Strikers Stall Cosmos’ Bid For Spring Season Title

Photo credit: Rosa Calvacanti

The Fort Lauderdale Strikers sent New York to their fourth loss in five road games and ended the Cosmos’ hopes of clinching the Spring Season title in Week 10 with a 2-1 victory at Lockhart Stadium on Saturday night.

The Cosmos would have assured themselves a spot in The Championship Semifinals with a victory. Now New York, which will be idle in Week 11, must wait for other results to determine the Spring Season Champion. Fort Lauderdale kept alive its chances of finishing in first place.

The Strikers (4W-3D-2L, 15 points) took a 1-0 lead in the 35th minute when Jose Angulo planted a header into the back of the New York net from a corner kick. Coincidentally, it was Angulo’s hard left-footed shot that forced a Jimmy Maurer save and a Carlos Mendes clearance for the corner, which was flicked on by Dalton to a determined Angulo.

Geison Moura scored what proved to be the game-winning goal, in the 74th minute, scoring his first goal of the year, with a shot that rolled past Maurer. Moura took a pass from the U.S. youth international Luis Felipe Fernandes and put his shot through the legs of defender Carlos Mendes.

The Cosmos (6-0-4, 18) pulled one back in second-half injury time when Juan Arango’s free kick from the edge of the penalty area made its way through a clutch of bodies and past Diego Restrepo. Minutes later the substitute Ruben Bover powered a shot just over the crossbar.

The Strikers have not lost since Restrepo took over in goal from Bruno, a string of five games. The win was Fort Lauderdale’s first against New York in the NASL Modern Era; before Saturday, the Strikers last beat the Cosmos on May 4, 1983.

For more information on the game, head over to strikers.com and nycosmos.com.