FC Edmonton took down HFX Wanderers 2-0 at Clarke Stadium on Canada Day to finish third place in the Spring season and collect a third win in a row.

Play seemed to open up with the skies in the first half as rainy conditions matched sloppy play in the first 30-odd minutes.

FC Edmonton pulled ahead in the 36th minute when Marcus Velado-Tsegaye smashed home a rebound off Bruno Zebie’s shot, giving the teenager his first professional goal on his 18th birthday.

Disjointed play continued in the second half, but another goal would come for the Eddies in the 84th minute from a wonderful individual effort from Oumar Diouck. The Belgian striker nicked the ball away from the Wanderers after a throw-in in the final third, proceeding to break through and slot home his league-leading fourth goal on the season through the legs of goalkeeper Jan-Michael Williams.

That was all she wrote for HFX, who failed to record a shot on target. The Wanderers finished the 10-match Spring campaign without scoring away from home.

Both sides will kick off their Fall season on Saturday. FC Edmonton travels to Hamilton where they’ll play Forge in the second campaign’s first match (1:00 p.m. ET, on OneSoccer) while HFX returns home to host York9 FC (3:30 p.m. ET, 4:30 p.m. AT, on OneSoccer).

Box Score

Goals
38′ – Marcus Velado-Tsegaye (FC Edmonton)
84′ – Oumar Diouck (FC Edmonton)

Discipline

None

Three key performers

Marcus Velado-Tsegaye (FC Edmonton)

FCE’s now-18-year-old striker found the net for the first time in his short professional career on Monday, using the attacking ability he showed shimmers of early in the season. Velado-Tsegaye’s intelligent run led to the second-chance opportunity for the Eddies and, well, a pretty nice birthday present for himself.

Ramon Soria (FC Edmonton)

Soria gobbled up HFX attacking sequences all day at Clarke Stadium, eventually preventing the visitors from recording a shot on target. The Spaniard’s possession and passing ability was on full display too, as the holding midfielder made a match-leading 69 passes and 82 touches.

Oumar Diouck (FC Edmonton)

Diouck’s late goal encapsulated his Spring season well: Energetic pressing and clinical finishing. The Belgian’s snappy steal, run and through-the-legs finish was a moment of pure individual quality that put Diouck on four goals for the season, joint-top of the CPL’s golden boot race with Forge FC’s Tristan Borges.