PREVIEW | Eddies, RailHawks Square Off With Postseason Place In Reach

FC Edmonton heads to Carolina to face the RailHawks in a midweek clash on Oct. 14 at 7:30 p.m. ET as the club looks to shake off a Sunday defeat and jump back into a postseason position in the NASL standings.

It will be the second match in four days for Edmonton, who sit just one point shy of a spot in The Championship, the NASL's four-team postseason tournament, behind the Tampa Bay Rowdies with 34 points. The Eddies squad was unable to take advantage of favorable results elsewhere in the league this past weekend, but are still in the postseason equation despite dropping matches against Ottawa Fury FC and New York Cosmos in back-to-back contests. The team will still be without the services of scoring and assist leader Lance Laing, Sainey Nyassi, and midfielder Hanson Boakai due to international commitments. Defender Mallan Roberts will also be unavailable for selection due to injury.

With four games remaining to play in the NASL regular season, the RailHawks suddenly find themselves within reach of a postseason position with 26 points through 26 matches, six back of the Rowdies. Last weekend’s 3-0 victory over Jacksonville Armada FC was the first win for the team in four matches, who had conceded three-straight-defeats. Nacho Novo leads the team in scoring with nine goals, while ex-Edmonton midfielder Neil Hlavaty leads the team in minutes played (2247), contributing four goals and an assist throughout that stretch. 

The first meeting in 2015 between Edmonton and Carolina occurred on  April 12 at Clarke Field in a rain and wind soaked affair. Laing and Novo exchanged goals as the teams played to a 1-1 draw to earn the Eddies their first point of the season. The two sides’ most recent encounter occurred Aug. 16, also at Clarke Field, where the Eddies rolled to a 3-0 victory off of goals from Laing, Tomi Ameobi, and Dustin Corea.

"The guys were in a great frame of mind and are looking forward to what will be another very difficult game, but one that we have to have total confidence in winning," head coach Colin Miller said. "We will rotate the group and we are very excited about the players that will be playing."