WHO

New York Cosmos (2-2-1 Fall, 7-7-1 Overall) vs. Fort Lauderdale Strikers (1-3-2, 4-5-7)

WHEN & WHERE

Saturday, August 8, 2015 at 7:30 p.m. ET | Lockhart Stadium

WATCH & FOLLOW

• Official Viewing Party at Buffalo Wild Wings in Westbury, Long Island (737 Merrick Ave.)
  • BWW will also play the NPSL title game featuring Cosmos B and Chattanooga FC
• ONE World Sports
• ESPN3
• Follow @NYCosmos_Match and #FTLvNYC on Twitter

NOTES

Home and away: Seven days ago New York defeated Fort Lauderdale 2-0 at Hofstra University’s Shuart Stadium in Hempstead. First half goals from Hunter Freeman and Leo Fernandes gave the home side the lead, and a stout defensive performance made it a shutout. Now the Cosmos travel to Lockhart Stadium looking for their second win against the Strikers in a week.

Last leg: Saturday night’s match in Fort Lauderdale will be the final in a stretch of three games in seven days for the Cosmos. They notched back-to-back wins over Fort Lauderdale on Sunday, August 2 and Minnesota on Wednesday, August 5 before making the trip to Florida for a 7:30 p.m. ET Saturday kickoff. Normalcy will be restored after Saturday night; New York has a week to prepare for its next match at home against the San Antonio Scorpions on August 15.

Freeman’s resurgence: Fullback Hunter Freeman, voted 2014 Emirates Cosmos Player of the Year after starting every league match but one, spent his spring recovering from injury. The 30-year-old Texan is returning to form with flair in the fall. He has scored in the Cosmos’ past two games and taken home Man of the Match honors in both instances.

Restrepo finding the net: New York’s leading assist man from the Spring Season has a new title in the fall: leading goal scorer. Walter Restrepo has three goals in five Fall Season matches.

Series history: This is the seventh meeting between these two clubs in the modern NASL. The Cosmos control the series with a 6-1-0 (WDL) record against their Floridian adversary. New York won its reboot match against Fort Lauderdale on August 3, 2013 at Shuart Stadium by a score of 2-1. Alessandro Noselli headed home the match-winner in second half stoppage time.