If Calgary United comes from way back in the standings to win the Canadian Major Indoor Soccer League title and go on to the Professional Arena Soccer League playoffs in Cincinnati, followers of the league may have to hold their noses. Calgary showed a heck of a lot of guts last week when the club came to Edmonton — where it hadn’t won all year — and beat the Drillers 10-7. That win put United one game back of the Drillers with each team having three to play.

Felix Napuri’s five-goal effort Saturday kept Calgary United’s quest to defend its Canadian Major Indoor Soccer League title alive. Arthur Paszkowski added three more goals as United went into the Edmonton South Side Soccer Centre and beat the Drillers 10-7 in a card-filled, nasty affair. Immediately after the game, league president Mel Kowalchuk went into a closed-door meeting with the match officials.

A diving goal-line clearance from the Edmonton Drillers’ elder statesman has given the club a massive lead in the Canadian Major Indoor Soccer League standings. Calgary United held a 4-2 lead in the third quarter of Saturday’s tilt at Edmonton’s Soccer Centre South and was simply dominating the game — outchancing, outpassing the Drillers. Calgary’s Arthur Paszkowski looked sure to make it a 5-2 game; on a break, he rounded Drillers’ keeper Jay Vetsch and rolled the ball towards the open goal. But Chris Devlin, who spent the 2004 season in the USL with the Edmonton Aviators/Edmonton FC franchise, hustled back, threw himself at the goal line, and got enough of the ball to deflect it just wide. That play energized the Drillers; the team scored three unanswered goals in the third to take a 5-4 lead, and went on to a 7-5 win.

The California Cougars only accomplished half of what they set out to do on their trip to Canada. Following a thrilling 8-7 overtime win in Edmonton over the Drillers on Saturday night, the Cougars suffered a disappointing 6-5 setback to the Calgary United at the Subway Soccer Centre on Sunday afternoon.

The Edmonton Drillers scored three goals in a 55-second span to snatch a win out of the jaws of defeat. Trailing 8-7 with less than three minutes left in regulation at home to Calgary United in Canadian Major Indoor Soccer League action Saturday, the Drillers took advantage of a goalkeeping error to turn the game on its ear — and came out with a 10-9 win.

Despite the departure of several of his stars, Calgary United coach Troye Flannery has confidence his team can repeat as Canadian Major Indoor Soccer League champions. “We’ve got some hard work ahead, but certainly that’s the intent without a doubt,” said Flannery, whose squad began defence of its CMISL title with a narrow 7-6 win over the Edmonton Drillers on New Year’s Eve at the Subway Soccer Centre. The off-season took its toll on the United as Chris Kooy, Kyle Yamada and Andre Duberry all signed professional contracts with Edmonton FC of the North American Soccer League, while veteran forward Mark Slade decided to retire.

They were shorthanded in a 7-6 season opening loss in Calgary; but the Edmonton Drillers will be at full strength for their 2011 Canadian Major Indoor Soccer League home debut this Saturday, The Drillers will play a doubleheader against Winnipeg Alliance. Drillers head coach Kevin Poissant said that because the CMISL was late in releasing the schedule, it was hard for the team to find enough players to send a competitive squad down to Calgary. The fact that kickoff for that game was set for 2 p.m. local time on New Year’s Eve didn’t help matters.

The indoor Edmonton Drillers will act as a proving ground for some FC Edmonton prospects. Antonio Rago, a former member of the Vancouver Whitecaps residency, and 16-year-old keeper Matt Preston were in the lineup for the Drillers’ indoor season-opening 7-6 loss in Calgary on New Year’s Eve. “Preston’s a player who has got a bright future,” said FC Edmonton general manager Mel Kowalchuk. The Canadian Major Indoor Soccer League (CMISL) is an amateur circuit, so no player with a professional contract with FC Edmonton, which kicks off its inaugural NASL season in April, is eligible to play with the Drillers. But Rago and Preston currently retain their amateur status, so they can play in the indoor circuit.