FC Edmonton holds off Rowdies for third win

• by Soccer America , Oct 27, 2013

[NASL REWIND: Week 13] Two first-half goals inside two minutes from Robert Garrett and Daryl Fordyce proved enough for FC Edmonton to earn a 2-1 win over the Tampa Bay Rowdies -- its third win in 13 games -- in its home finale of the 2013 season. Luke Mulholland's free kick after the break -- his ninth goal of the season -- was the lone goal for the Rowdies, whose titles hopes were extinguished Saturday night when the New York Cosmos beat San Antonio, 2-1, to secure a berth in Soccer Bowl at the Atlanta Silverbacks Nov. 9 (ESPN3, ESPN Deportes, 7:30 pm ET).

Saturday ...

The Cosmos clinched the NASL fall title when they came from behind to beat the Scorpions on the road with only 10 men.

New York fell behind in a goal by Polish striker Tomasz Zahorski for the Scorpions after only three minutes, but former Spanish international Marcos Senna and Bulgarian striker Stefan Dimitrov scored within the next two minutes to give the Cosmos the lead early in the second half.

The Cosmos held on despite the ejection of defender Dane Murphy in the 74th minute. Cosmos coach Giovanni Savarese followed him to the showers two minutes later.

“First of all, this is something the players deserve,” said Cosmos coach Giovanni Savarese.  “They've been working extremely hard and have had a great season, playing one game at a time. Now, after tonight, we'll immediately start to focus and prepare for our next match.”

The game drew 7,702 fans at Toyota Field.

Carolina striker Brian Shriver took the lead in the race for the NASL Golden Ball top scorer award with his 13th goal of the season in the RailHawks' 4-0 win over the Atlanta. Schriver moved him one ahead of Hans Denissen of the San Antonio Scorpions and Georgi Hristov of the Tampa Bay Rowdies.
 
NASL FALL WEEK 13, Results:
October 27
FC Edmonton 2 Tampa Bay 1

October 26
Carolina 4 Atlanta 0
Minn. United 3 Fort Lauderdale 1
San Antonio 1 New York 2

NASL FALL, Standings:
PTS TEAM W-L-T +/-
28 New York 8-1-4 21/12
20 Tampa Bay 5-3-5 26/21
20 Carolina 6-5-2 19/15
17 Minn. United 5-6-2 15/15
17 Ft. Lauderdale 5-6-2 17/19
16 Atlanta 4-5-4 14/21
15 FC Edmonton 3-4-6 12/13
10 San Antonio 3-9-1 14/22

NASL LEADING SCORERS:
13+1 Brian Shriver, Carolina
12 Hans Denissen, San Antonio
12 Georgi Hristov, Tampa Bay
11+2 Pablo Campos, Minn. United
9+1 Luke Mulholland, Tampa Bay
8+1 Tomasz Zahorski, San Antonio

NASL FALL WEEK 14, Schedule:
November 2
Atlanta vs. New York
Carolina vs. San Antonio
Fort Lauderdale vs. FC Edmonton
Tampa Bay vs. Minn. United

(Click here to watch NASL streams.)