“It is fun,” Trafford said of Miami FC’s season so far. “Consider where we came from last year; last year, we had a good team, but we didn’t have the success we wanted. Now, this year, with our experience, they’ve added one or two pieces and everything has clicked.”

FC Edmonton coach Colin Miller is expecting a short bench when his team hosts NASL-leading Miami FC Saturday night.

The Eddies saluted Sunday’s awful, blustery weather by giving goals away like it was Christmas, losing 2-0 to Miami FC. Dario Cvitanich and Vincenzo Rennella got the goals, but each were presented what amounted to open-net tap-ins thanks to critical errors from the home side.

“I was hesitant at first,” Trafford said over the phone. “I was still fully committed to Ottawa, despite all of the changes that were happening at the team.”

"You have to say that the season as a whole was a good one. We may not have achieved everything we wanted but it's normal. We're going to have some serious discussions. It's important for the future that the club move forward and that everyone is going in the same direction.”

When it comes to our head coach,” Saputo continued, bringing up the hot topic of the week. “We have not yet come to a decision. It is too early to say if Marco Schallibaum is the man for the job in 2014. We had an excellent discussion with Marco yesterday, but we do not want to rush to judgement. Marco is a passionate coach who allowed the group to experience both the best and the worst but the important thing is that we realize we need to continue to improve this team and what we need to keep working to see how that can be done.

“I told them I felt that they wanted to win but that I didn't think wanting was enough. I also said that I felt we could turn the game around,” said Schallibaum when asked what message he addressed to his troops. “We did and I'm very proud of everyone on the team. We have had some difficult weeks and this is a kind of liberation. I'm happy for everyone because we deserved this win, it's a good moment for us.”

“Above all statistics,” Saputo enthused, “Marco is player who has proven his worth by his presence in the locker room and his leadership with our young players and, even at 37, he is a true professional and still has the desire to win.

“It's always difficult to explain after a game like this one,” declared head coach Marco Schallibaum in his post-game comments. “In short we were not strong enough. We were not able to cause the other team any difficulty. The will was there but the quality was not. We took a goal in the first half and were chasing it the rest of the game. We were not strong in the last 20 metres. We were just not good today,” he concluded.

Challenging to the very end, Montreal’s last attempt came on a set play in the third of four minutes of added time. Romero’s cross sailed into the six-metre box and was met by Matteo Ferrari. The Italian central defender headed it towards the inside of the near post, picking a spot that was defended by five-foot-eight, 146-pound Rolfe rather than Johnson, a six-foot-three, 217-pounder.