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NASL Fall Season Kickoff Complete; Non-Stop Action and 15 Goals in Five Matches

July 13, 2014 - North American Soccer League (NASL) News Release


NEW YORK, NY (July 13, 2014) - The North American Soccer League (NASL) Fall Season kick off is complete with FC Edmonton and Ottawa Fury FC - meeting for the second time in NASL action and the fourth time overall - played a hard-fought 0-0 tie in Commonwealth Stadium.

Saturday night's action was non-stop and full of goals as Spring Champion Minnesota United FC, who is automatically qualified for The Championship, started the Fall where they left off in the Spring by defeating host Fort Lauderdale Strikers 3-0.

Defending Soccer Bowl Champions New York Cosmos welcomed the Spring's third-place club San Antonio Scorpions and the Cosmos allowed as many goals in one match as they did all Spring, as they fell 3-1 at home.

Expansion club Indy Eleven simultaneously secured its first NASL win and snapped the Carolina RailHawks 18-match NASL home-unbeaten streak with a late goal to lock up a 2-1 victory.

An exciting back-and-forth match on the new pitch at Al Lang Stadium, saw a stoppage-time goal from Tampa Bay Rowdies securing a 3-2 victory over Atlanta Silverbacks to start their Fall campaigns.

Sunday, July 13 (NEW)

On a very hot afternoon in Edmonton, the Eddies and Fury FC embarked on their NASL Fall Season and the clubs pressed hard, but concluded the match as a 0-0 draw.

Fury FC, playing a man down for most of the second half, held off numerous chances from FC Edmonton - included three off the woodwork - holding firm for the valuable point for each club.

FC Edmonton coach Colin Miller noted, "We were totally not at the races here today...It's really disappointing... this is really 2 points dropped...but [Ottawa] did well with ten men. You have to be stronger willed, got to be more aggressive and have better passing [in the heat]."

"[The heat] was a big factor," said Fury FC Coach Marc Dos Santos. "You are a man down against a very good team playing away from home. The only way we could get a point was to suffer a little bit and at the end of the day we were able to suffer and stay connected and we came away with an important point."

Game Summary Saturday, July 12

NYCvSAS

A first-half brace by Scorpions' Rafael Castillo helped lift the San Antonio to a 3-1 win over the New York Cosmos in the opening match at Hofstra's Shuart Stadium.

In the loss, the Cosmos matched their amount of goals conceded in the entire Spring season, while San Antonio won its fifth straight road match in NASL play.

In the 41st minute, Referee Allen Chapman pointed to the spot after Castillo was knocked down in the box by Cosmos goalkeeper Jimmy Maurer, who dived to his left and got a hand on the Colombian midfielder's attempt, but ultimately it went in off the post to put the visitors in front, 1-0.

Castillo netted his second goal in the second minute of first-half stoppage time when he lashed a free kick off the underside of the crossbar, the post and in to give San Antonio a two-goal halftime lead.

Hunter Freeman pulled the Cosmos back a goal in the 57th minute, blasting a 26-yard free kick over the Scorpions wall and into the side netting.

San Antonio regained its two-goal advantage in the 69th minute when Sainey Touray ran onto a ball by Billy Forbes and chipped it over Maurer, who was off his line, to put the Scorpions in front, 3-1.

Scorpions coach Alen Marcina was pleased, "Obviously it's a huge win. I'm proud of the guys; they stuck to the plan, they executed. We had some fantastic goals -both teams. All the goals tonight were a pleasure to see. I think the fans got a treat, obviously maybe not the way they wanted it to go, but I'm proud of my guys and it's positive moving forward."

CARvIND

The Carolina RailHawks NASL home match-winning streak was snapped as they fell to first-time NASL winner Indy Eleven by a score of 2-1 in their Fall Season Opener.

Carolina's Enzo Martinez scored the first goal of the match in the 24th minute to give the 'Hawks and early lead. But a red card to Austen King in the 57th minute hurt the RailHawks as Indy scored their two goals up a man.

Indy's Ben Spencer tied the match for Indy in the 65th minute after re-gathering a ball that was deflected off a RailHawks defender to knot the match at 1-1.

In the waning moments of the game, Indy substitute Don Smart was the hero as he scored after being fed in open space by Dylan Mares, putting Indy ahead in the 87th minute.

"To come away from home and get a result, really proud of the work our guys put in in tonight," said Indy Eleven coach Juergen Sommer . "Also Collin's team as well, first class team. A lot of fun for our group, great way for us to start the fall for our organization and our fans"

TBRvATL

Georgi Hristov's stoppage time header lifted the Tampa Bay Rowdies past the Atlanta Silverbacks 3-2 in the NASL Fall season opener in front of an energetic crowd at Al Lang Stadium.

In the 27th minute, Atlanta midfielder Junior Burgos drove down the center of the pitch and drilled a shot into the corner of goalkeeper Matt Pickens' goal from about 30 yards out. Atlanta doubled their lead soon after in the 42nd minute when forward Deon McCaulay was played through on goal by midfielder Jesus Gonzalez. McCaulay slipped his shot under a charging Pickens.

