Scorpions Bite the Cosmos in 3-1 Fall Season opening loss

The New York Cosmos felt the bite of the the San Antonio Scorpions Saturday night in their Fall Season opener at Shuart Stadium.

The Scorpions defeated the Cosmos 3-1 in front of a sparse crowd of 3,806. The three goals the Cosmos surrendered was the same amount the team had given up in the entire Spring Season and the Scorpions remain the only team in the re-booted Cosmos era to defeat New York on its home turf.

San Antonio scored the game's first goal on a penalty kick in the 41st minute. Cosmos Goalkeeper Jimmy Maurer went out to play the ball and ran into Rafael Castillo of the Scorpions, who was awarded the PK off of the questionable call. Castillo put the shot just put the shot just out of reach of Maurer.

"I made a mistake," Maurer said after the game about the play. "I should have done better before the penalty. I gave the ref a chance to make a call. Do I think it was a penalty? I don't know I have to look at it on tape and see how it looks How it felt? It didn't feel like a penalty, but a lot of times you look at it and you're like 'ok I fouled him.' But we'll see.

"I got caught in a position that I Know I shouldn't have been in and I gave the ref a chance to make a call, so thats on me."

The Scorpions scored again in stoppage time off a free kick. Castillo once again found the back of the net, with a little help from the cross bar and post, to make it 2-0 San Antonio.

New York answered back in the 51st minute off a free kick of their own by Hunter Freeman, but it wasn't to long after that when San Antonio put the nail in the coffin to jump ahead 3-1. An aggressive Maurer came out of the box allowing Sainey Touray to chip the ball over Maurer and into the net.

"We get the goal and we have a couple close chances after that," Freeman said. But then, i don't know the time difference between my goal and their third, but there wasn't that much. It just deflates you, it does. Obviously you gotta keep working, keeping battling, trying to find another goal, but you're going uphill.

"If we could have keep them off the sheet and just had it at 2-1 the game would have been different, but by that time we've expended a lot of energy."

Despite losing the Cosmos outshot the Scorpions 12-9 and lead in corners 8-1. The Cosmos also held the advantage in possession 59 percent to 41 percent. The loss was the second time in 2014 that New York has fell to the Scorpions at Hofstra. San Antonio defeated the Cosmos 1-0 on April 26 snapping both 18-0-7 record at Shuart Stadium dating back to 1972 and a shutout streak of 372-minutes.

The Cosmos next game is July 20 against the Ottawa Fury in Ottawa.