The Canadians needed a late second-half goal from FC Dallas draft pick Adonijah Reid to save them some serious blushes — Canada got out of the match with a narrow 2-1 win over Guadeloupe.

After a weather delay in Bradenton, Fla. delayed the kickoff of Canada’s opening match at the CONCACAF U-20 Championship by nearly an hour, Noble Okello Ayo brought the thunder.

But, and this is a pretty big "but," the Fury announced Tuesday — the day before the U-20 announcement — that Reid, Kinumbe and Bayiha were part of a 15-player purge, as Ottawa's management cleaned house after a disappointing USL season that saw the team finished the playoffs. The three call-ups were all confirmed not to be returning to the Fury for the 2019 season.

With the USL season complete, Jordan Schweitzer finished atop all Canada-eligible players when it comes to minutes played, with 2984. A total of 74 Canadians played in USL this season. Fourteen of them each played 2,000 minutes or more this season.

It was quite the weekend for players who have formerly worn the “next great hope” belt in Canadian soccer.

With the MLS ad USL seasons winding down, it’s almost impossible to see any other players outpacing Samuel Piette (MLS) and Jordan Schweitzer (USL) as their respective leagues’ leaders in minutes played by Canadians. Both continued to hold commanding leads.

Focusing on the good news: Kyle Bekker scored for NCFC in a 6-1 win over Atlanta United 2; Chris Nanco scored for Bethlehem Steel in a rout of TFCII and Zachary Ellis-Hayden found the net for Fresno, the Whitecaps’ USL affiliate.

It’s hard to try to take a moral high ground against the Fury, when the team is providing the playing opportunities that it does for Canadian players. And this weekend’s win is an example of why the Fury/USL/CanPL question isn’t so black and white.

Wright got the start for the Revs and rewarded the club for its faith.

Maybe, till the end of the season, this space should simply be reserved for “what did Alphonso Davies do this past weekend?”