The Fort Lauderdale Strikers (7W-6T-8L) fell to the Atlanta Silverbacks (4W-5T-11L) by a final of 4-2 at Silverbacks Park on Saturday night in front of 4,090 fans. Strikers midfielder Mark Anderson scored his eleventh goal of the season and defender Scott Gordon scored his first goal this year for Fort Lauderdale. It wasn’t enough as Atlanta countered with two goals from Pedro Mendes and a goal each from Matt Horth and Borfor Carr. The Strikers remain in fourth place in the NASL standings with 27 points, pending results from the rest of Saturday night’s games. The Silverbacks move to 17 points, nine behind the sixth and final playoff spot.
“Full credit to Atlanta, they were the better team tonight,” said Strikers head coach Daryl Shore. “We can’t keep giving up goals like we are and expect to win soccer games.”
Fort Lauderdale was able to answer each of Atlanta’s first two goals, but was unable to match the Silverbacks after their third and fourth goals on the night. The Strikers offense was not what it was last week at home when they scored five times against Atlanta.
Atlanta went on top in the eighth minute when Paulo Mendes found his brother Pedro Mendes inside the box for a header which beat Matt Glaeser inside the back post. It was Mendes’ second goal in as many weeks after he scored against Fort Lauderdale last Friday night.
The Strikers answered in the 27th minute when defender Scott Gordon was able to win a high bouncing ball against Silverbacks’ goalkeeper Daniel Illyes and score on an empty net. The lead lasted only two minutes as Atlanta’s Mike Randolph sent an elevated cross to Matt Horth whose header found the back of the net to retake the lead in the 29th minute.
Fort Lauderdale was the better team out of halftime and was rewarded in the 54th minute when Gordon found Mark Anderson near the top of the box. Anderson fired a shot into the top of the net for his eleventh goal of the season, second most in the NASL.
The Silverbacks continued to press forward and took the lead for good on Borfor Carr’s game-winning goal in the 64th minute. Carr fired a bending ball from 25 yards away to beat Matt Glaeser. The scoring was completed in the 78th minute when Pedro Mendes scored his second goal of the match and third of the season.
The Strikers return home to Lockhart Stadium to face the Carolina RailHawks on Saturday, Aug. 11, at 7:30p.m.