Richard Sanchez's unbeaten streak lives on — but his run of clean sheets came to an end on Sunday as his Fort Lauderdale Strikers settled for a 1-1 draw at FC Edmonton in NASL play after a controversial strike by the Canadian side.
The FC Dallas loanee made several diving saves, but his clean-sheet run came to an end at 353 minutes when the Eddies opened the scoring in contentious fashion. In the 38th minute, FC Edmonton were allowed to retake a free kick just outside the box after the referee ruled high winds had affected the first attempt.
Former Columbus Crew and Real Salt Lake trialist Lance Laing scored on the second attempt, and the subsequent protests by Ft. Lauderdale led to the ejection of their head coach and assistant coach along with forward Walter Restrepo.
The Strikers got an equalizer near the hour mark, but that was as close as they came despite another fine performance from Sanchez, who saw his unbeaten streak extended to five games. The result sees Fort Lauderdale miss out on a chance to take over first place and instead settle for a three-way tie for second.
In Carolina, RSL loanee Enzo Martinez made a start at forward in a 2-2 home draw with the Tampa Bay Rowdies on Saturday. Martinez was active throughout the match, including a 30th-minute shot that rebounded and fell to former D.C. United man Ty Shipalane, who knocked it home.
LA Galaxy midfielder Kenney Walker turned in a tepid performance in center midfield for the RailHawks, struggling throughout his 90 minutes to generate any momentum. Carolina’s failure to win at home saw them drop to third in NASL.
Calum Mallace started and went the distance for Minnesota United in their 1-0 loss to the league-leading New York Cosmos on Saturday in Long Island, N.Y. United are tied for sixth place and were without the services of Sinisa Ubiparipovic, who was serving a red-card suspension.
Carolina RailHawks 2, Tampa Bay Rowdies 2; Saturday, Sept. 14
M Enzo Martinez (Real Salt Lake) - Started, played 73 minutes
M Kenney Walker (LA Galaxy) - Started, played 90 minutes
D Bryan Gaul (LA Galaxy) - dressed, did not play
Minnesota United FC 0, New York Cosmos 1; Saturday, Sept. 14
M Calum Mallace (Montreal) - Started, played 90 minutes
M Sinisa Ubiparipovic (Montreal) - suspended
Atlanta Silverbacks 2, San Antonio Scorpions 1; Saturday, Sept. 14
F Kellen Gulley (Chicago) - dressed, did not play
FC Edmonton 1, Fort Lauderdale Strikers 1; Sunday, Sept. 15
F Corey Hertzog, Edmonton (Vancouver) - Started, played 82 minutes
F Bradlee Baladez, Ft. Lauderdale (FC Dallas) - Substitute, played 15 minutes
GK Richard Sanchez, Ft. Lauderdale (FC Dallas) - Started, played 90 minutes
