News

Cosmos Down Scorpions, Stay Unbeaten at Home

New York fell behind in the first half but equalized seconds later, and an early second half score saw the home side past San Antonio 2-1 on Saturday night.
Published Aug 15, 2015
By Cosmos News Service

HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. (August 15, 2015) – The New York Cosmos quickly rallied from a first half deficit to defeat the San Antonio Scorpions, 2-1, in a North American Soccer League Fall Season match Saturday night at Hofstra’s Shuart Stadium.

The Cosmos (3-3-1) extended their unbeaten streak to five matches and have not lost at home in over a year.

Immediately after the Scorpions (1-2-4) opened the scoring through defender Milton Palacios, Cosmos midfielder Leo Fernandes put away a chance just before halftime to equalize. Raúl cracked a rising shot from outside the 18-yard box that caromed off the crossbar, and Fernandes headed past Scorpions goalkeeper Daniel Fernandes.

“I like to put myself in dangerous positions," Fernandes said after the match. He had a similar chance to score in the 40th minute but was deemed offside. "Sometimes I'm offside, but sometimes I’m not. Right now I think the ball is bouncing my way, I’m a step ahead of the defenders and the goals are going in, which is very good.”

“Tying the game before the half was very important because it gave us more confidence for the second half,” said assistant coach Carlos Llamosa, who filled in for the suspended Giovanni Savarese.

It was Fernandes' team-leading sixth goal of the year. It was also the third consecutive game Fernandes had a goal called back for offside.

“We were joking with him that this was the third game in a row he had a goal called back for offside,” goalkeeper Jimmy Maurer said. “But guys like [Filippo] Inzaghi with Milan, he gets called offside 10 times, but the 11th time you score it counts the same.”

The Cosmos came out of the locker room for the second half on the front foot. A dangerous Hunter Freeman free kick near the left corner flag was knocked in by Scorpions defender Brad Rusin for an own goal, putting the Cosmos up 2-1 in the 47th minute.

New York made sure that result held up, rarely conceding any dangerous scoring chances from a Scorpions team that defended deep and tried to utilize their speed up front on counters.

In the 84th minute former Cosmos midfielder Joseph Nane, who got the start for San Antonio, was issued a red card for a strong tackle of New York midfielder Marcos Senna. The penalty reduced the Scorpions to 10 men for the final minutes of the match.

“I’m very pleased with the performance of the team defensively, not only the back four. Everyone contributed to this win defensively,” Llamosa said. “In the second half they had the same mentality: they drop a lot of numbers and counterattack with the fast guys up front. But I think the back line and also [Adam] Moffat and Raúl helped us defend those counterattacks.”

With the win the Cosmos stretched their home unbeaten streak to 15 games, dating back to August 2 of last year. They return to the road next Saturday, August 22 to face the Carolina RailHawks at 7:30 p.m. ET.

“When you win at home, then you can steal points on the road," said Maurer. "That’s how you climb up the standings. We’re just chipping away."