News

EDMONTON, Alberta. (Sept. 23, 2012) – The Fort Lauderdale Strikers (9W-9T-10L) completed their 2012 regular season with a 2-2 tie against FC Edmonton (5W-10T-13L) at Clarke Stadium in Edmonton, Alberta on Sunday. The Strikers had a 2-0 lead going into the 90th minute before FC Edmonton scored twice to pull even. Fort Lauderdale will travel to face the Carolina RailHawks in the first round of the NASL Playoffs. The game is set for Saturday September 29th at 7:00 pm EDT.

"It was disappointing on our end because we should have left here with three points, but give Edmonton credit for two good goals," said Strikers head coach Daryl Shore. "Getting ready for the playoffs, we felt we had a good week of practice and plan on having another good week coming up. We feel like we have a good group and you have to beat the best teams to make the finals, so it doesn't matter who we play, we just hope to have a successful run like we did last year."

Fort Lauderdale took an early 1-0 lead in the 12th minute when Edmonton's Kevin Hatchi committed a foul in the penalty area, putting Strikers captain Abe Thompson at the penalty spot. Thompson struck the ball toward his right and into the side netting to beat Lance Parker, despite Parker diving to the correct side.

The goal was Thompson's fourth of the season giving him 17 all-time in his Strikers career, just one behind Romario who tops the record books with 18.

The match would stay 1-0 until the 78th minute when the Strikers broke through with a combination of passes resulting in Abe Thompson playing a through ball which Aly Hassan was able to chip over Parker who was sprinting off his line to attempt to cut off the pass. The goal was Hassan's sixth of the season in the NASL and ninth in all competitions, including his three US Open Cup goals.