# 2014 Atlanta Silverbacks season

The 2014 season was the Atlanta Silverbacks' 18th season of existence, and their 4th consecutive season playing in the North American Soccer League, the second division of the American soccer pyramid.

## Background

The Atlanta Silverbacks had a long run in 2013. In the Spring Season, they finished first place and booked their ticket to host the Soccer Bowl. They finished seventh in the fall season, but still were in the final match to decide the NASL Champion. The Silverbacks lost 1–0 to the New York Cosmos in the 2013 Soccer Bowl.
They had close results in the U.S. Open Cup, winning their first match against fourth division opponent Georgia Revolution 3–2. Then losing to MLS side Real Salt Lake 2–3 in overtime a week later.
On December 9, 2013, first-year head coach Brian Haynes was not given a contract extension, leaving the Silverbacks without a head coach.
On January 7, the Silverbacks announced that they would eliminate the head coaching position, and have technical director, Eric Wynalda, manage the team. Wynalda has the most professional experience of the club staff as he played in MLS, Germany, and Mexico for 20 years. Wynalda also has 106 US National Team caps, and is third on the countries all-time scoring list with 34 goals.

## Club
### Current roster

As of October 1, 2014
| No. | Position | Player | Nation |
| 2 | DF | Edgar Espinoza | United States |
| 5 | MF | Blair Gavin | United States |
| 7 | MF | Junior Sandoval | Honduras |
| 8 | DF | Ramiro Canovas | Argentina |
| 9 | FW | Deon McCaulay | Belize |
| 10 | MF | Kwadwo Poku | Ghana |
| 11 | MF | Pablo Cruz | United States |
| 12 | GK | Thomas Hunter | United States |
| 13 | MF | Borfor Carr | Liberia |
| 14 | MF | Lucas Paulini | Argentina |
| 15 | DF | Abdul Bangura | Sierra Leone |
| 16 | GK | Eric Ati | Cameroon |
| 17 | MF | Brandon Poltronieri | Costa Rica |
| 18 | DF | Mitch Garcia | United States |
| 19 | FW | Jaime Chavez | United States |
| 20 | MF | Janny Rivera | Colombia |
| 21 | FW | Kellen Gulley | United States |
| 23 | MF | Paulo Ferreira-Mendes | Brazil |
| 25 | MF | Ferrety Sousa | DR Congo |
| 29 | DF | Mike Randolph (captain) | United States |
| 33 | MF | Junior Burgos | El Salvador |
| 38 | DF | Ryan Roushandel | United States |
| 45 | MF | Alex Harlley | Togo |
| 70 | MF | Jesus Gonzalez | United States |
| 99 | FW | Shaka Bangura | Sierra Leone |

#### On loan
### Technical Staff

* Jason Smith – Head Coach
* Eric Wynalda – Technical Director
* Ricardo Montoya – Assistant Coach
* Alejandro Pombo – Assistant Coach
* Eduardo "Lalo" Liza – Assistant Coach
* Juan Castellanos – Fitness Coach

### Front Office Staff

* Boris Jerkunica – Chairman
* John Latham – Vice-Chairman
* Andy Smith – General Manager
* Neal Malone – Marketing and PR Manager
* Michael Wheeler – Account Executive
* Kaila Muecke – Account Executive
* Malcolm Johnson – Account Executive
* Pete Zeskind – Account Executive
* Nathan Charlton – Operations Manager
* Samantha Yourstone – Event Marketing Coordinator

## Transfers
### In

| Date | Pos. | Name | Previous Club | Fee |
| January 20, 2014 | FW | Matt Horth | New England Revolution | None |
| January 23, 2014 | MF | Junior Sandoval | C.D. Marathón | None |
| January 24, 2014 | MF | Kwadwo Poku | Georgia Revolution | None |
| January 31, 2014 | MF | Blair Gavin | Seattle Sounders FC | None |
| February 4, 2014 | MF | Lucas Paulini | Atlanta Silverbacks | Re-sign |
| February 25, 2014 | FW | Deon McCaulay | Belmopan Bandits | None |
| February 26, 2014 | GK | Derby Carrillo | Santa Tecla | None |
| February 26, 2014 | MF | Junior Burgos | Toronto FC | None |
| February 27, 2014 | GK | Eric Ati | Atlanta Silverbacks | Re-sign |
| February 27, 2014 | DF | Mitch Garcia | Vermont Voltage | None |
| February 28, 2014 | DF | Abdul Bangura | Härnösands FF | None |
| March 3, 2014 | DF | Ramiro Canovas | Silverbacks Reserves | None |
| March 6, 2014 | DF | Edgar Espinoza | Los Angeles Misioneros | None |
| March 6, 2014 | MF | Janny Rivera | Silverbacks Reserves | None |
| March 6, 2014 | MF | Alex Harlley | FC Santa Clarita | None |
| April 9, 2014 | FW | Jaime Chavez | Los Angeles Misioneros | None |
| April 18, 2014 | DF | Ryan Roushandel | Sevilla PR | None |
| April 25, 2014 | MF | Ferrety Sousa | Atlanta Silverbacks | Re-sign |
| May 1, 2014 | GK | Thomas Hunter | Chattanooga FC | None |
| May 1, 2014 | GK | Chip Sanders | Orlando City U-23 | None |
| July 7, 2014 | FW | Kellen Gulley | Chicago Fire | None |
| August 7, 2014 | MF | Brandon Poltronieri | Carmelita | None |
| September 5, 2014 | MF | Paulo Ferreira-Mendes | New York Cosmos | None |
| September 30, 2014 | FW | Shaka Bangura | Barito Putera | None |

