USL-1 North Carolina FC

RailHawks begin postseason Thursday at Vancouver

September 23, 2009 - USL First Division (USL-1)
North Carolina FC News Release


After a one-year absence, the Carolina RailHawks are back in the USL-1 playoffs.

The second-seeded RailHawks will face seventh-seeded Vancouver in the two-leg, aggregate goal quarterfinal, beginning Thursday in Vancouver at 10:30 p.m. After Thursday's first leg, the return leg will be Sunday at WakeMed Soccer Park at 5 p.m.

The RailHawks enter the postseason having closed the season on a playoff-like grind. Their final five matches were against playoff-bound teams, and the RailHawks went 2-2-1 down the stretch. After back-to-back losses to Montreal and Puerto Rico, Carolina avenged both defeats to end the season with back-to-back wins over those same two teams.

"We want to win, but most importantly we want to play well. We did, and that gives us a lot of confidence going into these games," said Carolina coach Martin Rennie. "Plus, we've been playing against top teams for a long time now. So it's going to be similar game against another top team. We're in the right frame of mind and we're expecting to do well."

The RailHawks finished a successful regular season with a 16-7-7 record and 55 points, good for second place in the USL-1. Portland (16-4-10) won the Commissioner's Cup with a league-best 58 points. Carolina's 16 wins, 55 points and second-place finish are all club bests. The RailHawks scored 43 goals (also a club record) and allowed only 19 (also a club record), and they led the league in shutouts (17).

USL PLAYOFF STRUCTURE

The top seven teams from the USL First Division regular season qualify for the playoffs and each of the three rounds are contested in two-leg, aggregate goal series. The team that has the most goals after the two games advances to the next round. If teams are tied after 180 minutes, they will then play two, 15-minute extra periods. If still tied after extra time, they will proceed to penalty kicks. Teams will be reseeded in the proceeding rounds, with the highest remaining seed facing the lowest remaining seed and so on.

SCOUTING VANCOUVER

The Whitecaps finished the regular season 11-10-9 and in seventh place in the USL-1 table.

They were one of the best teams at home, going 9-3-3 at Swangard Stadium. The nine home wins were fourth most in the USL-1, as were their 30 points earned at home. The Whitecaps are 4-0-2 over their last six at home, including back-to-back 2-1 wins over Austin and Cleveland to close out the regular season.

Vancouver features one of the best attacks in the league. Their 42 goals scored were fourth-most in the regular season, and their 380 shots were second only to Portland's 423. They were shut out only six times all year, fewer than any other team in the league. Forward Charles Gbeke led the USL-1 in goals scored (12), while Marlon James scored nine and Marcus Haber had eight and four assists. Midfielder Martin Nash added four goals and three assists and defender Wesley Knight lead the team in assists (eight).

For all that firepower up front, what held the Whitecaps back from charging farther up the USL-1 table was their defense. Vancouver conceded 36 goals and had just seven shutouts, tied for third-fewest in the league. While the Whitecaps held opponents to 9.4 shots per game, opponents managed to score a goal every 7.8 attempts. Goalkeeper Jay Nolly played every minute of the season for the Whitecaps, posting a 1.20 goals against average, seven shutouts and 118 saves.

SERIES HISTORY

Thursday's match will represent the ninth time that Carolina and Vancouver have met and it will be the first-ever postseason meeting.

The RailHawks are 2-2-4 in the previous eight matches with Vancouver and both teams have scored seven goals on the other in those eight games. At Swangard Stadium, the RailHawks are 1-1-2 all-time. The lone win was a 1-0 victory on May 25, 2007.

During the 2009 regular season, Carolina was 1-0-2 against the Whitecaps. In the season's first meeting, the RailHawks prevailed 2-1 at WakeMed Soccer Park on July 17. It was Carolina's first-ever home victory over the Whitecaps. The RailHawks took a 1-0 lead just before halftime after a Whitecaps own goal. Sallieu Bundu put the RailHawks up 2-0 in the 65th minute. That proved to be the game-winning goal because Vancouver's Charles Gbeke drew one back for the Whitecaps in the 90th minute.

In the second meeting, on Aug. 15, they played to a scoreless draw at Swangard Stadium. The Whitecaps outshot Carolina 22-9, but the Carolina defense stood up to the pressure. Carolina goalkeeper Caleb Patterson had seven saves to preserve his a clean sheet, an effort that later earned him Goalkeeper of the Week honors.

The teams closed out their season series three days later in Cary and that one ended a 1-1 stalemate. Vancouver's Marcus Haber gave the visitors a 1-0 lead with a textbook finish in the 66th minute, but the RailHawks swiped a point from the match thanks to Andriy Budnyy's 87th-minute equalizer.

