FC Edmonton has finally solved the Montreal mystery.
Kyle Porter's goal in the fifth minute stood up as the winner as FC Edmonton finally defeated the Montreal Impact with a 1-0 victory over its Canadian rival Sunday in North American Soccer League play.
It was Edmonton's first win in three tries against the Impact, previously losing by 5-0 and 2-0 scores.
Those two victories over Edmonton are Montreal's only wins on the season.
"It was huge, finally getting a win over our rivals," Porter said. "That win brings us even further away from Minnesota in third. Every time we played Montreal we just couldn't get the right bounces. Nothing was working for us. Today, things seemed to be working for us."
The first-year FC Edmonton side is in second place in the NASL standings at seven wins to go with four losses and two ties.
"We have seven wins now and are in second place, we're doing pretty well, I think," said FC Edmonton head coach Harry Sinkgraven.
"We played pretty well, especially in the first half. We had a beautiful goal from Kyle. The only thing we could have done better is score more goals. We had a couple of big chances. We had the penalty miss, one ball hit the cross bar, we can improve there. But we deserved the win."
The Impact, who are slated to move up to play in the MLS next season, are in second-last place in the eight-team league with two wins, seven losses and three ties.
"It was an equal game but Edmonton is a tough place to play - a lot has to do with the turf field," said Montreal head coach Marc Dos Santos. "It's not a field to play soccer on. We are a team that likes to keep the ball on the ground and it is tough to do here. I felt we lost our battles because it is not our style of play. You have to change how you play here. We have another game at home against them and I think we'll do much better."
Edmonton got off to a quick start in the contest, scoring in the fifth minute after a long goal kick by Rein Baart bounced loose to Porter and he was able to beat Impact keeper Evan Bush with a long shot from about 25 yards out.
Edmonton had a good chance to make it a 2-0 game in the 20th minute after being awarded a penalty shot following a high tackle by Montreal's Hassoun Camara on Daniel Antoniuk. However Bush was able to make a terrific diving save on Chris Kooy's penalty shot attempt low to the right side of the net to keep it a one-goal game. Edmonton is just one for three on penalty shots this year.
Edmonton came close again in the 32nd minute during a scramble in front of the Montreal net but Impact defender Philippe Billy was able to step up and prevent a Porter shot from crossing the goal-line.
Montreal had its best scoring chance of the first half in the 36th minute as Anthony La Gall unleashed a deceptive shot labelled for the far corner that Baart was barely able to get to in time.
FC Edmonton had one more great opportunity in the 44th minute but Porter rang a shot off the cross car to keep it a 1-0 game at the midmark.
The Impact put a scare into the Edmonton fans in the 74th minute as Luke Kreamalmeyer was bearing down for a shot before Baart corralled it by coming a fair distance out of his net.
Montreal had several chances in the late stages as it pressed for a tie but couldn't get the equalizer.
Notes: Montreal hosts Puerto Rico on Wednesday before play in Carolina next Sunday. Edmonton's next game is on July 4 in Minnesota. . . FC Edmonton was without its leading point-getter, Shaun Saiko. The midfielder, who has four goals and three assists this season, was suspended for Sunday's game because of a red card against Minnesota. . . Montreal goalkeeper Bill Gaudette will miss the remainder of the season with an injury, but backup Evan Bush has proven a capable fill-in, winning the NASL's Defensive Player of the Week for Week 11. . . Impact midfielder Luke Kreamalmeyer made the trip to Edmonton and saw his first action since May 21, after missing six games because of a foot injury. . . The game was delayed several times by a rabbit that ran on to the playing surface at Foote Field and kept returning to the front of the Montreal net.