FORT LAUDERDALE – The Fort Lauderdale Strikers face FC Edmonton on Saturday, Oct. 1, at 7:30p.m. in the opening round of the 2011 NASL Playoffs. The game is a single elimination match with the winner moving on to face either the top-seeded Carolina RailHawks or the second seed Puerto Rico Islanders.
If the Strikers win and third seed FC Tampa Bay defeats NSC Minnesota, then the Strikers will next play at home on Sunday, Oct. 9, at 7:30p.m. against Carolina. If the Strikers win and the Stars beat FC Tampa Bay, the Strikers would face Puerto Rico on the road first, and then at home on Saturday, Oct. 15, at 7:30p.m.
Strikers Team Highlights
· The Strikers finished the regular season in fourth place in the NASL with a record of 9 wins, 11 ties, and 8 losses for a total of 38 points
· They finished with the fourth most goals scored on the season, 35, and had 16 different players score at least once
· The leading goal scorers were Brian Shriver and Eduardo Coudet, both with six goals
· Goalkeeper Matt Glaeser had the third best GAA and has the second best of goalkeepers in the playoffs at 1.04
· Defender Martyn Lancaster has played in 27 of the team’s 28 games this season starting all but two games
· The team assists leader is Eduardo Coudet with four, midfielder Mike Palacio has three assists on the season
· Longest Undefeated Streak: seven games, Longest Losing Streak: two games
STRIKER PLAYOFF NOTES
· This is the first playoff game for the team since 2006 when they were known as Miami FC
· That team lost a two-game series to the Vancouver Whitecaps 4-1 on the road and 2-0 at home at Tropical Park in Miami.
· This is the first professional soccer playoff game at Lockhart Stadium since the Miami Fusion of the MLS lost 1-0 to the San Jose Earthquakes on Oct. 17, 2001
· The Strikers will be without regular defender Cristian Arrieta who received a red card in the last regular season game against FC Tampa Bay
Team Notes – EDM:
· Edmonton finished the regular season in fifth place in the NASL with a record of 10 wins, 6 ties, and 12 losses for a total of 36 points
· They tied the Strikers with 35 goals and gave up the second most goals with 40
· Edmonton is led offensively by Shaun Saiko, who tied for fifth in the league in goals and assists with nine and five respectively
· Edmonton’s Christopher Kooy finished tied for the league lead with 2,430 minutes played, having missed just one game of 28 on the year
· Longest Undefeated Streak: five games, Longest Losing Streak: five games
PLAYOFF NOTES – EDM:
· This is the first year of FC Edmonton’s existence
· In the original NASL, in 1980, the Edmonton Drillers lost in the Conference Semifinals to the Fort Lauderdale Strikers during their only trip to the post season in that league’s history
All Strikers games are streamed live online at STRIKERS.com.
