Cosmos Continue Push For Top Seed In The Championship In San Antonio

The New York Cosmos head to Texas with ambitions to move closer to the No. 1 seed for The Championship, the NASL’s four-team postseason tournament. The Cosmos must win against the San Antonio Scorpions to keep the pressure on Ottawa Fury FC at the top of the Combined Standings. San Antonio, the defending league champions, can play the spoiler after seeing their own return to the postseason dashed by a 0-0 draw against the Fort Lauderdale Strikers on Wednesday.

TEAM OVERVIEW

New York Cosmos: The Cosmos come out of their bye week hungry to regain the top spot in the Combined Standings. Heading into the bye, the Cosmos snapped a short winless streak by taking each of their last two matches, 3-0. Their most recent result was against FC Edmonton back on October 11 at Shuart Stadium. Great offense buoyed the result as Sebástian Guenzatti, Raúl, and Ruben Bover all scored in the decisive victory.

The Cosmos (50 points overall) currently sit five points behind Combined Season-leader Ottawa, who took the Fall Season title via a midweek win in Jacksonville, with a game in hand. If the Cosmos can get ahead of Fury FC by season’s end they would clinch home-field advantage throughout The Championship, which begins on November 7.

San Antonio Scorpions: The Scorpions did not help the Cosmos’ quest for home field advantage, as they fell, 1-0, to Fury FC on the road this past Sunday afternoon. An Ottawa goal by Mauro Eustaquio in the 68th minute was all Ottawa needed to defeat the Scorpions.

On Wednesday night, San Antonio turned in a brave performance at Lockhart Stadium to tie a streaking Fort Lauderdale, 0-0, but that wasn't enough to keep the club in The Championship race. The Scorpions come into their match against New York bearing just five points from their last seven matches. 

MATCHUP HISTORY

The Cosmos and Scorpions will face off for the second time this Fall Season and for the third time this season. The Cosmos won both prior encounters against San Antonio, with their most recent result coming in a 2-1 victory back on August 15.

Down 1-0 after a 45th-minute goal by the Scorpions’ Milton Palacios, Leo Fernandes knocked home an equalizer for New York just before halftime. The Cosmos came back strong to start the second half, as Scorpions defender Brad Rusin kneed in a Hunter Freeman cross for an own goal, giving the Cosmos a 2-1 lead. They would hold on to that lead for the rest of the match.

The match on Saturday will mark the Cosmos’ first and only visit to Toyota Field this season.

NOTES

Road Finale: Saturday’s match will be the first one since Cosmos forward Raúl officially announced his retirement last Thursday. He joins Cosmos midfielder and fellow former Spanish international Marcos Senna, who will also hang up his boots at season’s end. This game could be the last away match of both their careers should the Cosmos earn home-field advantage for The Championship.

Race For The Prize: The Cosmos and Ottawa Fury FC, this year's Spring Season and Fall Season Champions, are duking it out for NASL Combined Season supremacy. Neither side has ever finished first overall. The team that does gets home-field advantage throughout The Championship.

In A Rhythm: Cosmos goalkeeper Jimmy Maurer is coming off his second straight clean sheet. He lowered his goals against average (GAA) to 0.96 this NASL Season with commanding performances in Atlanta on October 7 and against Edmonton on October 11. Maurer trails only Ottawa’s Romuald Peiser for the league lead in GAA.

Heating Up: Cosmos winger Sebástian Guenzatti enters Saturday’s match on a roll, having scored the opening goal in each of the Cosmos’ recent 3-0 victories. The Cosmos are 10W-2D-0L when scoring first this season.