RAILHAWKS IN THE PLAYOFFS

The RailHawks are back in the playoffs for the first time since 2007, when they went 0-2 in their quarterfinal match-up with eventual champion Seattle. The Sounders won the opening leg 2-0 at WakeMed Soccer Park and the return leg 1-0 at Qwest Field in Seattle.

PLAYER NOTES

*Midfielder Daniel Paladini scored his seventh goal of the season on Friday against Montreal when he converted a 59th-minute penalty kick.

*Midfielder Brian Plotkin scored his fifth goal of the season in the 90th minute on Friday against Montreal.

*Forward Matthew Delicâte registered his first assist as a RailHawk in just his second appearance with the team, setting up Plotkin's late finish against the Impact.

*Goalkeeper Caleb Patterson had five saves against Montreal, upping his season total to 76, and he recorded his 11th shutout, 10th in USL play, of the season.

*Defender Greg Shields was named to the USL-1 Team of the Week for Week 24 for his role in the win over Montreal. He's the 18th different RailHawk and seventh different defender to be honored this season.

DID YOU KNOW?

Since the advent of the A-League, the precursor to the USL-1, in 1997, only two teams that have won the Commissioner's Cup went on to win the league championship (Rochester in 1998, Seattle in 2007). During that same time, four regular-season runners-up have reached the final and two of them won the championship (Montreal in 2004, Vancouver in 2008).

STAT LEADERS*

Goals: Sallieu Bundu, Daniel Paladini (7)

Assists: Gregory Richardson, Daniel Paladini (5)

Minutes: Mark Schulte (2,980)

Shots: Daniel Paladini (63)

Fouls: Daniel Paladini (44)

*includes USL-1 matches, U.S. Open Cup matches and five friendlies in 2009

CAROLINA VS USL-1*

The following are the RailHawks' final team statistics for the year, and in parentheses is where they ranked in each category compared to the rest of the USL First Division.

Shots: 332 (4th)

Shots allowed: 307 (4th)

Goals scored: 43 (3rd)

Goals allowed: 19 (T-11th)

Saves: 104 (9th)

Shutouts: 17 (1st)

Times shut out: 7 (T-10th)

*based only on USL-1 matches

2008 VS 2009 SEASON COMPARISON

Through 30 games in 2008:

9-11-10, 37 points, 34 GF, 43 GA, 6 SO

Through 30 games in 2009:

16-7-7, 55 points, 43 GF, 19 GA, 17 SO

USL-1 HONORS

Team of the Week

Week 2: Jack Stewart, Josh Gardner

Week 3: John Gilkerson, Brian Plotkin

Week 4: John Gilkerson

Week 6: Devon McKenney, Luke Kreamalmeyer

Week 7: Daniel Paladini, Kupono Low, Andriy Budnyy

Week 8: Kupono Low, Daniel Paladini

Week 11: Matt Watson

Week 14: Caleb Norkus, Sallieu Bundu

Week 15: Gregory Richardson

Week 16: Gregory Richardson

Week 17: Joseph Kabwe, Kupono Low, Gregory Richardson

Week 18: Caleb Patterson

Week 19: Caleb Patterson, Jeremy Tolleson

Week 20: Jeremy Tolleson

Week 21: John Cunliffe, Joseph Kabwe

Week 23: Joseph Kabwe

Week 24: Greg Shields

Player of the Week

Week 1: Mark Schulte

Week 16: Gregory Richardson

Week 17: Joseph Kabwe

USL-1 QUARTERFINALS

*All times Eastern

No. 2 Carolina vs No. 7 Vancouver

Leg 1: Thursday, Sept. 24 at Vancouver, 10:30 p.m.

Leg 2: Sunday, Sept. 27 at Carolina, 5 p.m.

No. 3 Puerto Rico vs No. 6 Rochester

Leg 1: Thursday, Sept. 24 at Rochester, 7:05 p.m.

Leg 2: Sunday, Sept. 27 at Puerto Rico, 7 p.m.

No. 4 Charleston vs No. 5 Montreal

Leg 1: Thursday, Sept. 24 at Montreal, 7:45 p.m.

Leg 2: Sunday, Sept. 27 at Charleston, 7 p.m.

No. 1 seed Portland has a bye to the semifinals

NEXT UP

The RailHawks will play the return leg of their quarterfinal match-up with Vancouver on Sunday at WakeMed Soccer Park at 5 p.m.

Check out the North Carolina FC Statistics



USL First Division Stories from September 23, 2009


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