The New York Cosmos earned themselves a huge three points last night, on the back of Hunter Freeman's second goal in as many games. The 2-1 victory over Minnesota United puts the boys in green back atop the NASL combined table, and has the club on a bit of a roll, winning both of their last two matches.
Minnesota United took the lead early, as Christian Ramirez continued to find a vein of good form. The forward scored his seventh of the season just eight minutes into the match, giving the home side some work to do on a lovely evening at Shuart.
Gio Savarese's side didn't stay behind for very long, as Walter Restrepo leveled the score just five minutes later. New York created several other quality chances in the final 30 minutes of the half, and looked the more likely to come away with the victory heading into the break.
The second half was more of the same, with the Cosmos creating chances, but United goalkeeper Mitch Hildebrandt managed to do just enough to keep the score tied at one with just 15 minutes left to play. For as good as he was, however, Hildebrandt had no chance at stopping Freeman's sensational strike, which the player knew was bound for the back of the net the moment it was hit.
Raul just missed his chance to put the contest to bed just after Freeman's winner, but the near miss didn't wind up coming back to haunt the Cosmos. That's now two solid showings in a row, hopefully the start of a nice run of form which will give the boys in green a bit of cushion atop the table.