“It was a catalogue of disasters, it was a shocking trip,” FCE coach Colin Miller said of the trip “Finally, the rain delay set it right up for us to have the kind of first half we did. But I don’t want to make excuses, we set high standards at this club.

The RailHawks remain atop the table with the result. But, as of Saturday night, four of the league’s seven teams — Carolina, Atlanta, San Antonio and Minnesota — remain alive in the standings.

“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.”

For Canadians Dwayne De Rosario and Paul Hamilton, Wednesday’s fourth round of the U.S. Open Cup saw them make important contributions as their clubs survived.

“I had a few great years there, still have many friends on the team and within the organization. My wife, and also many friends and family are going to be at the game. So yes, there is a greater excitement around this game for me."

Canadian defenders Paul Hamilton and Andres Arango can both claim MLS scalps after they both played roles in major U.S. Open Cup third-round upsets.

FC Edmonton coach Colin Miller was happy to get a point on the road in the club’s NASL opener. But he wants more — a lot more — out of the team’s three-game road trip to start the season.

In his NASL coaching debut, Colin Miller had to settle for a draw.

But, as we get ready for this weekend’s kickoff to the NASL spring season, the Rowdies and MUFC are the clear favourites to top the table.

"A couple of teams had expressed interest to my agent and I," Hamilton wrote in a statement to The 11."But with it being so late in preseason, a lot of teams did not have room in their budget for another player. That being said, Carolina had expressed the most interest and invited me to come down."