USL-1 North Carolina FC

RailHawks return to USL-1 play against Portland

Published on June 10, 2009 under USL First Division (USL-1)
North Carolina FC News Release


RAILHAWKS RETURN TO LEAGUE PLAY AGAINST PORTLAND

The Carolina RailHawks seek their sixth straight win overall and their fifth straight win in USL-1 play when they return to WakeMed Soccer Park to face the Portland Timbers on Thursday at 7 p.m.

The RailHawks, coming off a 2-1 win over the Richmond Kickers in the first round of the U.S. Open Cup on Tuesday, enter the weekend in second place in the USL-1, one point back of Charleston.

"This is the last time we play them in the regular season, so we want to get a win against them and keep our momentum going," said Carolina coach Martin Rennie, whose RailHawks went 0-1-1 on their trip to Portland in April. "We've had five wins in a row and we haven't lost a goal in open play in almost 500 minutes. We want to keep that going. And we've got a chance to make up for losing out there before. We know how hard it is to travel from Portland to here, so we want to take advantage of that."

With the win over Richmond on Tuesday, the RailHawks have won five straight. While the Kickers scored a goal and snapped the RailHawks shutout streak at 416 minutes, the goal was scored on a penalty kick. Thus, the RailHawks haven't conceded a goal during the run of play in 486 minutes, dating back to their 2-1 loss to Charleston on May 9. In USL-1 play, Carolina has won four straight and outscored their opponents 6-0 during that run.

Thursday's match will represent the second of five matches the RailHawks' will play over the course of 11 days. After the match with Portland, Carolina will travel to Minnesota to meet the Thunder on Sunday afternoon before coming back to Cary to face the USL-2's Wilmington Hammerheads in the second round of the U.S. Open Cup on June 16.

The match will take place on Field 2 at WakeMed Soccer Park, as the stadium field is reworked. All tickets for this match are $10 and the RailHawks will have a "Thirsty Thursday" special with $1 draft beer and $1 hot dogs.

SCOUTING PORTLAND

The Timbers come to WakeMed Soccer Park on an eight-match unbeaten streak. At 5-1-3, they have 18 points and are in third place in the USL-1.

Thursday's match-up will conclude the season series between the RailHawks and Timbers. The teams played to a scoreless tie on April 30 in Portland, and two days later, the Timbers ended the RailHawks' four-match unbeaten streak with a 2-0 defeat.

Portland is the only team to have shut out the RailHawks all season. Carolina took 27 shots in those two games at PGE Park, and Chris Seitz made 15 saves to earn back-to-back clean sheets. But Seitz will not be with Portland for this week's game. He joined the Timbers on a last-minute loan from Real Salt Lake after Steve Cronin suffered an injury in training that week. Cronin is now back with the Timbers and playing quite well. In his six games since rejoining the starting 11, Cronin is 4-0-2, with three goals allowed and three shutouts.

Thursday marks the Timbers' only trip to WakeMed Soccer Park in 2009. The RailHawks have won two of three meetings with Portland in Cary and all three games between the two have ended with a final score of 1-0. The all-time series record is even (2-2-3), as is goal differential (both teams have scored three times against the other).

Like the RailHawks, the Timbers are in the midst of a congested schedule. From June 4-13, they will play four games in four cities. After a 1-0 win against Montreal in Portland on June 4 and a 3-0 win over the Kitsap Pumas in the first round of the U.S. Open Cup in Bremerton, Wash., on Tuesday, the Timbers will play the RailHawks in Cary on Thursday and then will visit the Charleston Battery on Saturday.

Though Portland has scored only 10 goals in nine games, their attack is among the most dangerous in the league. They lead the USL-1 in total shots (134) and shots per game (14.89). The RailHawks will have to keep their eyes on Ryan Pore (three goals, one assist), Brian Farber (two goals, two assists) and Mandjou Keita (two goals, one assist). Pore leads the league in shots (30) and Keita is third (20).

Their defense is also proving to be among the league's best. Their five shutouts rank them third in the USL-1, and their four goals allowed are the second fewest.

SCOUTING MINNESOTA

Since opening the season with a 2-1 loss to the RailHawks on April 11, the Thunder have continued to struggle. They remain winless (0-5-4) and are at the bottom of the USL-1 table with four points.

Sunday's match at the National Sports Center in Blaine, Minn., will be the RailHawks only trip to Minnesota this year and wrap-up the season series between the RailHawks and Thunder. Carolina won the first two meetings, 2-1 at WakeMed Soccer on April 11 and 1-0 on April 26, also in Cary. The RailHawks are 1-1-1 in their three previous trips to Minnesota. The Thunder had a four-match homestand in May, where they went 0-3-1 and were shut out twice.

Minnesota has conceded 11 goals this season while scoring six for a goal differential of minus-5, which ranks them last in the league. The six goals scored are tied for the second fewest in the USL-1. Though the Thunder haven't scored often, they feature a dangerous duo in Leonel Saint-Pruex and Ricardo Sanchez. Saint-Preux has scored two goals and an assist in seven matches, and Sanchez has two goals and two assists in seven matches.

Minnesota goalkeeper goalkeeper Nic Platter has 38 saves in nine games, third most in the league, and his defense has given up 101 shots this season, third most in the league.

LAST TIME OUT

The RailHawks defeated the Richmond Kickers 2-1at WakeMed Soccer Park on Tuesday afternoon at WakeMed Soccer Park in the first round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.

Daniel Paladini opened the scoring in the 14th minute, assisted by Hamed Diallo. Richmond equalized on a 20th-minute penalty kick before Diallo struck for the game winner in the 48th minute.

The RailHawks improved to 7-2 all-time in the U.S. Open Cup, including 6-1 at WakeMed Soccer Park. They will meet the USL-2's Wilmington Hammerheads in the tournament's second round on June 16 in Cary. Carolina defeated the Hammerheads 2-0 in Wilmington in April on second-half goals by John Cunliffe and Matt Watson.

DID YOU KNOW?

The RailHawks are undefeated (2-0) on WakeMed Soccer Park's Field 2, where Tuesday's game was played and where Thursday's game will be played. In addition to the win over Richmond, the RailHawks defeated the Brooklyn Knights in the 2008 U.S. Open Cup.

USL-1 STANDINGS

Charleston Battery 6-0-5, 23 points

Carolina RailHawks 7-2-1, 22 points

Portland Timbers 5-1-3, 18 points

Puerto Rico Islanders 4-3-4, 16 points

Rochester Rhinos 4-4-2, 14 points

Montreal Impact 3-4-2, 11 points

Vancouver Whitecaps 3-4-2, 11 points

Austin Aztex 2-3-4, 10 points

Miami FC Blues 2-4-1, 7 points

Cleveland City Stars 1-7-2, 5 points

Minnesota Thunder 0-5-4, 4 points

USL-1 SCHEDULE

*ALL MATCHES BROADCAST ON USLLIVE.COM. *

Thursday, June 11

Portland at Carolina, 7 p.m.

Friday, June 12

Austin at Puerto Rico, 8 p.m.

Miami at Vancouver, 11 p.m.

Saturday, June 13

Rochester at Cleveland, 7 p.m.

Portland at Charleston, 7:30 p.m.

Sunday, June 14

Carolina at Minnesota, 2:35 p.m.

Austin at Miami, 6 p.m.

Check out the North Carolina FC Statistics

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USL First Division Stories from June 10, 2009


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