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NASL Rewind: Indy cruises past Cosmos, Rowdies top Strikers, and more

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A busy but short NASL weekend was headlined by Indy Elevan reinserting itself in the playoff race with a huge victory at home against the New York Cosmos.

Elsewhere, both South Florida sides endured difficult results while the Ottawa Fury snatched a victory against Minnesota United late in the match for a second week in a row.

Here is a closer look at this weekend’s NASL action:

Puerto Rico Snatches Rare Win in Miami

After a two hour rain and lighting delay, bottom standings dwellers Puerto Rico FC snatched a late 1-0 victory at FIU Stadium. The victory in front of 10,012 spectators was PRFC’s first ever road win in club history.

Jackie Marrero’s free kick in the 79th minute deflected off a defender and squeaked past Miami goalkeeper Daniel Vega. The loss for Miami FC comes at a terrible time, their second defeat in their last two matches. While they can still qualify for the postseason, Miami has to turn it around next week against Ottawa Fury FC. Puerto Rico are now unbeaten in four, and have kept opponents to zero goals in three of the four matches.

Rowdies Throttle Strikers in Florida Derby

A tough week for the Ft. Lauderdale Strikers organization got worse after losing, 4-1, to their cross-state rivals, the Tampa bay Rowdies. Despite an early goal, the Strikers gave up four unanswered to the Rowdies, snapping a seven game unbeaten streak in NASL play. The Rowdies went into the half with a 3-1 lead, before notching a fourth in the second half despite a resilient showing from the Strikers in the second frame.

The victory brings Tampa within one point of Minnesota United, who holds the last postseason spot. Meanwhile, the Strikers are only four points from the Loons themselves, although the Rowdies do have an extra game in hand.

Jacksonville and OKC Draw

Charles Eloundou gave the Jacksonville Armada a first half lead in their first home game in over a month, but it was not enough to hold of Rayo OKC. Despite having no business in getting a result from the match, Rayo was able to snatch a point at the death in a 1-1 draw.

Michel slotted a  penalty kick into the Jacksonville net during stoppage time in the second half, ensuring that Rayo OKC and the Armada would share the spoils. Eloundou made Armada club history  by becoming the first player to score in three straight games.

Ottawa Bests Loons For Second Straight Week

The Ottawa Fury were able to defeat Minnesota United for the second straight week to extend their unbeaten streak to seven games.

After a dramatic and late comeback victory in Minnesota last weekend, the Fury were able to pull out another late comeback victory this time around. Fury FC played well in the first half, despite going into the break down, 1-0. Goals from Giuseppe Gentile, Ryan Williams, and Danny Mwanga in the second half allowed Ottawa to celebrate a 3-1 win.

Fury were tied 1-1 going into the last 10 minutes before scoring twice in four minutes to give themselves a two goal lead late in the match.

RailHawks Edge Eddies

Austin Da Luz’s first half goal was all what was needed for a 1-0 Carolina RailHawks victory at home against FC Edmonton. Despite good early soccer from the visitors, it was the hosts that would score the lone goal of the match.

It took a good 25 minutes in the second half for Edmonton to get a chance at the Carolina goal, but Darryl Fordyce’s shot was wide of the mark. Despite going down a man for the four minute stoppage time at the end of the second half, the RailHawks were able to register there first win of the season against the Eddies.

Cosmos Falter in Indianapolis 

The big matchup of the weekend ended up as a one sided match in favor of the hosts. Eamon Zayed, Justin Braun and Dylan Mares all scored for Indy Eleven in the 3-0 victory, a win which comes as the exact opposite of the last meeting between these two (3-0 Cosmos on Long Island).

The victory has pushed Indy’s home unbeaten streak in NASL play to 16 straight matches, as well as leapfrogging Miami and Edmonton to second place in the Fall Standings, only four points behind the first place Cosmos.

Comments

    • You shouldn’t have to wonder much. Indy is a strong side and came out equally as strong. Cosmos were flat, unimaginative and disjointed. But I chalk their performance as a fluke. They generally are on top of it more than that.

      Reply
  1. Georgi Hristov, getting the job done for the Rowdies, every week. He is one of the most intelligent players in this league…Rowdies v. Miami FC next Saturday at Al Lang should be a good one!

    Reply

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