Cosmos earn last-gasp win in memorable first meeting with Westchester

The Cosmos and Westchester SC did not disappoint in their first-ever meeting.

The two USL League One sides met in Mount Vernon, New York, for a USL Cup group stage clash on Friday night.

A late Cosmos equalizer by Nick Mendonca and a stoppage-time winner by Christian Koffi gave the Cosmos a 3-2 win and three huge points in the Group 5 USL Cup standings.

It was not a complete performance by the Paterson side. Instead, The Stadium at Memorial Field saw a return of the old Cardiac Cosmos. 

The still-infant rivalry, featuring some brawls breaking out in the stands and yet still without a name (though USL seems to be pushing "Battle for New York"), seems to have juice. 

It's no Open Cup match versus either of New York's Major League Soccer teams, but it definitely had more of a pulse than the soggy clash against Brooklyn FC in the Cosmos' first USL Cup match.

The contingents of Cosmos supporters were noted and appreciated by the players after the match.

"We're super thankful for all the support from the fans," Cosmos midfielder Nick Mendonca said after the match. "[We're] hoping to take this momentum into California next week."

Finding ways to win late

Across all competitions, two of the three games the Cosmos have won this year have come from goals scored after the 80th minute. With Westchester scoring two in the second half to take the lead, Cosmos went quiet up until the final 10 minutes. 

Former Chicago Fire FC forward Christian Koffi and forward Sebastián Guenzatti both tested long-range shots in the 79th and 80th minute, respectively, neither of which seriously threatened Westchester goalkeeper Luca Marinelli. Both were made possible by nice team play and long passes.

Those skills paid off with an equalizer a minute later in the 81st minute. A long pass from the Cosmos end by Anges Bohui was shuttled from midfield by Guenzatti to Nick Mendonca. He was onside and behind the line, finding open air on the right before turning into the box and hitting a right-footed shot into the bottom-left corner of the net.

With the score tied, the prospect of a penalty kick shootout loomed, since all USL Cup matches must end with a winner. A chance to leave with two points instead of one is nice, but Westchester's defensive woes continued and cost them any chance of leaving with any points at all. 

A chipped long ball by Ajmeer Spengler from midfield landed behind the line and in front of the box. WSC defender Bobby Pierre failed to block out Christian Koffi and fell forward, giving the Cosmos midfielder a chance to beat Marinelli with a low shot in the fourth minute of second-half stoppage time.

Nicholas Murray (@njemurray.bsky.social)

Scratch that penalty shootout. Christian Koffi with the late winner for the Cosmos. Told you they played entertaining games. #USLCup #USL-1 [contains quote post or other embedded content]

Bluesky SocialNicholas Murray

Cosmos head coach Davide Corti said a game like this can be a huge boost heading back into the regular season, where the Cosmos will be traveling to California next Wednesday to face AV ALTA FC, before returning home next Saturday.

"After conceding two goals, the team responded well and stayed together instead of collapsing like we have at times this season," Corti said, probably alluding to the three goals allowed to Brooklyn FC and Portland Hearts of Pine in back-to-back games. "To come back, stay on track, and win the match gives us a boost of positive energy."

Cosmos legend gets the ball rolling

The first half was almost unremarkable, up until the last moments. Westchester had 16 touches of the ball in the Cosmos box and could only manage one shot on target out of five attempts. The Cosmos had one touch in the Westchester box and matched that number in goals scored.

A fast break that nearly ended early, thanks to a failed yellow card-worthy pull down attempt by Westchester, saw Spengler split the defense with a pass forward, catching the opposition’s momentum going left while his target was going right.

Sebastián Guenzatti had room to breathe and calculate his shot from the top of the box. Marinelli came off his line to challenge, but the USL legend beat him low and into the left side of the net. Guenzatti’s fourth goal in all competitions this year and first in the USL Cup sent New York into halftime with a 1-0 lead. 

For how misplaced the Westchester offense was at times, they did well at keeping Cosmos out of the box. The other notable chances of the half for the visitors were long strikes from distance by Spengler and Koffi, only one of which required Marinelli to intervene.

New keeper, same defensive issues

The Cosmos, two weeks removed from their last match (unintended bye week thanks to South Georgia Tormenta FC folding), rolled out in a 4-1-4-1 formation.

Anderson Holt and William Noecker remained from the three-man backline attempt Cosmos tried against Portland earlier this month, but the latter moved into more of a centerback position. More importantly, goalkeeper Javier Garcia made his Cosmos debut after joining the team on May 6.

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The all-time USL League One penalty kick saves leader only had to face one shot in the first half. But as time wore on, Garcia was challenged by Westchester. Potentially after not seeing the field this season as AC Boise’s third string keeper, there were some tough spots.

Westchester was able to equalize immediately after the second half whistle blew. Much to say about the defense being bunched up in the box, Koen Blommestijn was able to be practically unmarked right in front of Garcia when a high ball came his way. Garcia got a hand on the Dutch forward’s header, but couldn’t keep it out of the net.

The Cosmos defense, much like Westchester, continued to struggle and allowed players to find chances from all points of the field. Second half sub Ermin Mackic seemed to find himself outside of the box and shooting on target multiple times. The former Cosmopolitan Soccer League player (shoutout FC Sandžak) made his impact in the 69th with a stellar goal.

After passing off to former NYCFC II forward Jonathan Jiménez on the left side, JJ passed back to Mačkić near the 15 yard line on Memorial Stadium’s field. He teed up a shot for his left foot that sailed into the right side of the net, past a diving Garcia to make it 2-1.

USL Cup Group 5 state of play

Around the rest of the group, the other four teams all competed on Saturday.

Portland Hearts of Pine are top of the group after two first-half goals got them past USL Championship side Rhode Island FC, 2–1. RIFC sinks to the bottom of the group with no wins in regulation after two games.

Hartford Athletic are second in the table after a comfortable win over Brooklyn FC, 2-0, at Maimonides Park on Coney Island. Hartford looks up at Portland because USL Cup uses goals scored as the primary group-stage tiebreaker.

Brooklyn is winless versus the Connecticut side this year in two games played, and now sit third in Group 5 despite beating the Cosmos, 3-0, in their USL Cup opener.

That means the Cosmos and Westchester sit in fourth and fifth in the table. With two games to play, neither team is far from a knockout round spot as a first place finisher or one of the best second place teams. But finding consistency before the next round of matches in early June will be key.