### Out

| Date | Pos. | Name | New Club | Fee |
| November 9, 2013 | DF | Eduardo Liza | Retired | Retired |
| November 29, 2013 | DF | Mark Bloom | Toronto FC | Undisclosed |
| December 10, 2013 | MF | Milton Blanco | FC Edmonton | Free |
| December 10, 2013 | FW | Pedro Ferreira-Mendes | Indy Eleven | Free |
| December 10, 2013 | MF | Danny Barrera | San Antonio Scorpions | Free |
| December 10, 2013 | MF | Mark Withers | Dallas Sidekicks (Indoor) | Free |
| December 10, 2013 | MF | Brandon Manzonelli | St. Louis Ambush (Indoor) | Free |
| December 10, 2013 | DF | Willie Hunt | Tampa Bay Rowdies | Free |
| December 10, 2013 | FW | Brad Stisser | Arizona United SC | Free |
| December 10, 2013 | GK | Cody Mizell | Tampa Bay Rowdies | Free |
| January 13, 2014 | FW | Kellen Gulley | Chicago Fire | Free |
| January 24, 2014 | MF | Horace James | FC Edmonton | Released |
| February 4, 2014 | MF | Richard Menjivar | San Antonio Scorpions | Free |
| February 7, 2014 | FW | Matt Horth | Leiknir Reykjavík | Undisclosed |
| February 12, 2014 | GK | Joe Nasco | Colorado Rapids | Free |
| March 5, 2014 | MF | Mario Uribe | Free Agent | Released |
| April 9, 2014 | DF | Josh Suggs | Orange County Blues | Released |
| April 9, 2014 | MF | Scott Rojo | Free Agent | Released |
| April 28, 2014 | FW | David Estrada | Seattle Sounders FC | Loan Return |
| May 9, 2014 | DF | Martyn Lancaster | Georgia Revolution | Free |
| May 10, 2014 | GK | Chip Sanders | Free Agent | Released |
| May 10, 2014 | MF | Alex Caceres | Free Agent | Released |
| June 30, 2014 | DF | Bobby Reiss | Retired | Retired |
| July 12, 2014 | DF | Beto Navarro | FC Edmonton | Undisclosed |
| August 5, 2014 | GK | Derby Carillo | Santa Tecla | Released |

### Loan In

| Date | Pos. | Name | From | Until |
| April 3, 2014 | FW | David Estrada | Seattle Sounders FC | April 28, 2013 |
| July 15, 2014 | GK | Joe Nasco | Colorado Rapids | August 9, 2014 |

## Pre-season friendlies
### Pre-season

| Date | Opponents | H / A | Result F–A | Scorers | Time |
| March 2, 2014 | Clayton State Lakers | H | 2–1 | Kwadwo Poku x2 | 4:00 PM EST |
| March 15, 2014 | Charlotte Eagles | H | 0–1 | | 4:00 PM EST |
| March 21, 2014 | UAB Blazers | A | 3–0 | Deon McCaulay, Lucas Paulini, Edgar Espinoza | 8:00 PM EST |
| March 23, 2014 | AUM Warhawks | N | 3–0 | Bobby Reiss, Edgar Espinoza, Junior Burgos | 3:00 PM EST |
| March 29, 2014 | Young Harris Lions | H | 4–1 | Deon McCaulay x3, Kwadwo Poku | 4:00 PM EST |
| March 30, 2014 | USC Gamecocks | H | 0–0 | | 3:00 PM EST |
| April 5, 2014 | Clemson Tigers | H | 2–2 | Kwadwo Poku, Junior Sandoval | 5:00 PM EST |
| April 6, 2014 | Carson–Newman Eagles | H | 4–2 | Blair Gavin, Junior Burgos x2, David Estrada | 3:00 PM EST |

