Cosmos Are 'Perfect Fit' For Ryan Richter
Photo credit: Rob Kinnan/Carolina RailHawks
Six games stand in the way of the New York Cosmos earning a Fall Season title and returning to the postseason to defend their NASL title. The club can also, much like last year, grab the No. 1 seed.
For defender Ryan Richter, who joined the Cosmos on Sept. 20, there is no better place to be.
“It was a perfect fit at a time of the season you usually don’t get opportunities like this,” Richter told NASL.com. “It came up for me, and I’m very thankful that it happened.
“I think for most teams they look at the Cosmos as a gold standard, it was no different for me. With two championships in three years, they set the bar in the NASL.”
Richter, 27, was on the wrong side of the Cosmos’ title pursuit last year. He was a member of the Ottawa Fury FC side that fell, 3-2, at Shuart Stadium last November. In a strange twist, Richter could potentially make his home debut to help the Cosmos equal their own record – as well as the Carolina RailHawks’ – for most consecutive games unbeaten at home with a result this Sunday. The Cosmos’ streak of 17 games unbeaten in New York began after a 4-1 loss to Richter and Ottawa last September.
In his short time in New York, he has noted the similarities between his experience in Ottawa under coach Marc Dos Santos, who will lead the San Francisco Deltas in the club’s first season in 2017, and current coach Giovanni Savarese with the Cosmos.
“I see a pretty big similarity as far as their demeanor and culture they want to bring to the team between Marc and Gio,” Richter said. “Last year was so special because of the run we went on, but it was a great group of lads and we believed in each other and got on great off the field as well. It’s similar to what I see here. It’s a very close group and the guys work for each other every day, but they get along off the field as well.”
The opportunity to play with the Cosmos through the home stretch of the NASL Fall Season allows Richter to hone his skills even further. The training sessions he has been a part of have lived up to his expectations.
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“Gio made it very clear that every day there’s a competition,” Richter said. “You’re not going to get better anywhere else in the NASL than the Cosmos because of the quality of players that are here.
“For me, there’s no better fit for my game in the NASL. I think I can add some things that the team didn’t have before and my style will fit right in.”
Slotting in at right back on Wednesday night, Richter made his Cosmos debut and played 90 minutes in the club’s 2-0 win over the RailHawks, snapping Carolina’s nine-game home unbeaten run and extending the Cosmos’ lead atop the Fall Season to six points and Combined Standings to seven.
Richter is hoping “to prove to the coaching staff and the other players that I’m the right fit at right back for them.” He also added: “I want to earn whatever I get. I’ll keep pushing every day.”
What Richter is hoping to achieve is to go one better than last year and have his hands on the Soccer Bowl trophy at the end of The Championship, the NASL’s four-team postseason tournament, after spending most of the year with Bethlehem Steel of the USL.
“That’s the reason I’m here,” he said. “I wouldn’t have left Bethlehem at this time if it wasn’t to come here. I wanted to come here. The reason is because I have the chance to win the NASL title. I got so close last year and it was heartbreaking to lose that game last year.
“Hopefully I’m lifting that trophy at the end of the year like I didn’t do last year. Right now there’s no better situation to put myself in to do that.”
