For Rangers’ Canadian coach, Marc Dos Santos, it marked the second straight year he faced a New York team in a championship game — and lost.

On Wednesday, the team revealed the identity of those players who have been released; Canadian goalkeeper John Smits, Canadian striker Frank Jonke, defender Kareem Moses and midfielders Tomas Granitto and Thiago de Freitas.

What made Saturday’s win over the Rowdies all the more special was that the Eddies didn’t have one on-field training session between Wednesday’s draw in San Antonio and the kickoff at Al Lang Stadium.

“I don’t want to be the player who was only called into one game,” he said. “The experience, it was huge. I gained a lot of experience from it. There are so many players there who have careers in Europe, from around MLS and other teams in North America. I can see that’s where I want my career to go.”

FC Edmonton is developing a tragic history of giving up late goals to lose Amway Canadian Championship ties. Last year, it was a 96th-minute Patrice Bernier penalty that gave the Montreal Impact a last-gasp semifinal win over the Eddies. On Wednesday, Whitecap substitute Matias Laba rolled the ball across the goal line in the 96th minute of the semifinal’s second …

Sunday’s battle between the Fort Lauderdale Strikers and FC Edmonton was one of these how-do-I-squeeze it all in matches. The Eddies fought back from a 2-1 second-half deficit and hung on for a 3-2 win. This game had so much to offer; two teams playing contrasting, attacking styles; lights-out goalkeeping from the Strikers’ David Meves, who deserves to be on the NASL team of the week despite giving up three; a penalty save; an assistant coach tossed from the game (Fort Lauderdale’s Ricardo Lopes felt that referee Robert Schaap should have given FCE striker Frank Jonke a harsh punishment for a challenge that bloodied the nose of defender Daniel Navarro); and what turned out to be a series of brilliant substitution decisions from FCE coach Colin Miller which changed the game.

Granitto comes from a sporting family. He was born in El Salvador to Argentine parents. His father, Gustavo, ran a tennis academy and had been assigned by the International Tennis Federation to Central America to help develop the game there. Granitto lived in El Salvador till he was five, then his family moved to the United States. Granitto would excel at soccer and would play his way onto the roster at Florida Gulf Coast University, and helped that team to its first-ever NCAA tournament appearance.

“He has a terrific attitude,” says Miller. “And he runs faster than I can drive my car. We are going to give him an opportunity; he also had English Premier League experience.”

“We’re very excited that Tomas has shown interest in us and that we’ve come to an agreement,” said FC Edmonton head coach Colin Miller in a release issued by the club. “We’ve been very impressed with what we’ve seen from him. Tomas is a terrific passer of the ball and I think he’s a player that will keep us in possession of the ball in the upcoming season.”