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Match Preview: Eddies look to respond against Ottawa in Canadian Championship second leg

EDMONTON, A.B. — FC Edmonton look to overturn a 1-0 aggregate lead in the Canadian Championship Qualifying Round this Wednesday, May 10 when Ottawa Fury FC comes to Clarke Stadium for the second leg of the competition. Kick-off is at 7:00 PM MT.

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Forward Ryan Williams’ 90th-minute winner last week at TD Place in Ottawa gave the USL side a one-goal advantage to take on the road to Edmonton. The winner of the two-legged tie advances to the semifinals and faces MLS Cup runner-up Toronto FC beginning May 23.

In addition to finding an early equalizer in this Wednesday’s tie, keeping a clean sheet will be of equal importance as a single away goal for Ottawa would give the visitors the tiebreaker and require the Eddies to then score three goals to advance.

“We’ve got to think about getting that first goal and we cross the next bridge when we get to it,” FC Edmonton head coach Colin Miller said. “We have to play with a real energy and enthusiasm tomorrow night. We play well traditionally at home and I know a lot of teams don’t enjoy coming here. We have to make sure we make tomorrow night more difficult than any team has experienced here before, and that will be our approach.”

Last Wednesday’s contest was the second of three away matches in eight days for the Eddies, bookended with a 2-0 loss to Miami FC and Saturday’s 0-0 draw against the Indy Eleven.

Coach Miller hopes Wednesday marks a turning point for the club after earning its first clean sheet and road point of the season in hostile territory, where the Eleven are unbeaten now in their last 21 matches. Now the Eddies look to rebound at home, where the club holds an impressive 17W-4D-4L record in its last 25 matches at Clarke Stadium.

“There’s a good feeling in the group after Saturday’s performance,” Miller said. “There was a sense of confidence in the group that started and the substitutes who came in made contributions to a good team performance. There’ll be no excuses tomorrow night and it’s about what we do on the pitch. The players know what’s at stake here and they want to turn our season around here.”

Tickets for Wednesday’s clash at 7:00 PM MT are available at tickets.fcedmonton.com.