Henry Lopez scored his second goal of the season as the New York Cosmos defeated the Atlanta Silverbacks in a preview of the North American Soccer League Soccer Bowl 2013 at Silverbacks Park on Nov. 2.
Lopez received a cross from Korey Veeder and let the ball bounce before firing it past Atlanta goalkeeper Cody Mizell from 14 yards out in the 34th minute to give the Cosmos, who extended their unbeaten streak to 11 straight matches, a 1-0 lead.
“It’s good that Henry got that goal,” Cosmos assistant coach Carlos Llamosa said. “We knew if he had his chances in front of the goal, he’s going to finish it, he’s going to put the ball away. He’s a great finisher and I was glad tonight to see Henry scoring a goal.”
Atlanta, which conceded 11 goals in three consecutive losses to end the regular season, had a chance to take the lead early when Martyn Lancaster flicked the ball on to Horace James but his volley was wide of the far post in the 12th minute.
The Silverbacks pressed for the equalizer in the second half, but they were unable to get the ball past Cosmos goalkeeper Jimmy Maurer, who started in place of Kyle Reynish, one of several starters who were rested ahead of next weekend’s final.
In the 64th minute, Maurer parried a shot by James away and three minutes later he robbed Kellen Gulley, who was played behind the Cosmos defense, from 16 yards. One minute earlier, Gulley was again in on goal, but he rolled his attempt into Maurer.
“Jimmy was great for us tonight, especially in the second half, a couple of breakaways, a couple of 1-v-1s,” Llamosa said. “He was fantastic in goal for us.”
In the 74th minute, Borfor Carr’s 26-yard free kick went off the bottom of the Cosmos wall and Maurer dived to his right to get a piece of a shot that deflected off Chris Rodd.
That came one minute after an insurance goal by Hagop Chirishian was called back for offside.
While the teams will meet again at Silverbacks Park on Nov. 9, both sides will look vastly different with the majority of regular starters rested Saturday night. Even Cosmos head coach Giovanni Savarese wasn’t on the touchline as he was serving a one-game suspension after being sent off on Oct. 26 in San Antonio.
Recently acquired Jimmy Nealis made his debut for the Cosmos, as did David Diosa and Jemal Johnson, who suffered a preseason knee injury.
“For us, this game means a lot. It was the last game of the Fall season and we wanted to finish the best way we can,” Carlos Llamosa said. “We took this game seriously and we came here to win the game.”
