FC Edmonton takes an advantage back to Clarke Field for the second leg of the Amway Canadian Championship Preliminary Round

FC Edmonton will have the opportunity to book a ticket to the semifinals of the 2015 Amway Canadian Championships, as they host Ottawa Fury FC for the second leg of the annual tournament, Wednesday, April 29, at Clarke Field at 10:00 p.m. ET. Edmonton currently holds a 3-1 advantage over Fury FC heading into Wednesday’s contest, with the winner of the two-leg preliminary round determined on aggregate score.

Last week’s initial leg at TD Place in Ottawa featured a late three-goal performance that puts Edmonton in the driver's seat heading into this week’s match. After falling behind, 1-0, for a majority of the match, second-half substitutes Daryl Fordyce and Lance Laing scored in the 83rd and 88th minute, respectively, to give the Eddies the lead. In the dying moments of stoppage time, striker Tomi Ameobi delivered a decisive blow with a tap-in goal to seal a 3-1 victory in front of a stunned Ottawa squad. The Eddies return home for Wednesday’s contest, where they are currently riding a nine-game unbeaten streak.

After a slow start to the season, the Eddies have come together to collect points in three-straight-matches, including back-to-back victories in the Canadian Championship and North American Soccer League (NASL) competition. Ritchie Jones, Lance Laing, and Tomi Ameobi lead the Eddies with a pair of goals in all competition, while Laing also leads the squad with three assists.

“We’re creating a lot of good chances,” FC Edmonton head coach Colin Miller said. “I still believe that when we’re on the road we’re still as dangerous as we are at home, just because of the pace and athleticism that we have. What I really want to focus on the next little while is our defending. I want us to start much more positively from a defensive point of view.”

Fury FC are coming off a week to forget that featured back-to-back, 3-1, defeats to Edmonton as well as the Fort Lauderdale Strikers. They will need to drastically improve their offense that has been limited to one or fewer goals in five matches this season, while shoring up their defense that has allowed three goals on three separate occasions. Their limited scoring has been spread out among the roster, with five different players recording goals.

The winner of Wednesday’s match will face Major League Soccer’s (MLS) Vancouver Whitecaps FC in the two-leg semifinal stage of the Canadian Championship. Vancouver currently sits atop the MLS table. The winner of the semifinal stage will advance to face either Montreal Impact or Toronto FC for the Voyageurs Cup and a spot in next year’s CONCACAF Champions League.

“I’m all about this Canadian rivalry,” Miller added. “It’s a fantastic tournament. I think it’s a great advertisement for Canadian football and Canadian professional clubs. We’re committed to doing as well as we can. Between ourselves and Ottawa, I think it’s a healthy environment. We have a great deal of respect for their club.”