WHO
WHEN & WHERE
Sunday, May 1 at 6 p.m. ET | James M. Shuart Stadium
WATCH & FOLLOW
THE STAKES
The Cosmos enter the midpoint of the Spring Season looking to rebound from two straight heartbreaking defeats in their first two road matches of the year. After their dramatic 2-1 loss in Indianapolis two weekends ago, the Cosmos fell to a formidable Minnesota United FC side 1-0 on April 23 via a 90th-minute Christian Ramirez goal.
The Cosmos will return to Shuart Stadium for one match before embarking on another two-game road trip, and this home encounter promises to be a big one. Carolina is the only team in the NASL that has yet to earn anything less than three points in each of its four matches this season. The RailHawks’ latest result came against the Tampa Bay Rowdies, a 3-1 victory at Al Lang Stadium last Saturday night. Austin Da Luz and Tiyi Shipalane have led the way for Carolina, scoring three goals and two goals, respectively, in the first four matches.
At the halfway point of the season, this match holds plenty of weight. The Cosmos are looking to regroup and keep their home field advantage going. New York is 2-0-0 (W-D-L) in its two matches at home this year. In 2015 the Cosmos were buoyed by goals from Andrés Flores, Lucky Mkosana and Raúl in their season series with the RailHawks, staying undefeated against Carolina in three matches (2-1-0).
MATCHUP HISTORY
New York is 3-1-4 all time against the RailHawks. In 2015, the Cosmos showed their poise by bouncing back from a 2014 season in which they lost all three matches against Carolina. On Aug. 30, 2015 Lucky Mkosana scored a dramatic 85th-minute winner at Shuart Stadium as the Cosmos held off a Nazmi Albadawi brace and prevailed 3-2.
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