Cosmos make return, fall 3-1 to Hearts of Pine

The Cosmos made their long-awaited return to professional soccer on Saturday March 14th, in front of an enthusiastic 4,166 (as per the NY Cosmos) fans on a windy day at Hinchliffe Stadium in Paterson, NJ.

In an afternoon where former club players were honored, the Cosmos opened the season against Portland Hearts of Pine. The over 500 visiting spectators from Maine, as well as the Cosmos 5-Points Supporters groups helped to provide great atmosphere to start the match and throughout.

The Cosmos started the match with four players making their professional debuts (Stephani in goal, Milovanov in central midfield, Zielonka at right wing, and Morabito at left back), a lineup that mixed youth with experience. Hearts of Pine would have the first big chance of the match in the 6th minute, after a mistake in the back by the Cosmos backline, Stephani did well to save a close-range shot. In the 12th minute Titus Washington shot past a diving Stephani hitting the right post, as the Cosmos narrowly avoided an early deficit. The Cosmos started to put some pressure on Hearts of Pine, and in the 17th minute Christian Kofi recorded the first shot for the Cosmos. In the 22nd minute a Sebastian Guenzatti shot was parried away by the Hearts of Pine goalkeeper Hunter Morse. The Cosmos almost opened the scoring in the 33rd minute when Darren Sidoel’s 30-yard shot hit off the crossbar. After a few more chances by both sides, the match went to the half tied at 0. While Hearts of Pine had the majority of the possession, the Cosmos had 5 shots, including 2 on target, with Hearts getting 2 shots, including one on target.

The second half started with the two sides having good early chances. However, in the 56th minute Hearts would take the lead on a headed goal by Konstantinos Georgallides. Masashi Wada did well to get a cross off, finding the Cypriot midfielder to open the scoring. The Cosmos reacted by bringing in Patrick Bohui in the 65th minute for Nick Zielonka. In the 73rd minute the Cosmos would tie the match. Ajmeer Spengler would find Darren Sidoel at the top of the box, the Dutch midfielder would then fire the ball past a diving Morse. The team would celebrate with the Cosmos Supporters. The Cosmos would bring in Tino Puentes for Galazzini in the 74th minute, becoming the 4th Cosmos player to make his professional debut during the match.

The Cosmos celebration would not last long, as in the 76TH minute Portland would regain the lead, after a failed clearance on a corner kick, Masashi Wada would shoot the ball into the back of the net. The quick response disappointed the Cosmos faithful, but the Cosmos still pressed forward looking for an equalizing goal. Portland would put the match away in the 86th minute, a long goal kick from Morse would find Ollie Wright who would in turn feed an on-coming Aboubacar Kamara who would get into the box and poke the ball into the right side of the goal. The Cosmos would not be able to generate much after that, and the match would end with a 3-1 victory for Portland Hearts of Pine.

Despite the loss, the Cosmos showed a lot of promise, they created many chances and were able to go toe-to-toe with one of the top sides in the league. At the post-match press conference, Coach Davide Corti expressed his overall satisfaction with the Cosmos performance despite the loss. He was pleased with the performances of the players making their pro debuts, and also was happy with the center-back pairing of Anderson Holt and Jordan Chavez. He commented that while Chavez has only been with the club for 10 days, he seems to be fully implemented with the group. He also cited the quality of Chaves as a human being, and the importance of having good people in the group. Expect the team to correct some errors and look for a better result next weekend against Spokane Velocity.