to consistently see the game out.”

Last week in Florida, Edmonton were outplayed by the Tampa Bay Rowdies but held in the contest by VanOekel before earning a penalty to pull out the win. Two weeks previous to that, they were able to withstand the heat and humidity in Puerto Rico and scored the only goal of the contest through striker Tomi Ameobi.

“I think over the piece we probably deserved it, I think the team played well (in Puerto Rico),” Miller said. “We limited them to a few chances, Matt made one or two good saves, but that’s his job. I thought there were sequences that we did very well in and we created a number of chances.”

Puerto Rico, a first-year expansion team owned by NBA star Carmelo Anthony, are currently at the bottom of the Fall Season standings. They have one win in their first 10 games, not having participated in the Spring Season.

Regardless, having faced them once already, FC Edmonton is not taking Sunday’s game lightly.

“We know they’re a new franchise, but there may not be a harder working team in the league,” Miller said. “The Cosmos beat them in extra time on the weekend and it wasn’t until the last few minutes of extra time the Cosmos the winning goal in. They’re a very fit, very well-organized, a very hard-working team.”

Edmonton have been bitten by an expansion team before. They lost to Miami FC, on the road, which ended up costing them the Spring Season title and an automatic berth into the playoffs.

With a league record on the line, and likely a good crowd on hand as word gets out of their success, FC Edmonton won’t have issues getting up for the contest.

“They did well down there against us, they’re definitely a strong physical team and they have a few players that are very talented,” said FC Edmonton midfielder Nik Ledgerwood. “So like any other team in the league, we’re not taking anybody lightly. We’re not winning games 2-0 or 3-0, and I think the guys show after every game that we’re hungry to do better. Nobody is happy and satisfied right now and I think that shows the character of this team and the experienced players keep pushing everyone to keep moving forward.”

Dvandiest@postmedia.com

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FC Game on

Puerto Rico FC (1-4-5) at FC Edmonton (7-1-1): Sunday (2 p.m.) Clarke Stadium

Who to Watch

FC Edmonton: Tomi Ameobi

The striker has had a hand in each of the last six goals FC Edmonton have scored. Ameobi has either set up, scored or in the instance last week at Tampa Bay, earned the penalty, which allowed the team to pull out the 1-0 victory.

Puerto Rico FC: Hector Ramos

The striker has scored seven of Puerto Rico’s nine goals on the season and had a hand into the two others. Ramos, a product of Puerto Rico, poses serious problems for defenses regardless of where he’s playing.

Coming In

FC Edmonton goes into the contest on a five-game winning streak and on a 444-minute shutout streak. They were able to pull out a 1-0 victory, on the road, last weekend against the Tampa Bay Rowdies. Daryl Fordyce scored from the penalty spot for the win. Edmonton goes into the contest Sunday on a nine-game home winning streak, dating back to the Spring Season.

Puerto Rico did not take part in the Spring Season, preferring to make their debut in the Fall Season. They have just one win in their first 10 games. Last weekend, they conceded a goal a minute into second-half injury time in a 2-1 loss to the New York Cosmos. Puerto Rico lead the game 1-0 at half time. Puerto Rico’s only franchise win thus far was a 1- 0 victory, at home, against Rayo Oklahoma City on June 23.