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Cosmos See Points For The Taking In Upcoming Home Games

New York plays four of its next five contests at home
Jack Bell (@JackBell} | Aug 25, 2016

Photo credit: New York Cosmos

It is no secret that the New York Cosmos have turned Shuart Stadium into a fortress – the defending North American Soccer League Champions are riding a 12-game unbeaten home unbeaten streak.

And now the Cosmos have a unique opportunity over the next three weeks to rack up points when they play four of their next five games at home. First comes Saturday’s game against the Carolina RailHawks and then concludes with a game against rampaging FC Edmonton on Sept. 17.

“It’s huge obviously,” midfielder Adam Moffat told NASL.com, referring to the homestand. “We’ve been tough at home and only dropped two points. We know this is another great opportunity. But we still have to go out and perform.”

Overall, New York is 9-1-0 in league play at Shuart Stadium in 2016, only dropping points in a 1-1 draw against Rayo OKC on Aug. 7. The team’s record on the road, however, is quite a different story, even after last week’s late goal by Andrés Flores gave the Cosmos a 2-1 victory at Puerto Rico FC. New York is only 3-1-6 away from home so far this year.

“I think any time you play at home you feel confident,” defender Hunter Freeman said. “Since I’ve been here with the club we’ve always done well at home. To this point on the road we’ve let a lot of games slip away. We’ve gone from a potential three points to one or a potential one point to zero in a handful of games on the road. Obviously there are things we have to fix.

“You can look at it as alarming because we can’t close those games out and get crucial points. Or would you rather lose 3-0 on the road? For me, it hurts worse to lose the way we’ve lost, but at the same time it means that we’ve been in every game on the road.”

For a squad with as much experience, it has come as quite a shock for the manner in which New York has let some games slip away, especially late in games. Of the 22 total goals conceded this year, the Cosmos have yielded 10 (or 45 percent) in the last quarter-hour of games.

“We’ve give up a lot late so each team knows that if other teams have been able to score late then they’ll keep it going, too,” Moffat said. “We’ve been a bit soft, but we’ve finished the last two games strong.”

One of those was home, the 3-2 win on David Diosa’s late goal against Tampa Bay, and then last week’s two-goal rally against Puerto Rico FC. But late goals allowed, twice at Edmonton, at Minnesota, and at Indy Eleven have kept the Cosmos from notching key victories on the road.

New York is unbeaten in its last four matches and part of the reason has been the decision of Coach Giovanni Savarese to move Freeman from fullback into the central defense.

“I think we’ve been in a good stretch and haven’t not lost a game since I’ve been there [in central defense], but it’s not solely because of me,” Freeman said. “Jimmy Mulligan’s return has made a big difference. Where I make up the difference for the lack of a physical presence is my distribution of the ball and my ability to read the game. For what I lack physically I make up for mentally.”

With 12 points up for grabs in those coming four home games, the Cosmos could potentially put some distance between them and the other top tier teams in the Fall Season Standings. But it will not be a cakewalk, especially with games against Indy Eleven (Aug. 31), the Loons (Sept. 10), and FC Edmonton (Sept. 17) coming after the visit by Carolina. The lone road match will be at Fort Lauderdale (Sept. 3).

“For sure we are expected to win at home, but it’s easier said than done,” Freeman said. “When we go on the road we’re often times expected to win, and that’s not something that’s said about a lot of teams in the league. There are not many places we’re not expected to win. If we lose that’s a big story. If we go to play Minnesota on the road everyone expects us to win, I guess that’s just the nature of the business, something we’ve helped to create ourselves. For me it’s unfair, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. I want to be on a team that’s expected to win.”

The points are there for the taking over the next three weeks, a situation the Cosmos will have to take advantage of because from Sept. 24 until the conclusion of the Fall Season at the end of October the club will play five of its final seven games on the road.

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