Cosmos Drop Another 2-1 Heartbreaker, this Time to Sarasota Paradise
- Emilio Lopez
- 8 hours ago
- 4 min read
May 30, 2026 Premier Sports Campus, Bradenton, FL
Coming off of a heart-breaking home loss to Union Omaha on Wednesday the Cosmos were back on the road in search of a much-needed result. In another contested affair the boys from Paterson suffered yet another frustrating 2-1 defeat, this time at the hands of a resilient Sarasota Paradise squad.
The Cosmos started the match with an unchanged 11, and the same 4-1-4-1 formation that seemed to provide some stability during their most recent performance. It did not take long for the match to provide some early moments, as Javier Garcia had to come up with two outstanding saves in the first four minutes of the match as Sarasota showed great initiative in the early going. The Cosmos responded in the 8th minute as Lamin Jawneh beat a few defenders to get off a shot from just outside the box missing the target by inches. The Cosmos started to get more of the ball with Jawneh creating danger from the wing. The best chance of the first half would occur in the 39th minute, Ajmeer Spengler would find Jawneh in the box and the Gambian attacker would unleash a left footed shot. Sarasota keeper Rockson Amedeka would do well coming off his line to make a good save on the play. After a heavily contested first half, the two teams would go into the break tied at 0.
The match would resume with no changes for Cosmos and with Matt Bolduc entering for Sarasota in place of Ethan Bryant, and Jorgen Pettersen entering in place of Reid Valentine. The Cosmos would show their intentions in the 48th, Jawneh would beat his defender and maneuver into the area and find Spengler who would fire a shot straight at the Sarasota keeper. Soon after, in the 50th minute the Cosmos would take a 1-0 lead. Nestor Cabrera would do well to start the attack from the back, finding Spengler in the center of the field, he would in turn find Nick Zielonka making a run. Zielonka would then find Spengler just outside the box and he would gently place the ball in the bottom right corner with a left footed shot. The goal would be Spengler’s league-leading 6th of the season.
The Cosmos would remain compact in hopes of securing a much needed three points. In the 64th minute they would bring on Masimo Morabito and Tino Puentes in place of Nestor Cabrera and Nick Zielonka. Garcia would continue to command the area for the Cosmos; however, things would change minutes later. In the 68th minute Anderson Rosa would find Matt Bolduc in the area, and Bolduc would take a right footed shot from close range past Garcia to level the match at 1. In an attempt to add fresh legs, the Cosmos would bring in Justin Milovanov for the hard-working Jawneh in the 69th minute. In the 77th minute Nick Mendonca would be called for a foul on a Sarasota attacker just outside the area. Replays would show that there was no foul on the play. However, Sarasota would take advantage of the gift. Anderson Rosa would get a low placed shot around the Cosmos wall and into the bottom left corner helping Sarasota to a 2-1 lead. In hopes of getting a late equalizer the Cosmos would make two more changes, this time Leo Guarino and Will Noecker would enter the match in the 81st minute in place of Mendonca and Galazzini. Ajmeer Spengler would try to put balls in the box and Cosmos would insist but nothing would come of it as they would drop another difficult match by a 2-1 score-line.
After suffering another difficult loss, it is evident Davide Corti’s side lacks attacking options off the bench. If the team hopes to change its fortunes a few additions to the squad are needed. In the meantime, the team needs to avoid mental lapses defensively and at times they also need a little bit of luck.
SARASOTA PARADISE (4-4-2): Amedeka; Sogaard, Watters, Valentine (46’ Pettersen), Rosa; Bolanos (88’ Brulinski), Walker, O’Dwyer, Bryant (46’ Bolduc); Roed (61’ Rodriguez), Mclaughlin (79’ Karani).Subs: Tainio, Bäckstrand, Sanchez, Sutton. Coach: Mika Elovaara
NEW YORK COSMOS (4-1-4-1): Garcia; Galazzini (81’ Noecker), Chavez, Holt, Cabrera (64’ Morabito); Sidoel; Zielonka (64’ Puentes) Mendonca (81’ Guarino), Spengler, Jawneh (69’ Milovanov); Guenzatti.Subs: Stephani, Materazzi. Coach: Davide Corti.
Goals: 50′ Spengler (C), 68′ Bolduc (SAR), 78′ Rosa (SAR).
Bookings: 13′ Spengler (C), 22′ Valentine (SAR), 42′ Galazzini (C), 57′ Guenzatti (C), 62′ Watters (SAR), 84′ Amedeka (SAR), 90′ Chavez (C).
Match Stats:
Possession: Cosmos 46.2% – Sarasota 53.8%
Shots: Cosmos 10 – Sarasota 10
Shots on Target: Cosmos 3 – Sarasota 9
Corners: Cosmos 4 – Sarasota 4
Saves: Cosmos 7 – Sarasota 2
Fouls: Cosmos 12 – Sarasota 12
Yellow Cards: Cosmos 4 – Sarasota 3
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