Silverbacks Finish The 2012 Season With Strong Run

Atlanta Silverbacks will remember 2012 as the season when Eric Wynalda came to town as the team’s head coach, at least for a few games.

It will be remembered as another season when the team finished near the bottom of the NASL standings and out of the playoffs.

But, Silverbacks players, coaches and team officials hope that fans will remember 2012 as the season when the team finished on a positive note with four victories and four draws in the final nine games.

Atlanta closed out the season on the road in Puerto Rico with a 1-1 draw with the Islanders. Midfielder Danny Barrera had put coach Brian Haynes’ Silverbacks up 1-0 with a 25-yard blast in the first half.

The successful run began on Aug. 4 with a 4-2 home win over the Fort Lauderdale Strikers. After back-to-back 0-0 draws with Tampa Bay and the Minnesota Stars FC, the Silverbacks lost for the last time, falling to the Carolina RailHawks, 1-0.

Atlanta won three games in September, beating FC Edmonton (2-0), Fort Lauderdale (1-0) and 3-1 over the NASL’s first-place team, the expansion San Antonio Scorpions. The other draw was 1-1 with Tampa Bay.

Atlanta’s win over San Antonio denied the Scorpions a chance to clinch the league’s regular season championship. Pedro Mendes got the game-winner in the 84th minute of play.

Going into their final game of the season, the Silverbacks owned the best record in the NASL over the last eight games. They finished the year with a 7-8-9 record and are assured of not finishing last in the NASL standings.

The Silverbacks sit in seventh place with 30 points, while FC Edmonton is last with 24 points and only one game left to play.

San Antonio finished first in the final standings, with Tampa Bay second, Puerto Rico third and Carolina RailHawks #4.