On Saturday night, legendary striker Raul scored his first goal for the New York Cosmos in a 1-1 road draw with the Indy Eleven in a North American Soccer League spring season match at Michael Carroll Stadium before a crowd of more than 10,500.
“We got one goal and had more opportunities, but obviously we didn’t get the second goal to get the three points,” Cosmos midfielder Danny Szetela said. “We’re very happy with the result that we got and the soccer we played.”
It is the fourth consecutive 1-1 draw between the two sides.
“Unfortunately tonight we were unable to score that second goal that would give us the three points, but overall it was a very good match from the players,” Cosmos head coach Giovanni Savarese said.
Raul headed in a cross by Walter Restrepo from just inside the six-yard box in the 65th minute as the Cosmos rallied from an early 1-0 deficit to claim four points from back-to-back road games to open the spring season.
As was the case last week, Raul was subbed off with what appeared to be an injury as he was replaced by Lucky Mkosana in the 74th minute. Restrepo also came off injured in the 82nd minute.
“Both of them just got a bit of a knock during the match and we’ll re-evaluate them tomorrow,” Savarese said. “We’ll see how they’re going to do during the week. We hope they’re going to be available. I think for sure Restrepo, but we’ll just have to assess a little more Raul.”
Indy Eleven, which played the Atlanta Silverbacks to a 1-1 draw in its opener last week, capitalized on a defensive miscue to take a 1-0 lead in the 12th minute. Cosmos goalkeeper Jimmy Maurer came well off his line to challenge a ball from Honduran Osman Melgares played to Indy forward Charlie Rugg, on loan from the LA Galaxy.
Maurer raced out of his 18-yard box and tried to head the ball clear, but it fell right to Jamaican international Brian Brown, who easily chipped in from distance for his first Indy Eleven goal.
“It involves the entire team when something like that happens,” Savarese said. “The important thing is that we understand we have to continue going forward and that make sure we’re very steady. The more solid we could be, the better it’s going to be.”
Maurer made up for the snafu later in the first half when he dove to his right to parry away a shot by midfielder Dylan Mares from 19 yards out that resulted in a corner kick.
The Cosmos, which beat the Fort Lauderdale Strikers, 1-0 last week, dominated possession after halftime and had a series of scoring chances on set pieces. In the 54thminute, Marcos Senna played a diagonal ball off a free kick to Raul, who quickly chipped into the box. Restrepo ran onto the ball, but put his attempt off the outside netting.
In the 64th minute, Senna served a teasing ball into the box that Mads Stokkelien latched onto and put a first-time volley on target from the penalty spot, but German goalkeeper Kristian Nicht made the save and the ball caromed out for a Cosmos corner.
One minute later, though, Raul scored his all-important first goal in a Cosmos uniform in only his second appearance.
“The first goal in a new jersey is always an important goal,” Savarese said. “It was huge for us and also gave us the possibility to be able to get the tie in the game. It was very positive. He’s used to scoring plenty of goals. This one I’m sure is going to be a special for him and the rest of the organization.”
The Cosmos will take on the Tampa Bay Rowdies in their home opener next Saturday at 7 p.m. at Hofstra’s Shuart Stadium.
“We’re really looking forward to it,” Szetela said. “We think we have some of the best fans not only in the league, but in the U.S. They definitely bring the noise and give us that extra boost of energy. Tampa is definitely a better team this year and it’s going to be a tough one.”
