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.

“That’s the issue, we get into the 18-yard box and we can’t even hit the target,” said FCE coach Colin Miller. “It’s so frustrating, we showed so much quality, so much passing, but we can’t finish the chances."

For FC Edmonton, a spring season of frustration, a season of missed chances, a season of games that should have been wins turning into draws, was punctuated by a game where everything went right.

“I’m devastated,” said FCE coach Colin Miller. “I couldn’t have asked any more from the guys. When we drove here, it was 100 degrees (F)... How do we prepare for this? We train like buggers all week long."

“It was a lot harder to come back than I thought,” admitted Hamilton, who had 30 orange-clad family and friends at Clarke Stadium cheering him on. “There was a lot of emotion at the start of the game. I didn’t think I played very well.”

After John Smits put in a man-of-the-match performance Sunday, allowing 10-man FC Edmonton to escape its home date against the Tampa Bay Rowdies with a 0-0 draw, coach Colin Miller that Lance Parker is in no danger of losing his No. 1 job.

The red card issued to FCE keeper Lance Parker in Sunday's 1-0 loss to Fort Lauderdale have sent plenty of wheels into motion.

But the game quickly turned against the Eddies. In the 16th minute, without contact, central defender Carlyle Mitchell crumpled to the ground without contact. He was in agony and rolled off the pitch. He was subbed out for Adrian LeRoy. Mitchell, on loan from the Whitecaps, will have x-rays done performed on the ankle Monday.

Michal Misiewicz, the Canadian keeper who wowed us during the U-23 team’s magical run in the Olympic qualifiers, is now without a club.

John Smits has never before been in a situation where he’s had to play out the string.