With the opening game of the NPSL regualr season now less than 4 weeks away they have shored up their team at all levels, some players are returning, most have Long Island ties.
Paul Blanchette the Cali 'keeper is here by way of Finaland and his last team, PEPO Lappeenranta with 18 league games to his credit. HC Carlos Mendes, a Long Islander himself had this to say of the netminder, "We are very happy to sign Paul. He is a talented and focused individual."
Jesse Corke of Valley Stream now 26, had played at Molloy of late with Westfalia Wickede of Germany. Mendes stated "Jesse has come in and proven he can play at this level. He is a fearless 'keeper and moves well in the net."
Dominick Falanga a 23 year old defender from Brooklyn and an alum of St. Francis College was an NEC First Team All-Conference pick in 2017 and was with the Brooklyn Italians NPSL team last year. Mendes informed of Dom, "Dominick is another local product who we got to see last season with Brooklyn. He has a great mentality and is a very solid defender."
Giuseppe Baron also from Brooklyn and had played for the LIU Blackbirds, and the last 3 seasons with the Brooklyn Italians. Mendes spoke well of him as well, "Giuseppe is another player we know from playing with Broklyn. He has a bright future and we believe he will continue to grow as a player with us this year."
Charlie Ledula is from England but played out at CW Post and was a D II All-American in 2017, then off to the Rough Riders who took a national title on the same home field as this iteration of the Cosmos will play over 2 decades ago. His dozen goals with the LIRR had him named as the Player of the Year. Mendes had this to say of the player, "Charlie's a player who brings another dimension to our club."
Senior VP Joe Baron informed of these new players, "The recent signings we made have all been with us since the start of the preseason. The majority of them have also either grown up locally or played locally in the past, which has been an important factor as we put together this year's roster."
Photo source NY Cosmos.