CARY, N.C. (August 22, 2015) - For the first time in five trips to North Carolina, the New York Cosmos are coming home with three points, beating the Carolina RailHawks 3-1 at WakeMed Soccer Park Saturday night.

Trailing 1-0 at the half, the Cosmos erupted for three goals in a 12-minute span to stretch their unbeaten streak to six games and move into a four-way tie for second place in the NASL Fall Season Standings. They now lead the Combined Season Standings by five points.

“I’m proud of all the guys, I’m proud of the performance,” Cosmos head coach Giovanni Savarese said after the match. “Everyone contributed to win the game. It was a very strong match all around. It was a very good all-around win on a difficult field against a team that always makes it very hard on us.”

Leo Fernandes continued his recent tear, scoring his team-leading seventh goal within 30 seconds of the second-half kickoff to equalize. Hunter Freeman started the sequence with a cross from the right. Andrés Flores got a foot on it and the ball popped to Fernandes, who tapped inside the far post.

“He did a great job today to find that goal to put us back in the game,” Savarese said of Fernandes. “Overall it was a great performance, not only by Leo, but by the entire team to be able to create more chances and find goals. We played very well.”

In the 54^th minute, Fernandes turned provider, playing a cross inside the box to Lucky Mkosana. He slid in to volley past Carolina goalkeeper Akira Fitzgerald from eight yards out.

“We did that this past week at practice, and we showed it today on the field," Mkosana said. "Leo and I have been working on that particular play and it paid off.”

Three minutes later, the Cosmos (4-3-1) made it 3-1 when Adam Moffat pounced on a rebound after Fitzgerald came well off his line to save attempts by Walter Restrepo and Flores.

“It was definitely one of the best second halves we've had because we managed the ball really well, we managed the game in a good way, we created chances, we defended well and we moved the ball in a very good way,” Savarese said. “The team looked very mature in those times."

Carolina (2-2-5), which dropped its third consecutive game, took the lead in the 16^th minute when defender Daniel Scott latched onto a Ty Shipalane corner kick and headed inside at the far post.

Despite the halftime deficit, Savarese said he liked what he saw from his team in the opening half. And he was really pleased with what happened after the break.

“We moved the ball faster from the back, we were able to beat the lines of pressure quicker, we got guys in the box on crosses with more numbers and we were able to pressure them higher and win balls in areas that could be more dangerous,” Savarese said of his team’s adjustment in the second half.

“Gio and the coaches did a great job at halftime," added Mkosana. "We felt we attacked well in the first half but it was unfortunate that we conceded. They told us to be more compact and keep going at them. We were able to get a quick goal and that really gave us momentum.”

Throughout the season, the Cosmos have gone into another gear in the second half. It’s a great quality of a championship-caliber club, according to Savarese.

“The most important thing is we always finish very strong and that’s the key,” he said. “The guys always find a way to get a good result. For me that’s very important.”

Now the focus shifts to a critical midweek clash with Ottawa Fury FC Wednesday night in the Canadian capital.

“It’s going to be a very difficult match, a strong match, a very important match,” Savarese said.

“We definitely want to build on what we did today and we know they’re a good team," Mkosana said of Fury FC. "They’re the Fall Season leaders and we know to expect a good match. But we’ll be ready.”

That game kicks off from TD Place at 7 p.m. ET on August 26, and will be broadcast on ONE World Sports.