NASL North Carolina FC

Barbara Double Leads RailHawks Past St. Louis

Published on April 10, 2010 under North American Soccer League (NASL)
North Carolina FC News Release


CARY, N.C. - Forward Etienne Barbara ingratiated himself nicely to the Carolina RailHawks faithful Saturday night, scoring a pair of goals in his club debut to lead the RailHawks to a 2-0 win over AC St. Louis at WakeMed Soccer Park.

Barbara, one of a handful of Martin Rennie's offseason acquisitions, scored his first goal just four minutes into the match then added his second of the night in the 25th.

"He can offer us a lot because he's a threat with his pace but also he's so strong that he can hold the ball up," Rennie, the Carolina coach, said of Barbara. "And as you could see tonight, he can finish. He only had two chances, and he took them. So that was good."

The Carolina defense was also quite good, picking up right where it left off in 2009. A year after posting league highs in shutouts and goals against average, the RailHawks (1-0-0) posted their first clean sheet of 2010. Goalkeeper Eric Reed had three saves and the defense held St. Louis to eight shots.

As fans were just settling in for the RailHawks' season opener, Barbara forced them to their feet with his strike in the fourth minute. Thirty yards from goal, Barbara picked the ball off a defender's foot, raced in on the St. Louis goal and easily tucked the ball away.

Barbara doubled his tally twenty minutes later when, in the 25th minute, he one-timed a cross from Cory Elenio - another newcomer in 2010 who was signed earlier this week - into the back of the net.

"It was a good cross from Cory," Barbara said. "I couldn't miss from there. It was too good to miss."

St. Louis (0-1-0) had its best chance to get on the board in the 29th minute. Jack Traynor spotted John Lesko on the back post on a restart deep in the Carolina end, but Lesko's header went just wide.

The RailHawks' attack didn't feature quite as much gusto in the second half - they took only two shots - but they nearly got one more in the 66th minute. Barbara played Josh Gardner in behind the St. Louis defense, but as Gardner pulled the ball down and volleyed it into the net, the referee's whistle blew for offside.

While Rennie would have liked to see more going forward in the second half, he was most pleased with what the RailHawks took from the match - the full three points in the table.

"It's the home opener against a new team we didn't know much about, so it was hard to prepare," Rennie said. "We won 2-0 and really they only had one shot in the game. We got a clean sheet which is a good way to start. And we got the win, which was the most important thing."

Saturday's win marked the second straight year Carolina won its season opener. The RailHawks will seek a second straight win next Friday, when they return to WakeMed Soccer Park and they face NSC Minnesota at 7 p.m.

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North American Soccer League Stories from April 10, 2010


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