By DAN KARELL
The start of their season is still more than three months away, but the New York Cosmos have continued to add talent and depth to their roster.
On Friday, the club announced that they had signed three new players; defender Hunter Gorskie, and goalkeepers Jimmy Maurer and Chad Calderone.
Gorskie, 22, recently finished his senior season at Stanford, where he was named second-team All Pac-12, as well as being the team’s captain. Maurer, 24, spent last season in Chile with Universidad de Concepcion after two years with the Atlanta Silverbacks, and Calderone, 32, has most recently played for New York Pancyprian-Freedoms of the Cosmopolitan Soccer League in New York City.
The NASL club currently have 14 players on their roster, while their website states the final total will be between 25-30 players.
Here are some more stories to check out around the nation:
FC TUCSON BREAKS GROUND ON NEW FACILITY
Ahead of their 2013 USL-PDL season, FC Tucson has achieved an unlikely status, becoming one of the first clubs in the fourth tier of United States soccer to have their own stadium.
Fans arrived on Thursday to join in and watch the groundbreaking of a nearly 2,000 seat stadium on the Kino Sports Complex in Tucson. The stadium should be finished by November 2013, and will include an overhang to help shade fans from the sun as well as other improvements to the complex where the team and it’s youth squads train.
“We finally have a proper home for youth soccer in Southern Arizona,” FC Tucson managing member Greg Foster said. “And it’s youth soccer, adult/amateur soccer and professional soccer. We have a great place to play and a great place to showcase soccer as a spectator event.”
Founded in 2010, FC Tucson was Arizona’s first soccer franchise, which has now been joined by Phoenix FC in USL-Pro and the Phoenix Del Sol and Tucson Soccer Academy in the WPSL.
KANSAS CITY ATHLETICS WITHDRAW FROM U.S. OPEN CUP
Last Sunday, the amateur soccer side Kansas City Athletics defeated Michigan team Dearborn Stars 1-0 to earn qualification into the U.S. Open Cup.
Following the match, the Stars protested the decision to the U.S. Open Cup organizers due to the narrow length of the field in Kansas City, KS, and won the protest, forcing a replay match. Due to logistics and short notice, the Kansas City club were forced to withdraw from the competition, though they have made their thoughts on the matter known to the public.
According to Kansas City-based website Down by the Byline, there were numerous issues with the protest by Dearborn in the first place, including that it was submitted past the deadline, and that no one protested the size of the field (62 yards as opposed to the minimum 65) before the match started, including the referees.
“We have proven three ways why the protest should be over turned, they refuse to acknowledge that fact,” Athletics general manager and coach Kyle Perkins said. “We don’t agree, and won’t play in a game that shouldn’t be played.”
CHARLOTTE EAGLES SIGN HERRERA
Following two seasons back in his native Colombia, Jorge Herrera has returned to his old digs with the Charlotte Eagles.
The USL-PRO franchise announced on Friday that they had added Herrera to their roster following approval from U.S. Soccer. The 32-year-old played 102 matches for the Eagles over seven seasons, and was a first team All USL member between 2008-2011.
Herrera has been playing the last two years with Atletico Huila, who currently sit in the middle of Colombia’s top professional soccer league. The Colombian is expected to be in the starting lineup when the Eagles play the Pittsburgh Riverhounds on Friday.
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What do you make of these reports? Like the Cosmos signings? Excited that more teams will get their own stadiums? Do you believe KC Athletics’ side of the story?
Share your thoughts below.