The San Antonio Scorpions ended their 2015 spring campaign with a draw against the visiting Canadians from Ottawa, 0-0. While neither side could find the back of the net, both defenses put in a strong showing for the finale. Ottawa’s goal keeper, Romauld Peiser, improved upon his modern day NASL shutout streak to 526 minutes while San Antonio native, Matt Cardone, received his first professional start due to a warm-up injury to Daryl Sattler. Cardone played for Trinity University in San Antonio and posted his first shutout in this game. The draw sends the Scorpions into seventh place on the NASL table with 12 points, only two points from a tie for fourth place.
The 2014 NASL champs started out their 2015 campaign to a poor start, posting a 0-1-3 record in their first four games. An opening night loss to the upstart Tampa Bay Rowdies dampened the excitement that was carried over from their league championship just a few months before. After losing to Indy Eleven by an amazing goalazo and losing a heart breaker to the newest NASL team, the Jacksonville Armada, the Scorpions looked to turn a corner with a two game win streak. That ended with a 3-0 thrashing from the eventual spring champs, the New York Cosmos. San Antonio ended their spring season with a 1-2-0 record and finished tied with Jacksonville with 12 points.
The story of the spring was a porous defense which allowed the third most goals in the league. The Scorpions were only able to hold three of their opponents scoreless – allowing 1.5 goals on average per game. The good news for the team is that they are only two points off of fourth place heading into the fall. The two season winners and the next two teams with the highest point totals will make the playoffs. San Antonio only has two ways of extending their season into November – they must either win the fall championship, or earn enough points to be in the top four in the combined standings at the end of the season.
The Alamo City boys will have a couple weeks off from NASL play. Their next game is an international friendly against the Costa Rican side, C.S. Cartaginés on June 27th at Toyota Field. They begin their fall season on July 5th against FC Edmonton in Fort McMurray, Alberta in the inaugural “Wood Buffalo Cup”.
There is still time for the Scorpions to turn their season around and make a push for the post-season, but the defense will have to continue to improve if that is to happen!
