And, then, it all changed with one blow of a whistle. Unkel blew a play dead after a cross went into the FCE area. A few players had gone down in the scrum. The Rowdies players went to complain, as they were sure the foul was being called on them. But Unkel, instead, pointed to the spot, claiming that FCE defender Kareem Moses had impeded the Rowdies’ Keith Savage.

On Monday, FC Edmonton’s brass brought in each of its players for face-to-face end-of-season meetings. And, on Tuesday, the club announced the status of all its players who were under contract at the end of the 2013 season.

“It was an absolute circus,” Miller said of the pre-game festivities in Fort Lauderdale. “We go off the field at 20 minutes past to get ready for the game, we’re ready to go at 7:30 and we’re waiting for almost half an hour. Anyone involved in professional football knows that’s too much time to wait.”

Crews worked to clear the snow off the artificial pitch in the morning but, by 2 p.m. kickoff, there were patches of ice that could clearly bee seen on the surface. According to Environment Canada’s Weather Office, the temperature at kickoff was -2C, but it felt like -8C with the wind chill. With members of the Canadian national women’s team in attendance ahead of their game Wednesday against South Korea, Clarke Stadium offered a home-field advantage that needed the words “frozen tundra” to do it justice. For the final home game of the season, FCE finally did have a distinct advantage over the opposition.

“Before the game, I talked to (commissioner) Bill Peterson and I told him no way there’s going to be a trophy presentation tonight,” said Miller. “I told him ‘have you booked a flight for next week?’”

And, after a lightning delay it was Alen Marcina, the San Antonio Scorpions’ interim boss, who could claim the win over FC Edmonton’s Colin Miller.

FC Edmonton’s Northern Irish striker got both goals in the team’s 2-1 win over Carolina, Sunday. Fordyce nodded home the opener after fellow Northern Irishman Alberta Watson flicked on a long throw from Corey Hertzog.

Daryl Fordyce scored twice, pacing the Eddies to a 2-1 win over the Carolina RailHawks. The big winners out of the weekend? The New York Cosmos. With Carolina’s loss, the gap between the Cosmos and the RailHawks (tied for second place) is now seven points.

NASL commissioner Bill Peterson has an unfortunate problem on his hands. And that’s what to do with Silverbacks midfielder Danny Barrera, who is earning (or has earned) the reputation as the league’s dirtiest player.

“I want to apologize for the performance today,” said Fordyce, who scored the Eddies’ lone goal, a 93rd-minute consolation, in a 2-1 loss to Minnesota United FC.