Fury FC Draw Puts Top Seed Quest In Jeopardy

Ottawa Fury FC closed out the NASL regular season with a 12-match unbeaten streak on the road with Saturday evening's 1-1 draw in Atlanta. Aly Alberto Hassan's second-half tally helped erase a one-goal deficit at halftime giving Ottawa a three-point lead over the New York Cosmos in the race for the top seed in The Championship, the NASL's four-team postseason tournament. 

Fury FC will be scoreboard watching tonight with all eyes on the Cosmos-Rowdies match. A New York win by two goals or more would see the Cosmos claim the top seed which would see Ottawa host Minnesota in next weekend's semifinal. A Tampa Bay win would see Ottawa capture the top seed and a date with the Rowdies at TD Place in the semifinal. A draw between New York at Tampa and Ottawa will claim the top seed, but will have to wait for Sunday's Jacksonville-Fort Lauderdale match to determine their semifinal opponent. 

"We were passive in the first half and didn't do enough to come into halftime with a good result," head coach Marc Dos Santos said following the regular-season finale. "In the second half we changed our mentality - we were more aggressive and deserved the goal.

"I'm proud of the guys that played and the effort they gave. I want to praise the players for the fantastic season they had and their attitude in the 30 games played. Now it is time to focus on the most important game of our short history." 

Atlanta took the lead very early in the match after a clinical free kick by Junior Burgos in the 4th minute. The set-piece master curled his shot up and over the wall to give the home side the early lead. 

Hassan, Oliver, Carl Haworth and Ugur Albayrak would all have opportunites in the opening half, but were unable to find the target.

Despite Atlanta scoring on their first shot, Marcel DeBellis' debut was an impressive one as Fury FC's 'keeper made a couple a crucial first-half saves, including one off Pedro Mendes keeping the first-half deficit at just 1-0. 

Ottawa came out a much different side in the second half with plenty of pace in their attack as Haworth, Oliver, and Albayrak all made space for themselves with their pace and created opportunities for target-man Aly Alberto Hassan. Fury FC would lose defender Colin Falvey to injury in the 58th minute ending the center backs iron-man streak. 

Hassan would make good on his opportunity in the 65th minute putting home the rebound after Stewared Ceus denied him from close range on his initial shot. 

The goal gave Ottawa some extra energy and Ceus was very busy for the duration of the match. 

Marcel DeBellis would prove his worth on the final play of the match diving to his right to stop a Pedro Mendes free kick and secure the spoint for Fury FC to help its chase of the top overall seed.