## Competitions

| Competition | Started Round | Current Position | Final Position | First Match | Last Match |
| Spring Season | – | – | 8th | April 13, 2014 | June 7, 2014 |
| Fall Season | – | 9th | – | July 12, 2014 | November 2, 2014 |
| U.S. Open Cup | 3rd Round | – | Quarterfinals | May 28, 2014 | July 9, 2014 |
| NASL Playoffs | – | – | – | – | – |

### NASL
#### Spring season
##### Table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Minnesota United (S) | 9 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 16 | 9 | +7 | 20 | Playoffs |
| 2 | New York Cosmos | 9 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 14 | 3 | +11 | 19 | |
| 3 | San Antonio Scorpions | 9 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 13 | 9 | +4 | 17 | |
| 4 | Carolina RailHawks | 9 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 11 | 15 | −4 | 14 | |
| 5 | Fort Lauderdale Strikers | 9 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 18 | 18 | 0 | 13 | |
| 6 | Ottawa Fury | 9 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 14 | 13 | +1 | 10 | |
| 7 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 9 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 11 | 16 | −5 | 10 | |
| 8 | Atlanta Silverbacks | 9 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 12 | 20 | −8 | 10 | |
| 9 | FC Edmonton | 9 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 11 | 11 | 0 | 8 | |
| 10 | Indy Eleven | 9 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 14 | 20 | −6 | 4 | |

##### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Last updated: June 7, 2014. Source:

##### Results by round

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
| Ground | A | H | A | H | A | A | A | H | H |
| Result | L | L | W | W | L | L | W | L | D |
| Position | 10 | 10 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 8 |

##### Match results
#### Fall season
##### Table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | San Antonio Scorpions (F) | 18 | 11 | 2 | 5 | 30 | 15 | +15 | 35 | Playoffs |
| 2 | Minnesota United | 18 | 10 | 5 | 3 | 31 | 19 | +12 | 35 | |
| 3 | FC Edmonton | 18 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 23 | 18 | +5 | 29 | |
| 4 | Fort Lauderdale Strikers | 18 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 20 | 21 | −1 | 27 | |
| 5 | Carolina RailHawks | 18 | 7 | 3 | 8 | 27 | 28 | −1 | 24 | |
| 6 | New York Cosmos | 18 | 5 | 8 | 5 | 23 | 24 | −1 | 23 | |
| 7 | Indy Eleven | 18 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 21 | 26 | −5 | 23 | |
| 8 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 18 | 5 | 5 | 8 | 25 | 34 | −9 | 20 | |
| 9 | Ottawa Fury | 18 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 20 | 25 | −5 | 17 | |
| 10 | Atlanta Silverbacks | 18 | 3 | 4 | 11 | 20 | 30 | −10 | 13 | |

##### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Source: Fall season 2014 results

##### Results by round

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 |
| Ground | A | H | H | A | H | A | A | A | H | A | H | H | A | A | H | H | H | A |
| Result | L | W | D | W | L | D | L | W | L | L | L | L | L | L | D | D | L | L |
| Position | 7 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 8 | 5 | 8 | 9 | | | | | | | | 10 |

##### Match results
### US Open Cup
## Playoffs

The Championship will be contested by the winners of the spring and fall seasons hosting the next best two teams in the full year regular season table. The semi-finals will take place on November 8 and 9, with the two winners of the two games playing in the Championship game hosted by the team with the best overall regular season record, on November 15.

