But, thanks to the brilliance of Ghanaian Kwadwo Poku, some very poor FCE defensive errors and some chances that the Eddies left begging, it was the Silverbacks who ensured that NASL opposition remains perfect at Clarke Stadium this season.

It wasn’t FC Edmonton’s prettiest match of the season, but it might have been the club’s best effort of the season.

“He (Mallan) had his hands behind his back and the ball’s gone off the label on his jersey. That’s never a penalty. The funny thing is, I thought Drew was having a good game up to that point. But there was also six minutes of time added on. As soon as the six minutes went up, you go the feeling that something was up.”

Now, whether you love or hate the NASL’s decision to create a spring season in which each of the 10 teams plays a nine-game schedule — with one of the top two playoff, er, “Championship” seeds going to the league champ — there’s no doubt it brought a sense of immediacy to the opening weekend.

FC Edmonton will be at least two players short of full strength when the club faces the Tampa Bay Rowdies in their NASL opener Saturday.

The 17-year-old six-foot-four centre back was announced as the Eddies’ newest player Wednesday at St. Joseph’s High School, the team’s base of operations for its academy program.

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.

“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?’”

Striker Michael Cox is likely done for the season. With concussions, both winger Massimo Mirabelli and left back Lance Laing are off the trip. Centre back Mallan Roberts continues to nurse a heel injury. Midfielders Gagan Dosanjh and Shaun Saiko have both suffered flare-ups of long-term injuries.

Now, 1-1 is one of the most common scorelines of all in soccer (more on that later). But, still, to see it repeated five times, against five different opponents, is a longshot of longshots. Some of the opponents would be better, some would be worse. Some would have a higher-than-average goals-per-game standard, some would be below the league average. The opponents would be variables, not constants. Yet, to see a team play them all to 1-1 draws over the course of five consecutive weeks, home games and road games, is mind boggling.