The Rowdies halved Atlanta's lead in the 58th minute on their first chance of the half. Forward Casey Townsend closed in on a loose ball and poked the ball into the net before anyone could react.

The Rowdies continued their comeback in the 67th minute when Hristov slotted a shot home for his first of the night.

Tampa Bay kept pressing and earned a late corner kick. Substitute midfielder Evans Frimpong took the corner and curled a ball into the front post where Hristov ran on and met the ball with a diving header for the game winner.

Rowdies Coach Ricky Hill added, "[We] shouldn't have found ourselves in the position we did. I'm delighted we started off the fall season with a victory at home for our great fans. They will always be the twelfth and thirteenth man and tonight I'm glad we were able to repay them."

FTLvMNU

Picking up where they left off, Spring champions Minnesota United FC defeated the Fort Lauderdale Strikers by a score of 3-0 at historic Lockhart Stadium. Goals from Daniel Mendes, Christian Ramirez and Miguel Ibarra gave the visitors all three points.

Minnesota took the lead from a corner kick midway through the first half. Justin Davis sent in a goal-bound in-swinging ball to the near post that Kamil Contofalsky could only parry off the line. Mendes was there to tap the rebound into the net to put the visitors in front 1-0.

Minnesota came out in the second half firing on all cylinders, doubling their lead in the 59th minute through Ramirez. Justin Davis tore down the left-hand side and sent in a low ball across the six-yard box. Minnesota's goal and assist leader Ramirez was at the back post to turn the ball into the net to make it 2-0.

Anderson and Jenison Brito had opportunities to score for the Strikers but neither could keep their efforts on target. Second-half substitute Aly Alberto Hassan also struck the post. The impressive Hildebrandt was forced into more key saves. The United FC keeper came up with a total of five on the night.

Miguel Ibarra crushed any hope of a Strikers comeback in the 78th minute, capitalizing on a defensive error by Rafael Alves to put Minnesota up 3-0. The Brazilian defender attempted a clearance but played the ball right into the chest of the United FC attacker. Ibarra rounded Contofalsky and calmly tucked the ball into the open net to secure

victory for Minnesota.

"There was a scoreline at halftime that I though wasn't maybe what the game was presenting and we had to put in a little more effort in certain areas," noted Loons coach Manny Lagos . "But we made a little bit of adjustments at halftime and I thought we came out and had an outstanding second half, so very pleased about the result, away, first game of the season, and I know we have work to do to get better."

NASL Fall Season Week 1 Results

Sunday, July 13

FC Edmonton 0 Ottawa Fury FC 0

Game Recap

Saturday, July 12

New York Cosmos 1 San Antonio Scorpions 3

Game Recap

Carolina RailHawks 1 Indy Eleven 2

Game Recap

Tampa Bay Rowdies 3 Atlanta Silverbacks 2

Game Recap

Fort Lauderdale Strikers 0 Minnesota United FC 3

Game Recap

NASL FALL STANDINGS WEEK 1

P TEAM PLD W D L GF GA +/- PTS

1 Minnesota United FC 1 1 0 0 3 0 +3 3

2 San Antonio Scorpions 1 1 0 0 3 1 +2 3

3 Tampa Bay Rowdies 1 1 0 0 3 2 +1 3

4 Indy Eleven 1 1 0 0 2 1 +1 3

5 FC Edmonton 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 1

6 Ottawa Fury FC 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 1

7 Atlanta Silverbacks 1 0 0 1 2 3 -1 0

8 Carolina RailHawks 1 0 0 1 1 2 -1 0

9 NY Cosmos 1 0 0 1 1 3 -2 0

10 Fort Lauderdale Strikers 1

0 0 1 0 3 -3 0

NASL Spring Final Standings - Please note, this is a corrected table from yesterday's release.

P TEAM PLD W D L GF GA +/- PTS

1 Minnesota United FC 9 6 2 1 16 9 7 20

2 New York Cosmos 9 6 1 2 14 3 11 19

3 San Antonio Scorpions 9 5 2 2 13 9 4 17

4 Carolina RailHawksrs 9 4 2 3 11 15 -4 14

5 Fort Lauderdale Strikers 9 4 1 4 18 18 0 13

6 Ottawa Fury FC 9 3 1 5 14 13 1 10

7 Tampa Bay Rowdies 9 2 4 3 11 16 -5 10

8 Atlanta Silverbacks 9 3 1 5 12 20 -8 10

9 FC Edmonton 9 2 2 5 11 11 0 8

10 Indy Eleven 9 0 4 5 14 20 -6 4

Tiebreakers: 1.) Goal difference 2.) Goals scored 3.) Head-to-head 4.) Away goal difference 5.) Away goals scored

The Championship Defined

As a reminder, the Minnesota United FC and Fall Season champions will be joined in the semifinals of The Championship by the two clubs with the next best overall records from both seasons combined. The semi final winners will compete in The Championship final.

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North American Soccer League Stories from July 13, 2014


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