The New York Cosmos got the fall season underway on Wednesday evening at Hofstra, but had to settle for their fifth straight draw against Indy Eleven FC. That result sees the boys in green fall to second in the NASL combined table after 11 matches, slipping behind the Tampa Bay Rowdies, who won on Saturday night.
The home side sent out a heavily rotated side, with none of Hunter Freeman, Raul, Roversio, Ayoze, or Walter Restrepo starting. Hunter Gorskie also started on the bench, as Gio Savarese tried something new with his fullback pairing, and went with two out an out strikers leading the line.
While the white-clad Cosmos looked like a team trying to figure each other out, the Eleven were clicking early on, and had a one-goal lead for the bulk of the first half. Jimmy Maurer continued his excellent play of late with several big saves during the opening 45 minutes, in which Savarese's rotated bunch was a bit lucky to take that 1-0 deficit to the break.
The second half saw a much improved Cosmos side take the pitch, though some excellent goalkeeping and timely defending kept them from finding the net until Savarese began making changes. Walter Restrepo (for Leo Fernandes) was the first man brought on by the manager, and the boys started clicking shortly after he stepped onto the pitch. Ruben Bover and Raul also came on (for Mads Stokkelien and Lucky Mkosana), and in the 78th minute, Restrepo finally manged to equalize.
From that point on, it was pretty much all Cosmos, who were unable to find the back of the net (while staying onside) for a winner. That's now five draws in five matches against Indy.