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Cosmos B Can Clinch Postseason Berth On Saturday

A win over Elm City Express would seal a place in the playoffs for the team
Published Jun 21, 2018
New York Cosmos B can take another important step toward its goal of winning the National Premier Soccer League Championship by clinching a playoff spot Saturday.
 
If Cosmos B defeats the Elm City Express, the team will clinch one of the four playoff berths in the North Atlantic Conference Division in the game at Hofstra Soccer Stadium in Hempstead, N.Y. at 7 p.m.
 
Cosmos B (7-0-0, 21 points), which leads the NPSL power rankings of 98 clubs, enters the encounter atop the division, with three games remaining. Regardless how the other 10 teams in the division fare, only three other clubs would catch Cosmos B, assuming it will win. The top four teams in the division will reach the playoffs, which commences next month.
 
"It's key, obviously. That's the first step," Cosmos B head coach Carlos Mendes said. "If we can clinch this weekend, if we can clinch with a couple of games in hand, I think it can help the confidence, get the mentality ready where you start to get as sharp as you can for the last couple of games before the playoffs.
 
"In talking to the group and training every day: ‘It's just keep improving week by week because you want to be playing your best coming into that. If you make it, you're going to be playing against some very good teams. So, you've got to be ready.’ "
 
Winning the league has been Cosmos B's No. 1 priority since the team was eliminated from the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup during its play-in game with division rival Brooklyn Italians in May.
 
"It’s the part two of the part one that we initially set out to achieve for ourselves when we started out," forward Wojciech Wojcik said. "The Open Cup was a priority and that was a very important thing for us. We didn't do well there. We told ourselves the league was the only thing we have left to show for ourselves and the team, and how well we have come together and what we can accomplish together as a team.
 
"To have that opportunity this weekend is very big for us. I'm excited because we do have something to look forward to. We prepare for those reasons that when step on the field for this weekend, we can win and clinch our playoff spot and from there, worry about the rest. This Saturday's game is the most important game for us."
 
As it turns out, the Express is the defending NPSL Champion. Elm City (1-2-2, 5), which calls New Haven, Conn. home, sits in seventh place in the 11-team division, but is still very much alive in its postseason quest.
 
"It is a little bit ironic because it happens to come down to this game to the team that won it last year," Wojcik said. "It's going to be very exciting. Those guys are not going to give us an easy game. They're going to be organized and they're going to be a good team. They're going to come out and fight. We need to do the same and match their intensity."
 
Mendes expected a battle as well.
 
"They have some crafty players," he said. "Some Brazilian guys, some midfielders who are very good on the ball.
 
"They have a lot of speed up top and wide, too, so they are very dangerous on the counter. They can release quickly and hurt you and then they get everyone behind the ball. It's not going to be an easy game. We have to be at the top of our game to be ready. They are a championship team and they have quality."
 
After Saturday's game, Cosmos B will have only two regular-season matches remaining. New York visits Hartford City FC at Central Connecticut State University in New Britain, Conn. on Saturday, June 30, at 7 p.m. before welcoming Kingston Stockade FC at Commisso Stadium at Columbia University on Saturday, July 7, at 7:30 p.m.
 
All tickets for Cosmos B home games are general admission and are $10 apiece. Cosmos B will donate all ticket sales to Street Soccer USA, which brings a wide range of free programs that connects soccer skills to life skills to youth and young adults in low-income community across the country and New York City.