Atlanta Silverbacks 0 - New York Cosmos 0: Reaction and rating form

It was a bit of a disappointing night in Atlanta, as the New York Cosmos were forced to settle for a scoreless draw with the Silverbacks. The boys in green dominated the first half and were quite unlucky to go into the break without a goal, but Gary Smith's side built their way into the match in the second half, and Jimmy Maurer was forced to make several nice stops to keep the Cosmos' unbeaten streak against the Silverbacks alive.

Fortunately for Gio Savarese's side, Indy Eleven couldn't take advantage of the scoreless draw in Atlanta, and slit the points in their match with Carolina, That will see New York remain atop the NASL table, with just six matches left to play in the 2015 spring season.

Thoughts:

• I was quite surprised to see Mads Stokkelien removed from the starting lineup for Lucky Mkosana. Atlanta tends to sit back, defend, and counter, and I'd have thought Mads was better suited to breaking down that type of attack. Gio obviously knew better though, because Lucky was sensational tonight.
• PRO refereeing is just terrible. They rarely seem to make calls favoring one side or the other, they just don't blow the whistle for the vast majority of fouls committed by either side, and almost never show yellow cards.
• Smith is a far, far better manager than Eric Wynalda. If the NASL can find an ownership group willing to give him more talent to work with, watch out.
• I say this every week, but I love watching Marcos Senna play. The guy is a goal scoring threat from anywhere on the pitch, and his ability to see runs and drop balls on a dime is just a joy to watch. His contract only runs through the end of this season, and I'll understand if he decides to hang up his boots and retire, but I hope the guy decides he still has enough left in the tank to be back in 2016.
• I have a hard time believing there's more than a handful of MLS clubs that would be favorites against the Cosmos after that first half performance. How this match reached halftime without a goal is beyond me.
• The Cosmos really struggled last season when Roversio was out injured, so the hamstring injury that forced him off in the second half is obvious cause for concern. Get well soon, Roversio.
• Hunter Gorskie will likely lose his starting spot on the right next weekend when Hunter Freeman returns, but he's done nothing but impress during his four weeks in the lineup. If Roversio isn't ready to go next weekend against Ottawa, he'll certainly be in the discussion for a starting spot next to Carlos Mendes.