July 7, 1979 – New England Tea Men 1:2 New York Cosmos at Nickerson Field (Att.: 15,763)

The Tea Men squandered several chances to equalize, the best a Keith Weller off-target 76^th-minute penalty kick after Salif Keita had been taken down. Keita, playing with a pulled hamstring, had been inserted after halftime in place of Gerry Daly, the Tea Men’s regular penalty taker, who had sustained a neck injury.

The Cosmos took a two-goal lead on a Marinho free kick and a Giorgio Chinaglia goal, disputed for possible offside. Chris Turner headed in a 59^th-minute Weller corner kick, then Weller missed an open net and Costa Rican midfielder Ringo Cantillo (who would make his U.S. national team debut Oct. 7, 1979) hit the post in the late going. Barry Cadigan’s report in The Boston Globe noted Nickerson Field’s capacity was about 17,000.

The teams appeared to be developing a rivalry, the Tea Men having twice defeated the Cosmos before combined crowd totals of 92,623 in a seven-day period in 1978. But the Tea Men moved to Jacksonville, Fla., after the 1980 season.

July 5, 1978 – New England Tea Men 1:0 (aet) New York Cosmos at Schaefer Stadium (Att.: 30,126)

July 12, 1978 – New York Cosmos 1:3 New England Tea Men at The Meadowlands (Att.: 62,497)

TODAY IN NEW ENGLAND SOCCER HISTORY