In what has been a disappointing season for a team expected to contend in the North American Soccer League this 2013 fall season, the San Antonio Scorpions (3-1-9) failed to win their final home game of the season in a 2-1 loss to the first place New York Cosmos (8-4-1) on Saturday, Nov. 26.

A crowd of 7,702 people gathered at Toyota field to see the Scorpions’ last home game and the first time the team has played the Cosmos since 1982. But the result was consistent with what the Scorpions have been as they let a 1-0 lead end in a one-goal defeat.

The Scorpions seemed unaffected by the Cosmos’ status as best team in the league and showed it when they scored early in the first half. In the third minute, forward Tomasz Zahorski opened the game with a goal on an assist from teammate Blake Wagner. Zahorski now has nine goals this season, second behind teammate Hans Denissen, who was unable to participate against the Cosmos due to an injury.

But that was the extent of the Scorpions’ scoring output as they continued to show deficiencies on both sides of the ball.

The Cosmos rebounded with an incredible display of offense in a short span. Cosmos Marcos Senna scored on a shot inside the box in the 52nd minute, leaving Scorpions goalkeeper Jeremy Vuolo with no chance to stop it.

It didn’t take long for the Cosmos to change the scoreboard just two minutes later as Diomar Diaz put the ball through the top right of the goal to give his team a 2-1 lead.

“We got two opportunities, not necessarily clean opportunities, and we left Senna, a top class player, with an opportunity like that. He put it in the back of the net,” Scorpions head coach Alen Marcina said after the loss.

The action didn’t stop there as the interaction between the two teams boiled over into an aggressive style of play. With just under 16 minutes left in the game, Cosmos midfielder Dane Murphy was given a direct red card after fouling Scorpions midfielder Walter Ramirez.

New York Cosmos head coach Giovanni Savarese was ejected after complaining about the referee decision of taking Murphy out of the game.

The Scorpions played seventeen minutes with one more player, but couldn’t score due to their lack of precision in the final touch.

“I’m proud of the guys; they left it all out on the field and that’s what I asked. I am pretty sure the fans saw a great show tonight. Unfortunately, it didn’t go to our way,” Marcina said. “I’m proud of the guys, proud of the fans, proud of everybody.

The Scorpions will end the season on the road against the Carolina RailHawks on Saturday, Nov. 2, at WakeMed Soccer Park.