The San Antonio Scorpions were confident going into the Fall Season after a nice end to the Spring portion of the 2015 schedule. However, the red and black did not get off to a hot start north of the border to open the Fall campaign.
The Scorpions fell 0-4 to the Edmonton FC Eddies in front of 1,112 fans inside SMS Equipment Stadium on Sunday afternoon in a match that saw two red cards and two penalties.
Edmonton got on the scoreboard early when Sadi Jalali scored two minutes in. Jalali was awarded a penalty kick after a controversial call on Marvin Chávez. Jalali buried the ball into the net as the Eddies took the early 1-0 lead.
Ten minutes later, Scorpions forward Omar Cummings had a chance to tie the game. He was in the box, one-on-one with Edmonton goalkeeper Matt VanOekel. Cummings shot the ball, but VanOekel made the save to keep the red and black off the scoreboard. Josuè Soto had the best chance for San Antonio, but his shot went off the bar as Edmonton took the one goal lead into the second half.
In the second half, Billy Forbes had a chance to tie the game. He sent a shot towards the net, but the ball missed the post and went out of bounds.
The rest of the game saw frustration from the defending champions. Defender Adrian Cann scored a goal to tie the game, but it was waived off by the officials in the 54th minute. Midfielder Nana Attakora was given a red card for pulling down Edmonton forward Michael Nonni from behind. Edmonton was awarded another penalty kick as midfielder Lance Laing converted to put the Eddies up 2-0.
Shortly after Laing’s goal, San Antonio goalkeeper Daryl Sattler was given a red card for kicking the ball at a group of Edmonton players celebrating the goal. Backup ‘keeper Matt Cardone entered the game in relief. As the game went on, Hanson Bokai and Laing converted on goals to seal their 4-0 victory.
The Scorpions are 0-0-1 (0 points) on the season and will return to the pitch next Saturday when they welcome the Tampa Bay Rowdies to Toyota Field at 7:30 p.m.