## Statistics
### Appearances

    Numbers in parentheses denote appearances as substitute.
    Players with no appearances not included in the list.
    Last updated on October 1, 2014
| No. | Pos. | Nat. | Name | Spring | Fall | Open Cup | Total |
| No. | Pos. | Nat. | Name | Apps | Apps | Apps | Apps |
| 2 | DF | USA | Edgar Espinoza | 6 | 8 | 0 | 14 |
| 5 | MF | USA | Blair Gavin | 6 | 12 | 4 | 22 |
| 7 | MF | HON | Junior Sandoval | 8 | 12 | 4 | 24 |
| 8 | DF | ARG | Ramiro Canovas | 2 (1) | 6 (4) | 3 | 11 (5) |
| 9 | FW | BLZ | Deon McCaulay | 8 (1) | 2 (2) | 2 (2) | 12 (5) |
| 10 | MF | GHA | Kwadwo Poku | 6 (3) | 11 (2) | 3 | 20 (5) |
| 11 | MF | USA | Pablo Cruz | 3 (3) | 10 (1) | 3 | 16 (4) |
| 12 | GK | USA | Thomas Hunter | 0 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 (1) |
| 13 | MF | LBR | Borfor Carr | 1 (1) | 6 (2) | 2 (1) | 9 (4) |
| 14 | MF | ARG | Lucas Paulini | 1 (1) | 4 (4) | 0 | 5 (5) |
| 15 | DF | SLE | Abdul Bangura | 2 (1) | 3 | 0 (1) | 5 (2) |
| 16 | GK | CMR | Eric Ati | 6 (1) | 8 | 1 | 15 (1) |
| 18 | MF | USA | Mitch Garcia | 1 | 1 | 0 (1) | 2 (1) |
| 19 | FW | USA | Jaime Chavez | 6 (3) | 13 | 3 | 22 (3) |
| 20 | MF | COL | Janny Rivera | 2 (1) | 3 (1) | 0 | 5 (2) |
| 21 | FW | USA | Kellen Gulley | 0 | 0 (2) | 0 (1) | 0 (3) |
| 25 | MF | COD | Ferrety Sousa | 0 (1) | 3 (3) | 1 | 4 (4) |
| 29 | DF | USA | Mike Randolph | 8 | 9 | 4 | 21 |
| 33 | MF | SLV | Junior Burgos | 3 (3) | 7 (2) | 4 | 14 (5) |
| 38 | DF | USA | Ryan Roushandel | 7 (1) | 12 | 1 | 20 (1) |
| 45 | MF | TOG | Alex Harlley | 1 (2) | 4 (8) | 0 (4) | 5 (14) |
| 70 | MF | USA | Jesus Gonzalez | 6 (1) | 4 (7) | 1 (2) | 11 (10) |
| 99 | FW | SLE | Shaka Bangura | 0 | 0 (1) | 0 | 0 (1) |
| Players below are no longer on roster ||||||||
| 3 | MF | USA | David Estrada | 2 (1) | - | - | 2 (1) |
| 4 | DF | USA | Bobby Reiss | 8 | - | 2 | 10 |
| 6 | DF | USA | Beto Navarro | 3 | - | 3 | 6 |
| 22 | GK | SLV | Derby Carrillo | 3 | 1 | 3 | 7 |
| 23 | GK | USA | Joe Nasco | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4 |

### Goalscorers

This includes all competitive matches.
    Last updated on September 20, 2014
| Rank | No. | Pos. | Name | Spring | Fall | Open Cup | Total |
| 1 | 19 | FW | Jaime Chavez | 5 | 3 | 3 | 11 |
| 2 | 7 | MF | Junior Sandoval | 2 | 4 | 1 | 7 |
| 3 | 33 | MF | Junior Burgos | 0 | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| 4 | 9 | FW | Deon McCaulay | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 |
| 5 | 11 | MF | Pablo Cruz | 1 | 3 | 0 | 4 |
| 6 | 10 | MF | Kwadwo Poku | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 7 | 5 | MF | Blair Gavin | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 7 | 38 | DF | Ryan Roushandel | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| TOTALS | TOTALS | TOTALS | TOTALS | 12 | 16 | 10 | 38 |

### Clean sheets

This includes all competitive matches.
    Last updated on September 20, 2014
| Rank | No. | Pos. | Name | Spring | Fall | Open Cup | Total |
| 1 | 16 | GK | Eric Ati | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 2 | 23 | GK | Joe Nasco | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 3 | 12 | GK | Thomas Hunter | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| TOTALS | TOTALS | TOTALS | TOTALS | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 |

### Disciplinary record

This includes all competitive matches.
    Last updated on October 1, 2014
| No. | Pos. | Player | Spring | Spring | Fall | Fall | Open Cup | Open Cup | Total | Total |
| 2 | DF | Edgar Espinoza | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 5 | MF | Blair Gavin | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 7 | MF | Junior Sandoval | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 1 |
| 8 | DF | Ramiro Canovas | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 9 | FW | Deon McCaulay | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 10 | MF | Kwadwo Poku | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
| 11 | MF | Pablo Cruz | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 |
| 13 | MF | Borfor Carr | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 14 | MF | Lucas Paulini | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 15 | DF | Abdul Bangura | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 16 | GK | Eric Ati | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 18 | MF | Mitch Garcia | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 19 | FW | Jaime Chavez | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 1 |
| 20 | MF | Janny Rivera | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 25 | MF | Ferrety Sousa | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 29 | DF | Mike Randolph | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 33 | MF | Junior Burgos | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 38 | DF | Ryan Roushandel | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 45 | MF | Alex Harlley | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 70 | MF | Jesus Gonzalez | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 1 |
| Players below are no longer on roster ||||||||
| 3 | FW | David Estrada | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 1 | 0 |
| 4 | DF | Bobby Reiss | 3 | 0 | - | - | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 22 | GK | Derby Carrillo | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 23 | GK | Joe Nasco | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| TOTALS | TOTALS | TOTALS | 23 | 1 | 24 | 2 | 7 | 4 | 53 | 8 |