Cosmos fall 1-3 to Spokane Velocity

(Spokane, Washington)

The Cosmos returned to league action on Saturday as they faced Spokane Velocity on a windy day at One Spokane Stadium. The Cosmos were looking for a positive result as they faced one of the top teams in the league, but the two-time league finalists had other plans.

The Cosmos began the match with the same eleven as in the match against Heart of Pines, with the exception being Patrick Bohui, starting at left wing in place of the injured Christian Koffi. Spokane had most of their regulars in the starting lineup, after defeating Ventura County Fusion 2-1 in a mid-week US Open Cup match. Bryce Meredith and Lucky Opara were out due to injury.

The Cosmos started the match in fine fashion as they dominated possession early on, and had two corner kicks in the first eight minutes of the match despite not generating quality chances. The Cosmos high press also affected Spokane, leading to some turnovers early on. In the 13th minute Velocity earned their first corner of the match, and despite the windy conditions, Stephani was able to get a hand on the ball, clearing it out of danger. After struggling to maintain possession early on, Spokane was able to gain control of the match. In the 25th minute, former Cosmos and Grenada International, Shavon John-Brown initiated a play on the right flank finding Simon Fitch in the box, who in turn fed the ball to the Englishman Jack Denton who would fire the ball into the back of the net, as Spokane took a 1-0 lead. Moments later John-Brown continued to cause havoc as he was taken down outside the area by Massimo Morabito, as the Cosmos received their first yellow card of the match.

The Cosmos looked to get back into the match and in the 28th minute Camron Miller was carded for a foul on Sebastian Guenzatti. Guenzatti was not able to see much of the ball as the Cosmos flanks were taken out of the match by Spokane. The Spaniard Nil Vinyals was now finding a rhythm for Spokane as he was spraying the ball around and creating dangerous chances for the 2025 USL League One finalist. The Cosmos narrowly avoided a 2-0 deficit in the 32nd minute as the former Real Salt Lake attacker, Luis Gil shot just wide past a diving Tristan Stephani. In the 39th minute Gil found Jamaican International Neco Brett in the box and was taken down by an on-rushing Stephani. Stephani received a yellow and a penalty was awarded to Spokane. Luis Gil would convert from the spot, rifling the ball to the bottom left corner as Spokane took a 2-0 lead. The Caribbean connection kept putting pressure on the Cosmos backline and in the 43rd minute John-Brown found Brett in the box and the Jamaican fired the ball into the far corner as Velocity took a 3-0 lead into the half. During the first half Spokane would have 54% of the possession, while the Cosmos had 46%. Spokane would also take 7 shots, including 4 on goal, while limiting Cosmos to 1 total shot.

Looking to change the team’s fortunes, Davide Corti made two half-time changes. He inserted Julien Lacher at right wing in place of Nick Zielonka, and brought in Tino Puentes for Galazzini, moving Morabito to right back, as Puentes filled the left back spot. The Cosmos looked like a completely different side, with Lacher taking on players and sparking the Cosmos attack. In the 48th minute, on a free kick, Ajmeer Spengler found Anderson Holt in the box who played the ball in front of goal, Justin Milovanov would put the ball into the back of the net as Cosmos would make it 1-3. Lacher continued to take on players, and in the 52nd helped create another dangerous chance. Patrick Bohui would hit the top of the post as Cosmos could have easily made it 2-3. Spengler and Lacher would continue to cause havoc to the Spokane backline, but the team could not get a second goal. In the 75th minute Spokane would have a quality chance as John-Brown found space outside the box, but could only muster a week shot which was easily grabbed by Stephani. Unable to get a second goal, the Cosmo would bring in Nestor Cabrera in the 79th minute for Patrick Bohui, and Leo Guarino and Nick Mendonca in the 83rd minute for Guenzatti and Milovanov. The match would end 1-3, despite a poor first half, the Cosmos showed what they were capable of with a solid second half. After just mustering 1 shot in the first half, the Cosmos ended the match with 11 shots (5 on goal), while Spokane would have 10 shots (5 on goal) during the match.

After facing two of the top teams in the league, the Cosmos will look for a better result this Wednesday as they face Greenville Triumph, before returning to Hinchliffe on Saturday to face Fort Wayne. Expect Julien Lacher to start the match on Wednesday after his second half performance