Ottawa Fury heading to New York for Sunday's NASL final

One last trademark practice full of sweat, sprints and yelling in several languageswrapped up at TD PlaceThursdaybefore an 11 a.m. bus ride that started the Ottawa Fury'sjourney to New York City for the North American Soccer Leaguefinal.

"Training is always very intense, I get that question a lot when people come to watch training for the first time or haven't followed the team they're always surprised with the intensity of training,"said head coach Marc Dos Santosafter practice.

"It's been like that since day one, we're creatures of habit as men. If you want to play in a high-intensity mode, you have to train in a high-intensity mode. That's something we deal with every day and we make sure the players have that mentality."

• Fury fans euphoric as Ottawa advances to soccer final
• Ottawa Fury FC's Marc Dos Santos named NASL coach of the year

Dos Santos said they've tried to be in a playoff mindsetall year long so last Sunday's semifinal win overMinnesota and this Sunday's championship game against the New York Cosmoswouldfeel asnormalas possible.

"I see coaches that prepare more when it's a final but people that know the work we've done since day one, we prepare a game against Atlanta or a game against the last place team the same way," he said.

"We're very detailed preparing things, we respect the opponent a lot regardless so we're going to keep preparing the same way."

"Yes it's the final but if guys do the same things they've done in the last few gamesthey'll be fine," said defender Drew Beckie.

"The first 15 minutes you get out of your system and you're ready to play.People say it's a 90 minute game but really the first 15 minutes are a battle... hopefully we do well in the first 15 minutes and get out to a good start."

Fury, Cosmos very even

The New York Cosmos finished with the same record (15 wins, four losses, 11 ties) and same goal differential (+19), but they scored more goals than the Fury so they were awarded the number one seed in the playoffs and homefield advantage for the Soccer Bowlon that second tiebreaker.

Ottawa and New York played three times between the NASL'sspring and fall seasons and split their three meetings with a win, a loss and a tie each.

"It's different if you go to New York, play against them and the threegames you played against them you lostthen maybe in the mental side there's no way we could do that," said Dos Santos.

"But we played New York threetimes this year:we lost 1-0, we tied 0-0 and we won 4-1 so it says we can beat them. It also says they only lost against us in their house, so we have to repeat something big that we did... it's not always easy to do but it's very psosible."

Dos Santos said the Fury would be getting comfortable in their hotel when they arrive Thursday, getting used to the city and watching some videos.

"We don't want to change a lot, we know what's proven," Beckie said.

"We're going to have the same breakfast, we're going to have the same routine, we're going to have the same prematch speech. Everyone wants to play for Marc and everybody wants to play for each other, nothing needs to change there."

The team said Thursday around 300 to 400 friends, family and fans from Ottawa are expected at James M. Shuart Stadium at Hofstra University on Long Island for the game, which kicks off at 5 p.m. Sunday.

The Canadian Association of New York, which organizes and promotes Canadian-focusedevents in the New York City area, has also put out a call for people to support the Fury at the game.

Defender wins humanitarian award

The NASL also announced Thursday that Beckie has won their humanitarian award for his organization"Walking In Grief's Shadow (WINGS)" that supports childrenwho have lost a parent and parents who have lost a spouse.

• Ottawa Morning | Drew Beckie and WINGS interview (June 4)

Beckie, whose father died when he was 11, said it's a nice recognition of the program as a whole.

"I want it to be for the families, I don't care about individual recognition. It's for the people that need help and I'm glad we could start a program with the help of the Fury," he said.

The award follows Dos Santos being named coach of the year,Romuald Peiserbeing named goalkeeper of the year and the team winning the Fair Play award for the fewest red and yellow cards received.