FC Edmonton announced the signings of five players on Thursday, three of them who have worn FCE colours in the NASL — veteran striker Tomi Ameobi, local midfielder Edem Mortotsi and defender Kareem Moses.

Unfortunately for the Eddies, Miller was right to be worried. Santa Claus did indeed show up in the second half.

“I felt in preseason that I was doing really well,” Fisk said. “And then I kind of fell out of the team a bit. Now that I have gotten myself back in, I feel that it’s taken a few games to kind of find my feet, to find my full 90-minute fitness. I think in the last couple of games, I’ve done a lot better, and I think Carolina was one of my better games so far. Hopefully I can build off of that.”

Would Miller entertain the thought of a Fordyce return? Judging from the coach’s comments, the door is open.

“A Portuguese player once said, the goals come like ketchup. Once you get one, all the rest come after it,” said Eustaquio. This is especially poignant considering that Eustaquio grew up in Leamington, Ont., which is the tomato and ketchup capital of Canada. Damn, do I love it when the player provides the poetry for me. Makes this “game story” thing so much easier.

For the fourth straight NASL match, FC Edmonton failed to score a goal. For the fourth straight match, the Eddies chalked up a loss.

FC Edmonton is transforming missing scoring chances into an art form.

“They got it wrong; the referee got it wrong on Saturday night — and that came from the league,” said Miller.

But, on Saturday night, referee Daniel Radford just got it plain wrong. To call a hand-ball in the box, you need to have an essential ingredient: The ball has to make contact with the arm or hand of the offending player.

“He said there was a push, but there was just the usual hustle and bustle in the box you usually get every game,” said Ameobi.