NY Cosmos beating Carolina R.H 3-1
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 Rail-Hawks 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.”
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. I thought it was a very good performance.”
Carolina (2-2-5), which dropped its third consecutive game, took the lead in the 16th minute when defender Daniel Scott latched onto a Ty Shipalane corner kick and headed inside at the far post from eight yards.
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 the Ottawa Fury Wednesday night in the Canadian capital. While they look up at Ottawa in the Fall Season standings, the Cosmos are five points clear in the combined standings.
“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 match kicks off from TD Place at 7 p.m. ET on August 22, and will be broadcast on ONE World Sports.
