“You get to a point in the game where we score, we have taken the lead, we are dominating possession,” said Porter. “And then it was like we just dropped. And the game just changed. And then they get the goals, and the winner came so late, there was no chance for us to come back.”

FC Edmonton has scored just 18 goals this season. And two players who have scored nine of those markers could not make the team’s road trip to North Carolina for this weekend’s big six-pointer against the Carolina RailHawks.

Cox got a low shot on goal, that Stars keeper Matt Van Oekel got down to stop. But the rebound caromed off the shin of defender Ernest Tchoupe, and bounded across the goal line.

Despite being up a man for an hour, FC Edmonton couldn’t score — and, to make matters worse for the home team, the Eddies were caught at the back late in the game, as Luke Mulholland’s goal gave the Tampa Bay Rowdies a 1-0 win.

From the way the teams traded scoring chances, you wouldn’t believe that 0-0 draws were the results of the first two encounters this season between the clubs. Really, if this game would have finished 5-5, it would have been fair based on the quality scoring chances each team was able to carve out.

In an NASL campaign which has seen FCE flirt with the bottom of the table, an against-all-odds win might be the thing the team needed to help it bond — the kind of win that could turn around a season.

But, making his third start in a row after spending almost a year out rehabbing from the breaks (and a subsequent fractured foot), Parker put his stamp on a 1-0 win over the Fort Lauderdale Strikers. So much of a mark, in fact, that he was named the NASL’s Defensive Player of the Week.

But thanks to some inspired goalkeeping from Lance Parker — which included a penalty save — and a lovely second-half combination play that led to Michael Cox’s goal, the Eddies broke a two-game home winless streak with a gritty 1-0 decision over the Fort Lauderdale Strikers Sunday.

Strikers Michael Cox and Kyle Porter aren’t ready for a return to the FC Edmonton lineup ahead of Sunday’s home date with the San Antonio Scorpions, but there were sighs of relief around the Eddies’ camp today as it looks like central defender Paul Hamilton and forward Matt Lam will be ready to go.

"Before the game, I knew this was a chance to make a statement to North America that CIS can produce a lot of great players, and we're often overlooked," said Smits. "It was a very emotional game for me. There needs to be some kind of draft system for us in North America."