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Soccer Bowl 2015

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Soccer Bowl 2015
EventSoccer Bowl
DateNovember 15, 2015 (2015-11-15)
VenueShuart Stadium,
Hempstead, New York
Man of the MatchGastón Cellerino (NYC)
RefereeAlan Kelly
Attendance10,166
(NASL Playoff Record)
WeatherClear skies
55 °F (13 °C)
2014
2016

The NASL Championship Final 2015 was the North American Soccer League's postseason championship match of the 2015 season which determined the NASL Champion.

Background

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The New York Cosmos became the first club to earn a place in the Soccer Bowl Championship after securing the 2015 Spring Championship with a 3–3 draw at home against Jacksonville on June 13.[1] The Fall Championship would be clinched by the Ottawa Fury on October 21 with a comeback 3–1 away win, also against the Armada.[2] This would be Fury's first championship as a professional club and would make them the first Canadian club to appear in the Soccer Bowl playoffs since 2011. The final two playoff spots would be taken by Minnesota United and the Fort Lauderdale Strikers.

The race for the North American Supporters' Trophy would quickly boil down to three clubs: the Cosmos, the Fury and Minnesota United. These clubs pulled away from the rest of the league during the Fall season, and would repeatedly switch positions as the season came to a close. Ultimately it came down to the last matchday, as New York took advantage of a 1–1 Ottawa away draw against the Atlanta Silverbacks to win the league by an incredibly close margin. The Cosmos defeated the Tampa Bay Rowdies 2–0, giving them and the Fury an identical record of 15–11–4, as well as an identical goal differential of +19. The Cosmos would secure the league title on goals for, of which they had 49 compared to Ottawa's 42. This also secured New York the top seed in the championship, matching Ottawa up against Minnesota in the other semi-final while the Cosmos played the Strikers, who would finish the season twelve points behind the Loons.[3]

The Strikers, along with many other clubs including Tampa Bay, Atlanta and Edmonton would remain in close competition for the last playoff spot towards the end of the season. On the final matchday, only Fort Lauderdale and Tampa were left in contention, with the Rowdies leading the race by a single point. Tampa lost their final match 2–0 to in New York on October 31 and following day the Strikers capitalized on the opportunity, defeating the Armada 1–0 in Jacksonville.

Path to the final

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Semi-final #1

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The Strikers and Cosmos met three times during the 2015 season, all in the NASL. The first two matches were won by New York by scores of 1–0 and 2–0 respectively. The last match played between the clubs was a 3–3 draw on August 6. New York had never lost a match against the Strikers in the NASL's modern era going into the semi-final, with a total of six wins and two draws against the Florida club.

Strikers winger PC scored the first goal of the match off a counterattack which stemmed from an error by Cosmos defender Hunter Freeman in the 16th minute. In the 37th minute however a Marcos Senna free kick was saved but not cleared by Fort Lauderdale keeper David Meves and Cosmos forward Gastón Cellerino tapped home the rebound at close range to tie the match before half time. In the 61st minute Cosmos midfielder Danny Szetela sent a ball through for Raúl, who found himself all alone just inside the 18-yard box and finished easily to secure what would end up being the game winner for the Cosmos.

New York Cosmos United States2–1United States Fort Lauderdale Strikers
Cellerino 37', Yellow card 74'
Senna Yellow card 58'
Raúl 61'
Szetela Yellow card 72'
Report
Report
PC 16'
Thomas Yellow card 33'
Attendance: 5,061
Referee: Sorin Stoica

Semi-final #2

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The Fury and the Loons met three times during the NASL season, with each club winning a match by a goal (1–0 for Ottawa on April 18 and 2–1 for United on August 15) and the other match resulting in a 1–1 draw (July 11). The semi-final was greatly anticipated for being the matchup between the league's best offence (Minnesota; 54 goals for, 1.80 GFA) and its best defense (Ottawa; 23 goals against, 0.77 GAA).

The match got off to a very lively start, with Fury forward Tom Heinemann taking a close-range header off a Ryan Richter cross, demanding a brilliant save from Minnesota 'keeper Sammy Ndjock in the 4th minute. Three minutes later, Minnesota forward Christian Ramirez earned a penalty off a challenge by Colin Falvey just inside the Fury box. Goalkeeper Romuald Peiser guessed correctly, but Ramirez found the top right corner of the net to open the scoring in the 7th minute. Ottawa pushed back as the half wore on, earning the majority of scoring opportunities but the score remained 1–0 United at the end of the half. The Fury broke through shortly after the restart as Heinemann found space just inside the Minnesota box and fired a low shot which Ndjock was able to get a hand to, but could not keep out. Ottawa again had most of the scoring chances in the second half, including a shot by Andrew Wiedeman which went off the left-hand post and out in the 62nd minute. The Loons also had an excellent scoring chance in the 80th minute as Christian Ramirez nearly converted a cross from Justin Davis and was stopped only by Ottawa defender Mason Trafford. The score would remain level at the end of 90 minutes and the match would have to be decided in extra time. After the start of the second half of extra time, Heinemann would again find the back of the net in the 108th minute after receiving a long ball forward by Fury midfielder Siniša Ubiparipović. In the final twelve minutes Minnesota pressed for the equaliser, demanding multiple saves from Peiser but were unable to send the match to penalties.

