Silverbacks Open Strong At Home

For the first two weeks of the 2013 season, the Atlanta Silverbacks have won Florida.

First there was the 2-0 home opening victory over the Fort Lauderdale Strkers.

A week later Atlanta went on the road and rallied for a 4-3 victory over the defending league champion Tampa Bay Rowdies.

Last season the Silverbacks finished next-to-last in the league and once again missed out of postseason play.

That’s the bad news. The g[show_disconnected][show_to accesslevel=’Subscriber’]ood news is that Alanta was one of the hottest teams over the second half of the 2012 season. After going 1-9-5 (win/loss/ties) through the first 15 games of the season, they turned it around with only three losses in the final 13 games (6-3-4).

Before a sellout crowd of 5,402 at Atlanta Silverbacks Park, the Silverbacks finally got their first goal of the season in the 86th minute by defender Shane Moroney. In the closing minutes, Danny Barrera made it 2-0.

The win in St. Petersburg was a wild affair. The Rowdies took a 3-1 lead at the halftime break, but the Silverbacks came back for three goals in the second half.

Midfielder Pedro Mendes and forward Ruben Luna each scored a pair of goals. Mendes had one in each half, including the game-winner in the 70th minute from the top of the penalty box.

Luke Mulholland had a pair of first-half goals for Tampa Bay.

Mendes was named the NASL Player of the Week. “It’s amazing feeling to be recognized by the league,” said Atlanta’s Brazilian striker.

“I’ve been working really hard in training, so having it pay off in such a big way on Saturday night feels really good.”

Mendes, 22, joined the Silverbacks from the Rhode Island Reds of the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) midway through the 2012 season, injecting pace and creativity into the Silverbacks lineup. 

Mendes had previously spent time with Silverbacks Technical Director Eric Wynalda at Cal FC, an amateur club that knocked off a pair of professional teams to make it all the way to the fourth round of the 2012 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.

Mendes scored four goals for the Silverbacks in just eight games, last season, including a two-goal game against the Strikers in August.