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Silverbacks Kick Off Fall Season with Rematch in Tampa Bay

July 3, 2015 - North American Soccer League (NASL)
Atlanta Silverbacks News Release


ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Following three weeks of rest during the NASL's midseason break, the Atlanta Silverbacks return to league play in an Independence Day rematch of the Spring Season finale against the Tampa Bay Rowdies. Atlanta's first game of the Fall Season will kick off at 6 p.m. from Al Lang Stadium and will stream on ESPN3.

Head coach Gary Smith and the Silverbacks (1-5-4, 8 points) started the 2015 season, his first with the club, on a five-match unbeaten run that saw Atlanta reach as high as second in the NASL table. The 10-game Spring Season finished, however, with three consecutive league losses and a U.S. Open Cup fourth-round exit against the New York Red Bulls, but a table climb could be in order if the Silverbacks can find an early rhythm through the final 20 games, including five of the first six away from home.

Atlanta enters searching for revenge after the Rowdies downed the Silverbacks, 3-0, on June 13 to close the Spring Season for both sides. Three second-half goals - from Corey Hertzog (60'), Martin Nunez (75'), and a Georgi Hristov penalty (PK, 89') - powered Tampa Bay to a victory that brought Thomas Rongen's side within a single point of the New York Cosmos, the eventual champions of the first split season.

Despite sitting 11th in the table, Atlanta finds itself just six points adrift of the Carolina RailHawks and Minnesota United FC, the teams tied for a third-place position that would likely yield one of the three remaining NASL playoff berths. Joining the Cosmos in the four-team Championship will be the Fall Season champion, the Woosnam Cup winner for the league's best regular season record, and the top remaining side in the combined table.

Atlanta and Tampa Bay will both take an early Fall Season hit from the CONCACAF Gold Cup, which begins July 7 and will feature seven NASL players. Silverbacks goalkeeper Steward Ceus will join the Haitian team for his first Gold Cup, while former Atlanta midfielder Richie Menjivar, who has played 284 league minutes for the Rowdies this season, will be on duty with the El Salvador national team.

Stepping between the posts for Ceus for at least two NASL matches will be rookie phenom C.J. Cochran, the goalkeeper who started the season's first three games while the Haitian international recovered from knee surgery. Cochran allowed three total goals in his league starts, and he added an Open Cup win against Chattanooga FC while Ceus served a suspension from the competition. Cochran's overall record sits at 2W-2D-0L in his four starts in all competitions.

Along with Ceus' international absence, the Silverbacks will be without striker Jaime Chavez against the Rowdies after the No. 9 earned two late yellow cards in the Spring Season finale. After entering the game as a substitute in the 79th minute, Chavez picked up two cautions in the 86th minute to warrant a Week 12 suspension for the forward.



North American Soccer League Stories from July 3, 2015


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