By Jason Lind

After three North American Soccer League Spring Season fixtures the New York Cosmos are alone atop the league standings. The Cosmos have the best goal differential in the league (+3) and, with a record of 2-1-0 (W-D-L), are two points clear of Indy Eleven in a 10-game sprint for their first Spring Season title.

Two big reasons for New York’s early success were also difference-makers in the Cosmos’ 2-0 home opener win over the Tampa Bay Rowdies: Spanish legend Raúl and two-time NASL Best XI winger Walter Restrepo. While the Cosmos back line and second-year starting goalkeeper Jimmy Maurer have been unyielding, giving up a single goal in three games, Restrepo and Raúl have transformed the attack with their tenacity and vision in the midfield and on the edge.

“Today I felt very good,” Raúl said after this past Saturday’s match. He had his longest run of the regular season, playing 90 minutes before being subbed off for Lucky Mkosana in stoppage time. “The last two, three weeks I [was limited] in training with the team because I have a small problem with my hamstring. I hope next week to improve my performance for the team.”

Restrepo has assisted every Cosmos score this season outside of midfielder Marcos Senna’s converted penalty in the 11^th minute against Tampa Bay. He even exhibited major influence on that score; it was a far-post cross from Restrepo to striker Mads Stokkelien that forced Rowdies midfielder Darnell King into a hand ball penalty in the box, setting up Senna’s cool finish. The former San Antonio Scorpion has exuded confidence and outraced opponents from his position on the right wing all season long.

Raúl played a part in the Cosmos’ first home goal of 2015, too. He cut through the center of the Rowdies midfield and found Restrepo on the right edge of the area. Early in the second half it was Raúl and Restrepo again involved in setting up another new member of the squad, left winger Leo Fernandes, with his second goal of the year. Building up from the back, Senna (who was voted Emirates Cosmos Man of the Match) picked out Restrepo streaking toward the right corner of the penalty area. A beautiful ball fell at the feet of the 26-year-old Colombian-American, and he burned a low cross into the center of the box. Raúl, who drew attention making his run through the midfield, eased back and let Restrepo’s cross play onward to Fernandes, who had a simple right-footed finish.

“It is definitely one of the greatest days of the new era,” Cosmos head coach Giovanni Savarese said during his postgame press conference. 12,550 fans packed a sold-out Shuart Stadium. “We had a lot of energy. It wasn’t only the amount of people, but there was a lot of energy inside the place. The team performance as well helped. It was a great night to see so many fans.”

During the offseason that followed a 2014 postseason semifinal exit, the Cosmos devoted significant time and resources to a search for players who could diversify their attack. The club brought in new faces from other NASL teams (Restrepo, Mkosana), from Major League Soccer (Fernandes, Adam Moffat) and even from the U.S. youth international pool (Haji Wright). All told, before the Cosmos began their 2015 Spring Season in Fort Lauderdale on April 4 there were six new players on the roster with skills designed to pose some threat to opposing back lines – seven if you count the permanent move from El Salvador to the United States for midfielder Andrés Flores.

All that focus on creating goal-scoring opportunities has paid off thus far. Fernandes and Restrepo lead New York in goals and assists, respectively. Raúl is beginning to look like the Cosmos’ catalyst in the middle of the attack, opening holes in the defense with his positioning and movement then setting up teammates to score. With seven points through three games, the Cosmos are off to their best start of the modern era.