There was still snow on the ground around Hinchcliffe Stadium on Saturday, when the Cosmos hosted FC Motown in a preseason friendly. Two first-half goals gave the home team a 2-0 win over the amateur side. It was the next step for the Cosmos as they prepared to return to competitive soccer in their USL League One season opener against Portland Hearts of Pine on March 14, also at Hinchcliffe Stadium in Paterson, NJ.
Around 150 people were scattered around the stadium to see the match, which was open to Cosmos supporters, club staff, and a handful of others. It took a team effort to get the stadium ready for the game, with Cosmos fans helping shovel the field and stands on Saturday morning.
Michael Battista
Michael Battista
Cosmos: Front-loaded, light on reserves
The Cosmos loaded up in their first match in front of fans, playing a first-half lineup that is probably close to what can be expected during the upcoming USL League One season. The home side came out in a training kit, all white with green shorts and green socks, instead of one of the team's competitive kits — the Cosmos players had no numbers on the backs of their kits, which made identifying them tricky. Motown debuted a new black kit with green stripes and a sublimated design.
Former New York Red Bulls II goalkeeper Derrek Chan started with a young back four in front of him. The bulk of the experience was found up top, with Cosmos legend and USL veteran Sebastián Guenzatti at striker. Behind him were more lower division pro vets with Ajmeer Spengler at attacking mid and Patrick Bohui on the wing.
On the other side, Motown had brought out a mixed lineup featuring players from both their National Premier Soccer League and USL League Two teams. Three former New York City FC II players suited up for Motown, forwards Julian Gomez and El Mahdi Youssoufi, and midfielder Matthew Leong.
It was a back-and-forth match from the opening whistle. The Cosmos got their first real chance in the 13th minute off a Pelé kick – possibly taken by Ajmeer Spengler – that went wide left. The home side came close to scoring in the 19th minute, when a long ball up the right looked to be going out, but one player – possibly Nick Zielonka – kept it in near the endline. A pass into the middle saw a chance by Patrick Bohui get saved by Motown keeper Josh Schaffer.
The Motown offense had a few early runs down the left side, carried by Youssoufi, who had multiple moments breaking past the Cosmos right-back Massimo Morabito. Even so, Youssoufi wasn't able to get the ball into the middle and challenge Chan in goal.
The Cosmos got on the board in the 23rd minute, when Guenzatti, assisted by Bohui, got a fast break and shot low from the right side past the Motown defense. They doubled the score when Spengler added a second goal in the 31st minute.
Motown had their best chance of the first half in the 36th minute, when Gomez was near the Cosmos box, carrying the ball to get Chan off his line. The goalkeeper engaged Gomez, but kept enough distance to give himself the space to block the eventual shot.
Second-half reserves
The second half saw the Cosmos swap most players, essentially playing their reserves — and that is where the intrigue comes in. The Cosmos do not seem to have much firepower on the bench.
The team's previous friendlies have all seen the Cosmos give up goals late. Against Club Tijuana, the Cosmos entered halftime tied 1-1, but lost 4-1 after the reserves came on. Against Canadian side FC Supra du Québec, the team went up 4-0, but then allowed two late goals.
The Cosmos held on at Hinchcliffe: Motown's reserve players couldn't find the back of the net, but they had the better offensive output. In particular, former Richmond Kicker and NY International FC attacker Rivendi Melvin Pierre-Louis was impressive, with the Haitian taking multiple shots against Cosmos keeper Tristan Stephani.
In the end, it was a learning experience for both teams. For the Cosmos, head coach Davide Corti seems to know how to work their first line of players well. For Motown, this was the first preparation ahead of the team's US Open Cup match on Wednesday, March 18, against Hartford Athletic.
Michael Battista
The Cosmos return after more than 8 (6? 5?) years
Saturday’s match marked the first time the Cosmos had hosted fans for a First Team game in a long time. Exactly how long? Well, that's complicated.
Officially, the last time the Cosmos hosted fans was on October 28, 2017, when just under 6,000 fans came to Maimonides Park in Coney Island, Brooklyn, in the 2017 North American Soccer League regular season finale against Puerto Rico FC. The fourth-seed Cosmos played on the road in the playoffs that year, never returning home before the league lost its Division II sanctioning by US Soccer.
After that, the Cosmos first team went on hiatus while the organization's reserve team, Cosmos B, continued to play through 2019 in the amateur National Premier Soccer League. That continued for two seasons, plus an additional tournament called the "NPSL Member's Cup."
Depending on how you look at it, the Cosmos played one more game, when Germany's FC St. Pauli, then in the 2.Bundesliga, played an exhibition game at Columbia University against the "New York Cosmos" on May 24, 2019. The squad was essentially the Cosmos B side playing in the NPSL that year, but the match was promoted as a First Team friendly.
In 2020, the Cosmos joined the National Independent Soccer Association, then in the third division of professional soccer, but the Coronavirus pandemic forced all home matches in New York State during the Fall 2020 season to be played behind closed doors. Some fans would argue, and have to me, that standing outside the fences at Mitchel Athletic Complex in Uniondale would count as attending.
The last time some iteration of the Cosmos played in front of any sort of crowd? That would be five-and-a-half years ago, on September 12, 2020, when a late Clayton Adams goal gave Chattanooga FC a critical three points in front of just under 1,000 fans at Finley Stadium in Chattanooga, TN, in the NISA regular season final.
Whether the Cosmos last played in 2017, 2019, or 2020, it's been a long time. This was the first time that Five Points, Green Legion, Cross Island Crew, and the rest of the Cosmos faithful had the ability to watch their team — not from behind a fence, but in the stands once again.
Michael Battista
Secretive preseason
While the Cosmos marketing and community focus departments have been busy since the club officially relaunched last summer, the team haven't been that open with training.
Since the team began their preseason in late January, everything has taken place behind closed doors: No preseason schedule was released, photos and videos were rare, and updates did not come often.
The team's first preseason friendly came out of nowhere, when the Cosmos visited LIGA MX side Club Tijuana in Mexico, where they lost 4-1. Since then, the team has played three more friendlies before Saturday's matchup with Motown, with no final scores or real information released officially.
That said, Hudson River Blue confirmed a few final scores with various sources: The Cosmos beat expansion Canadian Premier League side FC Supra du Québec, 4-2, at Hinchcliffe on February 17, then traveled to Chester, PA, where they beat MLS NEXT Pro side Philadelphia Union II, 4-3, on February 21. The result of the CT United FC friendly on February 11 remains a mystery.
The shrouded preseason gave Saturday's friendly even more importance, as it was the first time fans set eyes on Corti's squad in action.
Watching the team in action was a strange moment. After half a year of hype, and a month plus of secrecy, the Cosmos were back. It was a long time removed from the last game I'd actually seen them play in person, which was back in July 2017, a 3-1 win over The Miami FC at Coney Island.
This didn't feel like the same Cosmos. The counter-culture vibes aren't there, and the star power isn't as strong. But the heart is there. Just prior to kickoff, you could hear the faint sound of whistles and drums outside the stadium get louder and louder, and when the supporters entered the stands, everybody knew that something was building.
The Cosmos are back, even if we don't know exactly what that means yet.
