PREVIEW: York United vs. FC Edmonton — Match #94

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FC Edmonton make their final trip east of the season on Sunday, travelling to Toronto to take on York United.

Meeting twice during The Kickoff at the start of the season, this will be the third and final meeting between the two sides in 2021. The first one ended in a 1-1 draw, with Fraser Aird and Michael Petrasso scoring the goals. Aird's goal was a likely goal-of-the-season nominee, firing a shot into the top left corner from outside the penalty area. Easton Ongaro had a chance to win the match for Edmonton from the penalty spot in the final moments of the match, but failed to score it and they ended up sharing the points. A few weeks later, Isaiah Johnston scored the lone goal in a 1-0 win for The Nine Stripes. Getting himself on the end of a cross from Max Ferrari, Johnston scored with an impressive volley with the outside of his foot -- his first professional goal, and the winning goal in that match. York have never lost to FC Edmonton in CPL action, but the Eddies won the second leg of a Canadian Championship tie between the two sides in 2019 (which was won 3-2 on aggregate by York). The result of this match could have big implications on the playoff race, with York United sitting one point out of a playoff spot, and fourth-placed HFX Wanderers playing later in the day against Cavalry. While the playoffs are out of reach for The Eddies, they'll also be hungry for a win, as they look to continue to grow as a team, and prepare for the 2022 season.

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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 2021 CPL Final! All CPL matches are available to stream on OneSoccer, or on TELUS Optik TV Channel 980.

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• Who should start up top for York?: The Nine Stripes' competition for playing time in goal has been talked about at length, with Nathan Ingham and Niko Giantsopoulos battling it out between the sticks, but there's an equally exciting competition at the other end of the pitch. Lowell Wright and Julian Ulbricht have both had strong seasons, scoring four goals each, and establishing themselves as players capable of starting in the CPL. Wright has made appearances in 21 of York's 23 league matches thus far, while Ulbricht has been limited to 14 league appearances after dealing with an injury at the start of the season. "It's been difficult [to choose between them]," said head coach Jimmy Brennan in his pre-match press conference. "They've had some chances, but they haven't got into a stride where they've got the goals they deserve for some of the work they put in. Julian's been very good, Lowell's still a young guy, we've relied on him an awful lot this year. Just turned 18 but I think he's going to be a great talent, and a very good striker in this league over the next number of years. We just need to keep providing them, and hopefully they end up putting them in the back of the net."
• Edmonton "have come leaps and bounds" in 2021: FC Edmonton head coach Alan Koch has prioritized growth this season, rather than pushing for a playoff spot. In his pre-match press conference he added that any team in the CPL can beat others on their day -- as seen by his side's win over Pacific FC last week -- and it's the teams that find consistency that are at the top of the table. "I think we've come leaps and bounds, quite frankly it's mind-blowing how we've come from where we started with one-on-one training sessions, Covid, and no preseason," said Koch, adding that a friend pointed out that despite being in seventh, they're not actually that far off a playoff spot and challenging the top teams. "It shows how far we've grown, and how far we've come. We've been competing with the top teams week in and week out, and we're not that far away from the top. We know we're not far away from the bottom at the same time... we still have a long, long way to go, and this final month of the season is important for all of us, but we're going to continue to go as far as we can."
• Kyle Porter returns to York Lions Stadium: Kyle Porter was one of the standout players for York United over their first two seasons in the CPL, but switched green for FC Edmonton's blue in the offseason. Now as a member of The Eddies, Porter will return to York Lions Stadium for the first time as a visiting player on Sunday. As a member of The Nine Stripes, Porter made 37 appearances -- picking up a goal and eight assists in that span. Since moving to FC Edmonton this season, Porter has scored one goal in 20 matches in all competitions. He also played for The Eddies back in 2011 and 2012, scoring 12 times in 53 appearances, before making a step up to MLS. "I like Kyle, I get on with him great, and I like him as a footballer and as a person," said Brennan. "He's very silky on the ball, he's got a great touch, he reads the game well, and finds himself in some good spaces. We've got to make sure we limit his touches and that he doesn't get on the ball too much."

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