Ottawa Fury Canada2–1 (a.e.t.)United States Minnesota United
Heinemann Yellow card 9', 57', 108'
Trafford Yellow card 104'
Report
Report
Tiago Yellow card 2'
Ramirez 7' (pen.)
Ibson Yellow card 45'
Mendes Yellow card 45+'
Vicentini Yellow card 100'
Jordan Yellow card 120+'
Attendance: 9,346
Referee: Mathieu Bordeau

Match

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Summary

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The Cosmos and the Fury met three times during the 2015 NASL season. The first match was won 1–0 by New York at MCU Park in Brooklyn on May 2, the second was a scoreless draw at Lansdowne Park in Ottawa on August 26 and the final match was a shock 4–1 win for the Fury at Shuart Stadium on Long Island on September 22.

Details

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New York Cosmos United States3–2Canada Ottawa Fury
Cellerino 8', 72', 85' Report
Report
Report
Heinemann 70', 90+2'
Attendance: 10,166
Referee: Alan Kelly
New York Cosmos
Ottawa Fury

2015 NASL Champions: New York Cosmos

New York Cosmos:
GK 1 United States Jimmy Maurer Yellow card 41'
DF 2 United States Hunter Freeman
DF 4 United States Carlos Mendes (c)
DF 6 Brazil Rovérsio
DF 17 Spain Ayoze
MF 13 Uruguay Sebastián Guenzatti Yellow card 60' downward-facing red arrow 90+3'
MF 14 United States Danny Szetela
MF 19 Spain Marcos Senna
MF 20 Colombia Wálter Restrepo
FW 7 Spain Raúl
FW 8 Argentina Gastón Cellerino Yellow card 7' downward-facing red arrow 88'
Substitutes:
GK 12 United States Kyle Zobeck
DF 3 United States Hunter Gorskie
DF 5 Paraguay Samuel Cáceres
MF 11 El Salvador Andrés Flores
MF 15 Spain Ruben Bover
MF 22 Brazil Leo Fernandes upward-facing green arrow 90+3'
FW 77 Zimbabwe Lucky Mkosana upward-facing green arrow 88'
Manager:
Venezuela Giovanni Savarese
Ottawa Fury:
GK 1 France Romuald Peiser
DF 2 United States Ryan Richter
DF 3 Canada Mason Trafford Red card 68'
DF 32 Republic of Ireland Colin Falvey Yellow card 76'
DF 33 Brazil Rafael Alves
MF 6 Republic of Ireland Richie Ryan (c) Yellow card 76'
MF 10 Bosnia and Herzegovina Siniša Ubiparipović downward-facing red arrow 72'
MF 20 Canada Mauro Eustáquio downward-facing red arrow 77'
FW 7 Brazil Paulo Jr.
FW 9 United States Tom Heinemann
FW 23 United States Andrew Wiedeman downward-facing red arrow 72'
Substitutes:
GK 24 Canada Marcel DeBellis
DF 4 Canada Drew Beckie
MF 5 Canada Jérémy Gagnon-Laparé upward-facing green arrow 72'
FW 11 Brazil Oliver upward-facing green arrow 72'
FW 14 United States Aly Hassan
FW 17 Canada Carl Haworth
FW 77 Turkey Uğur Albayrak upward-facing green arrow 77'
Manager:
Canada Marc Dos Santos

Man of the Match: Gastón Cellerino (New York Cosmos)

MATCH OFFICIALS

  • Assistant referees:
    • Oscar Mitchell-Carvalho
    • Kyle Atkins
  • Fourth official: Mark Kadlecik

Statistics

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Overall New York Ottawa
Goals scored 3 2
Total shots 15 8
Shots on target 4 4
Ball possession 50% 50%
Corner kicks 10 5
Fouls committed 16 10
Offsides 2 1
Saves 1 1
Yellow cards 3 2
Red cards 0 1

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "New York Cosmos Capture 2015 NASL Spring Season Championship". nasl.com. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
  2. ^ "Ottawa Earns Club's First Piece Of Silverware With Comeback Win In Jacksonville". nasl.com. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
  3. ^ "New York's Decisive Victory, Ottawa's Draw Gives Cosmos No. 1 Seed In The Championship". nasl.com. Retrieved 4 November 2015.