At the end of the season, he said the players were told that they should go out and try to find new teams — but, if things changed, they could get a call back to come to Atlanta. So, Porter headed home to the Toronto area, where he worked out with a group of Canadian players who had dubbed themselves “Free Agent FC:” that group included former FC Edmonton players John Smits and Alex Semenets, retired MLS great Dwayne De Rosario and defender Nana Attakora.

Canadian forward Alex Semenets is looking forward to a new chapter in his soccer career.

An own goal and markers from recently signed French forward Serisay Barthelemy and Alex Semenets gave the Eddies all the offence they’d need in the first half of the Sunday finale. For Semenets, it was his second goal in as many games.

Porter scored three first-half goals as FC Edmonton routed WSA Winnipeg of the PDL 7-0 Saturday in the Manitoba capital.

FC Edmonton debuted three new trialists Saturday in its 3-1 preseason win against the Vancouver Metro Soccer League All-Stars on the grounds of Simon Fraser University.

“I am already excited,” said FCE forward Kyle Porter, who left the Whitecaps before the start of last season. “It’s going to be the biggest game of my career. I think there will be a great turnout in Vancouver, hopefully 5,000 to 7,000 people here. I think we are going to have a great rivalry.”

In an entertaining, end-to-end match which saw both teams create their fair shares of scoring chances, FC Tampa Bay got a second-half goal from Shane Hill and an insurance marker from Pascal Millien to give the home side a 3 -1win over FC Edmonton.

FC Edmonton would have been in tough against the Carolina RailHawks had they had to play in what we’d consider normal summer conditions. But with the mercury at more than 100 F at kickoff, the combination of the Railhawks’ skill and the punishing heat was too much for the Eddies. Carolina capitalized on tired legs and defensive mistakes for a 4-1 game that wasn’t nearly as fast-paced as the score would indicate.

NSC Minnesota keeper Joe Warren was victimized on FC Edmonton’s fluke opening goal, but was the hero down the stretch as the Stars came back to tie the Eddies 1-1 Monday in Blaine, Minn. Warren was named the man of the match even though the goal he allowed wasn’t close to being FCE’s best scoring chance of the evening. But he made two key saves — one off Kyle Porter and another off sub Alex Semenets — in the final minutes to preserve the draw after Devin Del Do scored with less than 10 minutes to tie the game.

FC Edmonton will try and break its jinx against the Montreal Impact this Sunday. The largest crowd to ever see FC Edmonton play at Foote Field is expected for the weekend match-up, and they’ll want to see the home side, currently sitting second in the NASL table, reverse its recent run of form against the other Canadian team in the league.