June 30 2022 Preview: FC Edmonton vs. York United - 2022 Match #50 (from canpl.ca)

PREVIEW: FC Edmonton vs. York United — 2022 Match #50
2022-06-30
by MITCHELL TIERNEY, DIGITAL CONTENT PRODUCER (@MITCHELLTIERNEY)

2022 CPL Regular Season — Match #50
FC Edmonton vs. York United
July 1, 2022 at 4:00 p.m. MT/ 6:00 p.m. ET
Clarke Stadium in Edmonton, Alberta
Watch Live: OneSoccer.ca & TELUS Ch. 980 //


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On Friday, the 300th match in Canadian Premier League history will be played on Canada Day between 
York United and FC Edmonton.

York, then called York9 FC, was part of the league’s inaugural match against Forge FC in Hamilton, 
drawing Forge 1-1 on that day with York’s Ryan Telfer scoring the league’s first-ever goal three 
minutes into that match.

This is the first meeting between these two clubs this season in what is currently the battle 
of the basement in the CPL. Between the two sides, they have picked up just a single victory 
in the last 55 days — FC Edmonton’s lone win of the season to date against Atlético Ottawa on June 19.

Despite that, Friday remains a very intriguing matchup between an FC Edmonton side that has delivered 
a number of solid performances in recent weeks and a York United team who are treading water 
in the playoff race.

York, who not that long ago was as high as second in the table in the Canadian Premier League is now 
a full seven points out of the playoffs. Three of the four teams currently holding playoff positions 
have games in hand on the Nine Stripes as well.

A first away win of the season would go a long way towards helping York regain confidence. In fact, 
they have scored just once away from home so far this season, the lowest tally in the league.

The Nine Stripes are coming off of their worst loss of the season, 3-1 to Valour, this past weekend 
and will be looking to return to the defensive solidity that has been their calling card this season. 
They have also conceded the fewest road goals in the league in 2022.

Edmonton, on the other hand, has been at its best lately, both in results and performances. In their 
last three matches at Clark Stadium, they scored three goals against Forge, narrowly lost to Halifax 
and then ended Ottawa’s five-match unbeaten run before going on the road and showing well against 
Cavalry in the Al Classico.

“We went to Calgary last week and we outshot them, there’s not many teams that are going to go do that,” 
said FC Edmonton coach Alan Koch of his team’s recent play. “We were disappointed not to get anything 
out of that game, we are going to do everything we can to try to get a point, try to get three points.”

They have also scored in seven straight league matches, something the visitors can only look at with 
envy having scored just once in their last seven themselves.

The Eddies, however, have traditionally struggled against York. Their only win against the side came 
during what was ultimately an inconsequential second leg of the 2019 Canadian Championship second 
qualifying round. They are still searching for their first win against the Nine Stripes in CPL action.

Make your match picks prior to kickoff at canpl.ca/predictor for a chance to win prizes, including 
the grand prize of a trip to the 2022 CPL Final! To learn more about ComeOn!, click here.

All CPL matches are available to stream on OneSoccer, or on TELUS Optik TV Channel 980.

3 THINGS TO WATCH

York United and FC Edmonton to contest the CPL’s 300th match: As mentioned, tomorrow’s match will 
mark an incredibly special milestone for the Canadian Premier League. It is the league’s 300th match, 
a huge feat for a league that has had to get creative with scheduling and competition in recent years 
to account for the pandemic. Despite that, the young league has continued to grow and now in its fourth 
season is once again upping its standard week in and week out. In a callback, York’s team could 
potentially feature Cyrus Rollocks this week, who played in that inaugural CPL match against Forge 
and recently rejoined the Nine Stripes, coming off the bench against Valour. “It is a huge moment, 
I think it is an absolute honour to be part of that,” said Alan Koch. “It is part of why to be honest 
I chose to come back to Canada, I am a proud Canadian and to be part of a game that is a milestone 
like that, is an absolute honour for myself, for our club, for all of our players and all of our staff.”

A matchup of young Canadian players: Tomorrow’s matchup will feature two of the top three sides 
in the CPL this year in terms of minutes allocated to U-21 Canadian players. Both clubs have given 
significant opportunities to young players, many of whom have become key parts of their respective 
sides. York lead the league by a solid margin with 3,042 minutes played so far in 2022 between 
Osaze De Rosario, Lowell Wright, Cedric Toussaint, Mouhamadou Kane and Isaiah Johnstone. That margin 
could increase further following the signing of 18-year-old Canadian youth international Ronan Kratt, 
who will be available for selection once the transfer window opens on July 8. Edmonton, meanwhile, 
has given significant playing time to Cale Loughrey, T-boy Fayia and Kairo Coore, while Kelsey Egwu, 
Darlington Murasiranwa and Ousman Maheshe have also made appearances. “Firstly I think this 
is a testament to York and their philosophy,” said Koch when asked about the number of young 
Canadians who will play in this match. “We embrace playing young players. I think if you went 
to U-22 minutes or U-23 minutes I think we would be far ahead of everybody else…we are a club that 
plays a lot of young players, we are giving players an opportunity and we are excited to see a lot 
of our young players get minutes again in the game tomorrow.”

Can York build on good offensive moments?: At long last, York United scored a goal in the Canadian 
Premier League this past weekend, something they had not done since May 6. The goal came from 
De Rosario, as have four of the seven they have scored this CPL season. It also came straight 
from the blueprint that has led to most of their offensive success this season, getting balls 
out to their wide players and then finding their strikers in the middle. Max Ferrari, in particular, 
had an excellent game last time out against Valour and is again looking like a real threat having 
returned from injury. Johnstone also scored his first goal of the season midweek in the 
Canadian Championship semis against Vancouver so the club will be banking on that giving him 
an offensive confidence boost as well. Nash mentioned after the match against Valour how important 
these goals have been to the club regaining its offensive confidence, the biggest key to digging 
themselves out of their recent spell of poor form.

ALL-TIME SERIES
FC Edmonton wins: 1 || York United wins: 5 || Draws: 3

Previous match:

October 17th, 2021 — York United FC 1-1 FC Edmonton

KEY QUOTES
“We are excited. It is another game and we feel like we are making progress but the best way to show 
collective progression is to get three points and that’s going to be our goal in the game tomorrow.” 
— FC Edmonton head coach Alan Koch

“Edmonton is a tough task, they are quite organized and if we can break them down and get an early 
goal it will bode well for us.” — York United head coach Martin Nash 

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