NASL Fall Season Begins: Ottawa Fury FC Among Those Who Won
Soccer News: Ottawa Fury FC began the North American Soccer League (NASL) Fall Season the way the club ended the Spring Season three weeks ago, extending its record shutout streak to 616 minutes in a 2-0 win over Jacksonville Armada FC on Sunday afternoon.
Playing in front of 6,150 at TD Place, veteran French goalkeeper Romuald Peiser, the league’s Player of the Month in June, notched his sixth straight shutout. Defender Mason Trafford scored 13 minutes into the match and substitute forward Tom Heinemann added an insurance goal in the 86th minute to clinch all three points. Fury FC hasn’t allowed a goal to its opposition, in league play, since May 2.
Elsewhere, Lance Laing, who is headed to the CONCACAF Gold Cup with Jamaica, scored twice in FC Edmonton‘s 4-0 thrashing of the San Antonio Scorpions in Fort McMurray, Alberta. In Hempstead, N.Y, Walter Restrepo scored a late goal to help the Spring Season champion New York Cosmos escape with a 1-1 draw.
On Saturday night, before fireworks displays on Independence Day, Carolina rode goals by Simone Bracalello, Tiyi Shipalane, and Austin da Luz to a 3-1 win over visiting Minnesota; and Darnell King played the proud role of hometown hero in Tampa Bay’s 2-1 victory over Atlanta at a packed Al Lang Stadium.
Carolina RailHawks 3, Minnesota United FC 1
The RailHawks played the final half-hour a man down, but received goals from two players who missed most of the Spring Season with injuries — Simone Bracalello and Austin da Luz — in a 3-1 victory over Minnesota United FC at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, N.C., on Saturday night. Carolina built a two-goal lead on a goal by Bracalello in the 15th minute followed two minutes later by Tiyi Shipalane goal. Daniel Mendes pulled one back for the Loons in the 26th minute, but da Luz scored the insurance goal in the 57th minute, three minutes before Wells Thompson was shown his second yellow card of the match. With the win, Carolina is unbeaten in its last three carrying over from the Spring Season.
Tampa Bay Rowdies 2, Atlanta Silverbacks 1
A crowd of 7,002 at Al Lang Stadium in St. Petersburg, Fla., saw each team benefit from an own goal in the first half, but it was a goal by the Rowdies’ Darnell King (a Tampa native) that proved to be the difference against Atlanta in the Fall Season opener for both teams on a steamy Saturday night. The Rowdies, who finished one point behind the New York Cosmos in the Spring Season, have now won three straight and are unbeaten in their last four combined.
New York Cosmos 1, Indy Eleven 1
Walter Restrepo scored on his own rebound in the 78th minute and the New York Cosmos remained unbeaten this season, again rescuing a point when the game seemed to be slipping away. Indy Eleven remains undefeated under interim head coach Tim Regan, though he was ejected with minutes left in the game. The visitors took a 1-0 lead when 6-foot-4 forward Wojciech Wojcik picked out of the air a deflected Cosmos clearance attempt and skillfully struck it first-time past goalkeeper Jimmy Maurer in the 26th minute. An apparent Cosmos goal toward the end of regulation time was initially given, but after consultation with the assistant referee, the referee ruled that Sebastián Guenzatti was offside.
Ottawa Fury FC 2, Jacksonville Armada FC 0
Peiser, 35, played every minute of every game in the Spring Season, conceding just eight goals in 10 matches and posting six shutouts. He also led the league in goals against average with a mark of 0.80. He picked up exactly where he left off, making two saves and backstopping a central defense led by Rafael Alves and Colin Falvey in another shutout. Defender Mason Trafford and forward Tom Heinemann were on target for the hosts.
FC Edmonton 4, San Antonio Scorpions 0
The Eddies played a home game in Fort McMurray, Alberta, which is located about 271 miles north of Edmonton. Colin Miller‘s side enjoyed their time up north, pocketing three points in an action-packed match. Sadi Jalali, who graduated from the Eddies Academy, converted a penalty kick in the second minute; a lead the Eddies took into the second half. San Antonio finished the match with nine men after Nana Attakora and goalkeeper Daryl Sattler were ejected midway through the second half. Lance Laing, playing in his final league match before leaving for the CONCACAF Gold Cup to play for Jamaica, smashed home a penalty kick and converted another free kick later to take over the spot as the league’s top scorer. Another academy graduate, Hanson Boakai, found the back of the net for his first league goal for the Eddies as well.
