New York Cosmos 2 Tampa Bay Rowdies 2

The New York Cosmos and the visiting Tampa Bay Rowdies played to a 2-2 draw in front of 8,565 spectators at Hofstra University’s James M. Shuart Stadium on Saturday evening.

Tampa Bay midfielder Evans Frimpong gave the Rowdies a lead in the 25th minute, but it was very short-lived. Two minutes later, midfielder Hagop Chirishian capitalized on a Rowdies defensive mistake to pull the Cosmos level.

Midfielder Darel Russell delivered a free kick from far out in the right channel, but the diminutive Frimpong outleaped New York goalkeeper Jimmy Maurer to head it into the net and give the Rowdies a 1-0 lead. It was Frimpong’s first goal of the season.

Chirishian was the beneficiary of a failed pass in the Rowdies’ defensive ranks in the 27th minute, racing onto the ball and running to the endline before finding space to shoot between Rowdies goalkeeper Matt Pickens and his near post to score for New York.

The Cosmos could easily have taken a lead in the 43rd minute, but forward Danny Mwanga missed a tap-in from close range.

The second half got off to a quick start as midfielder Marcos Senna gave the Cosmos the lead off a perfectly executed free kick. Goalkeeper Matt Pickens dove left in search of getting a touch on the shot but there was nothing he could do. 

Minutes later, the Rowdies would have a chance of their own with a Shriver header but goalkeeper Maurer was quick to get to the ball and avoid the equalizer. It was the Cosmos who nearly doubled their lead in the 62nd minute, when Stokkelien redirected a cross from the right flank. His touch went off the far post and traveled across the goalline until Rowdies defender Jordan Gafa cleared it out of the box.

The match became very physical as the play continued but it would be the Rowdies who created several chances in the final minutes of play. Second-half substitute Lucky Mkosana had two chances in the span of one minute, starting with a shot just inside the 18-yard box that was saved by Maurer. On the ensuing corner kick, the Zimbabwe native had yet another shot, this time it went over the bar and out for a goal kick.

Seconds after the fourth official signaled four minutes of added time, Frimpong found his second goal of the match, capitalizing on a Maurer error. The Cosmos goalkeeper was able to clear the initial cross but the ball immediately was sent back into the heart of the box.  Maurer misplayed the bouncing ball and Frimpong was their to prounce on the rebound and equalize it for the visiting team.

Both sides finished with 10 players each after both Russell and Senna were sent off respectively, during stoppage time.

"We wanted to finish strong this season," said Cosmos coach, Giovanni Savarese.  "We want to try to win every game as we always say. Every game for us is important and we wanted to get the win of course and get three more points, but I was very content with the performance today of the team. I think it was one of the best games we have played so far this year."