Atlético Ottawa won a seven-goal thriller at Clarke Stadium on Tuesday evening, holding on to beat FC Edmonton 4-3 in one of the most action-packed matches of the season thus far.

Ottawa applied a lot of pressure on the Eddies backline early on, and were awarded a penalty moments into the match after Fraser Aird fouled Vashon Neufville in the box. Brian Wright stepped up to take it, and fired the ball home, giving the visitors the lead in the fifth minute.

Former Edmonton goalkeeper Dylon Powley made a big save to deny Tobias Warschewski from close range in the 12th minute. Their second shot on goal beat Powley, however, as the home side tied it up at 1-1 in the 17th minute. After making a run down the right side, Warschewski played a low cross into the box, which the Ottawa backline failed to deal with. Azriel Gonzalez met the ball at the back post, redirecting the ball into the top left corner with his first touch.

FC Edmonton were on the front foot for most of the half, taking 12 shots compared to Ottawa’s five, but it was the visitors that scored again late to take a 2-1 lead into halftime.

After a perfect through ball from Ben McKendry split two defenders, Miguel Acosta ran onto it and played a low cross into the box. Wright made a good run into the area, and redirected it past Connor James to restore the one-goal advantage.

They would extend their lead to two goals four minutes into the second half, as McKendry found the back of the net with a well-placed shot. After taking a corner, the Ottawa midfielder made a sneaky run behind the Eddies’ backline, receiving a pass from Vashon Neufville before curling a shot around James.

Alberto Soto made it 4-1 for Ottawa in the 57th minute, turning Hunter Gorskie inside-out with some tricky footwork, before firing his shot into the top right corner to cap off an impressive solo goal. The goal seemed to give Ottawa an insurmountable lead, but the home team refused to give up.

After running into the box to meet a high lobbed cross from Warschewski, Adam Najem volleyed the ball home from a few yards out to make it 4-2, before Fraser Aird brought Edmonton within one from the penalty spot in the 76th minute.

The next fifteen minutes saw wave after wave of attacks from FC Edmonton, but Atlético Ottawa held strong to win the match 4-3, and pick up three impressive points on the road.

BOX SCORE

Goals

5′ — Brian Wright (Atlético Ottawa) — penalty

17′ — Azriel Gonzalez (FC Edmonton)

39′ — Brian Wright (Atlético Ottawa)

49′ — Ben McKendry (Atlético Ottawa)

57′ — Alberto Soto (Atlético Ottawa)

63′ — Adam Najem (FC Edmonton)

76′ — Fraser Aird (FC Edmonton) — penalty

Discipline

45′ — Yellow: Hunter Gorskie (FC Edmonton)

86′ — Yellow: Drew Beckie (Atlético Ottawa)