By Jason Lind (@JasonKLind)

The New York Cosmos enter the final two months of their 2015 NASL Regular Season on the heels of perhaps their most impressive month this year.

The Cosmos finished a seven-match August with five wins, two draws and no losses, amassing 17 points while extending their lead in the league’s Combined Season Standings and climbing to within two points of the Fall Season lead. The Atlanta Silverbacks and Fort Lauderdale Strikers were the only other teams to take double-digit points from the month, totaling 11 and 10 points, respectively.

New York came from behind to snatch points in five of its seven August games. Raúl, Leo Fernandes, Lucky Mkosana and the rest of the Cosmos attack scored 11 times in the second halves of their August contests, which included a pair of three-goal performances in the final 45 on the road against Fort Lauderdale (August 8) and Carolina (August 22).

“We have great individuals that work together to find good things on the field," head coach Giovanni Savarese told the media after Sunday’s come-from-behind 3-2 win over the RailHawks at home. "We always believe. I think that’s a very important point from everyone. Nothing can happen during the game that will turn away the thoughts of the players from accomplishing their goals.”

“We all knew this wouldn’t be easy,” Mkosana, who scored twice in August, told NYCosmos.com. “We were able to get important victories, and we needed them. We built on the good results throughout the month.”

When the Cosmos’ 2015 Fall Season schedule was announced this past January, August stood out.  Seven games crammed into 29 days – three away from Hofstra’s Shuart Stadium and six against the top five teams in the league from 2014. No other month this season has featured or will feature more than five league matches.

Once the season began, the circumstances leading into the month only made it “more complicated,” according to Savarese. July saw the club exit the U.S. Open Cup in the fifth round for a second straight year and lose its first NASL match of the season. And it was a given that temperatures would exceed 90 degrees Fahrenheit for a handful of August kickoffs.

A year ago August was unkind. In six games the Cosmos finished with one win, two losses and three draws, netting six goals in that time frame.

Midfielder Andrés Flores, who first joined the club on loan in July 2014 before signing permanently last December, says he can see the difference in attitude on the training pitch when the Cosmos string together positive results. Their goalless defeat in Jacksonville on July 18 was a wake-up call.

“We all talked to each other and realized that we needed to improve on the things that we had done in that game,” Flores said. “That week presented a great opportunity for us to grow. And after that we’ve had really good moments in some of the games we’ve had.

“All the work we’ve done has helped us in having good results right now. And when you have a good run, it encourages you and helps you achieve more.”

If August was an exercise in attrition, September promises to test New York with a consistently high caliber of opponent. Three of the league’s other top four teams will square off against the Cosmos this month. They’ll also have an opportunity to exact revenge on their lone league loss of the year when they host Armada FC September 12.

The Cosmos had a banner month, but their head coach is already prepared to leave it behind and focus on what’s immediately ahead.

“The next game we have, we need to be our best,” Savarese said. The Cosmos meet longtime rivals Tampa Bay at Al Lang Stadium on September 5. “We’ve had strong performances, but there are always ways that we can improve.”