The preseason tour of the New York Cosmos just became busier as the club announced that they will be traveling to California to play two more matches against quality opponents. The trip out west will commence later this month after their trip to Hong Kong to play the South China Football Team on February 19th.
The first match to take place in California will be on February 25th at Ventura College Sportsplex against the Ventura County Fusion SC and then they will travel to Hughes Stadium to take on Sacramento Republic FC on February 28th.
The first opponent, Ventura County Fusion SC, competes in the United Soccer League’s Premier Development League, the fourth tier in the American Soccer Pyramid. The Fusion debuted in 2007 playing in the Southwest Division of the Western Conference of the PDL and has been quite successful ever since. The club has won the Southwest Division three times and in 2009, the Fusion won the PDL Title. The crowning achievement for Ventura came in 2014 as they became the first PDL franchise to win a match in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup four years in a row.
There is a connection between the two clubs as Cosmos midfielder Hagop Chirishian played with Ventura from 2007 through 2009 and Rudy Ybarra, the Fusion Head Coach, faced the Cosmos in 1977 as a member of the LA Aztecs.
On February 28th, New York will travel to Sacramento City College and face the Sacramento Republic FC at Hughes Stadium. Sacramento is coming off an historic 2014 campaign which saw the club capture the USL-Pro Championship by defeating the Harrisburg City Islanders in the final. The significance of this title is that Sacramento won the championship in their inaugural season. The club was founded in 2012 and began play in the USL-Pro (3rd tier of American Soccer) in 2014 and took the league by storm. On three different occasions during the season, Sacramento played matches at Hughes Stadium and set league attendance records by attracting crowds of over 20,000.
Sacramento Technical Director, Graham Smith, is looking forward to the Cosmos coming to play the club as New York is a legendary soccer club with multiple titles and to play his championship club, would be a fantastic treat for the fans in Sacramento.
The Cosmos will have a busy preseason as the club announced that they will play South China Football Team in the 2015 Lunar New Year AET Cup and then they will also travel to El Salvador to play C.D. FAS on March 14th. The quality of clubs that New York will face will hopefully fine tune the club as they prepare for the Fort Lauderdale Strikers on Saturday, April 4th, which is the NASL Season Opener. Saturday, April 18th will be the home opener for the Cosmos as they will take on the Tampa Bay Rowdies. This is not just any home opener; it will be the home debut for Spanish Striker, Raul, who signed with New York during the offseason.
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