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Nine-man Cosmos outdone by clinical RailHawks

Carlos Senna (Mike Gramajo / SBI)

By DAN KARELL

After allowing just one goal in two matches, the New York Cosmos had a performance they’d rather forget.

In the driving wind and rain in Cary, North Carolina, the Cosmos finished with nine players in a 3-0 defeat to the Carolina RailHawks on Saturday night at WakeMed Sporting Park. It’s the first time this season that the Cosmos have been defeated, and the second match in a row where they failed to score.

RailHawks forward Brian Shriver increased his season scoring total to 11 goals with a brace, the first goal coming just eight minutes into the match. Despite holding the majority of the possession to that point, the Cosmos allowed RailHawks midfielder Ty Shipalane to burst up the field on a counter attack, feeding teammate Zack Schilawski and then Shriver who finished from close range.

The chippyness that defined the match began to take hold soon after. Referee Mark Kadlecik was quick to go to the book on a number of fouls between both teams, slowing down any rhythm of the match. In total, eight players received yellow cards and three saw red cards.

Shriver scored his second of the match in the 28th minute when he took advantage of a poor back pass by Cosmos defender Korey Veeder, rounding goalkeeper Kyle Reynish and finishing into an empty net for his league leading 11th of the season.

By halftime, both teams had been reduced to ten men. Cosmos midfielder Joseph Nane was shown two yellow cards within seconds of each other for a foul and then dissent towards the referee, while in the 45th minute, RailHawks midfielder and captain Austin Da Luz let his emotions get the best of him with a strong challenge on Cosmos right back Hunter Freeman.

The Cosmos brought in Danny Szetela and Roversio at halftime but still failed to take advantage of any opportunities, as the RailHawks stout defense kept Marcos Senna away from goal and Ayoze constantly moving backwards.

In the 89th minute, the RailHawks added their third of the night from the penalty spot after substitute Cesar Elizondo was taken down in the box. Substitute Brian Ackley stepped up and fired home into the upper 90 to effectively put the game away. A minute later, Cosmos youngster Sebastian Guenzatti was shown a straight red card for a tackle from behind, ending his night and leaving a sour taste at the end of a scoreline that wasn’t indicative of the Cosmos performance.

Comments

    • Yep! And in reality, nobody outside the (where ever they are based) SBI home bias even cares……Since Ives is such a NYC homer and it’s his forum here, I’ll reluctantly give him a pass, even though I could care less about the Cosmos….

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    • Guys, the reason they write about the Cosmos is because people actually read articles about them and comment on them, like you are doing right now. They COULD write about the Railhawks, but no one would really care to read and comment on those articles. Like them or hate them, the Cosmos get attention because you give them attention. SImple as that.

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      • I just think it’s a matter of convenience, not bias. No other site, of any size, even bothers to mention NASL, USL Pro or NWSL.

        Thank you, SBI, for doing what you can to inform the soccer public. Could the coverage be more comprehensive? Sure, but the budget is only so big. I just hope the Cosmos coverage has a knock-on effect for the rest of the league.

  1. Yeah, the goals were all scored at even strength. The man advantage only lasted about 10 minutes before DaLuz got tossed. Railhawks played nothing but defense for the first 40 minutes of the second half.

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    • Wasn’t the Railhawks up by 2 goals starting the 2nd half so they didn’t really need to attack and I would assume that since the Cosmos were down 0-2 that they would need to be in more of a all out attack trying to get back into the game?
      Good news is the Cosmos can just go out and buy a goal scorer if this stays a problem

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  2. Didn’t watch the game but it seems like the first 2 goals scored were at 11v11 and the 3rd was scored when it was 10v10 so that should not of been a issue
    How bad was the ref the rest of the time?

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  3. Watched this game on fuzzy stream–and I complain about MLS officiating… ouch.

    Cosmos dominated them. Really weird game with the crazy weather, crazy ref and odd stuff.

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