Palace Baltimore to Face RailHawks in First Local Derby

Published on June 18, 2010 under U.S. Soccer Federation D-2 (USSF D-2)
Crystal Palace Baltimore News Release


Baltimore, Md. - After disappointing League and US Open Cup road losses, Crystal Palace Baltimore face the Carolina RailHawks at the WakeMed Soccer Park on Saturday, June 19 at 7:30 p.m. Along with Rochester, Portland and Montreal, Palace will face the RailHawks four times this season. This is the first regular season fixture against the North Carolina outfit.

Even though this is the inaugural meeting between the two teams in the newly-formed USSF D-2 Pro League, it will be the continuation of an old feud between head coaches, Martin Rennie and Jim Cherneski. Rennie, during his two-year tenure as head coach of the USL-2 Cleveland City Stars, tipped the scales against his Baltimore adversary posting a 2-1-1 record - something Cherneski will no doubt be eager to address by leveling the win total between the two.

Palace Baltimore (3-6-2) will try to conjure up some of the magic that helped them take nine of 15 points on the road during their last five-game away stint. It might prove a tall order against a road warrior RailHawks team (3-2-4) that have had some success of their own away from home, boasting a pair of 1-1 ties against league heavyweights Portland and Vancouver and wins against Puerto Rico and Montreal.

Carolina has proven a tough defensive nut to crack this season. Tied with Vancouver, they have allowed the fewest goals in the league, giving up seven in their first nine games. Palace striker, Randi Patterson, will look to add to his top-scorer's tally by scoring against the league's top-rated defense.

With only two points separating the conference rivals, this "local derby" promises to be a hotly-contested fixture. Sitting on 10 goals apiece, both teams will look to make up ground on league leader Austin and hold bragging rights until August 14 when they face each other again in Baltimore.

After Saturday's fixture, Palace Baltimore head home to play the Minnesota Stars in the Paul Angelo Russo Stadium at Calvert Hall College High School, on June 26 at 5 p.m.

Palace Baltimore fans can watch live video streaming of both games on the club's video page - live.palacebaltimore.com - starting shortly before kickoff.

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U.S. Soccer Federation D-2 Stories from June 18, 2010


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