Sports stats



USSF D-2 North Carolina FC

RailHawks Face Montreal in USSF D-2 Semis

October 11, 2010 - U.S. Soccer Federation D-2 (USSF D-2)
North Carolina FC News Release


CARY, N.C. (Sunday Oct. 10, 2010) - In order to win the 2010 USSF D-2 Pro League championship, the Carolina RailHawks will have to go through last year's league champions first.

The RailHawks will face the 2009 USL-1 champion Montreal Impact in one of this week's D-2 playoffs semifinals. The RailHawks will travel to Saputo Stadium for the first leg of the series on Thursday at 7:30 p.m., and the teams will play the second leg on Sunday at WakeMed Soccer Park at 6 p.m. Tickets for Sunday's game are on sale now and prices start at $10.

Both teams enter the series coming off resounding wins in their respective quarterfinals.

NASL Conference champion Carolina won its first-ever playoff game and series by dispatching NSC Minnesota 4-0 on aggregate. After a scorless first leg, the RailHawks returned to WakeMed Soccer Park for the return leg on Saturday and scored four-second half goals to punch their ticket to the semifinals.

Montreal, the No. 6 seed, advanced to the semifinals by defeating the Austin Aztex 5-2 on aggregate. The Impact handed Austin a 2-0 defeat in the first leg in Montreal then downed the Aztex 3-2 in the second leg in Austin.

Both teams also seem to be playing at their best heading into this week. The Impact have won five straight matches and the RailHawks are unbeaten in their last five (4-0-1).

The teams' recent run of form and the nature of their regular-season series makes the semifinals a must-see. Including the preseason, Carolina and Montreal played each other five times in 2010, and Carolina holds a 2-1-2 advantage in the season series.

In a preseason friendly at WakeMed Soccer Park on March 27, the teams traded second-half penalty kicks to tie 1-1.

On May 30, Carolina won 2-0 in Montreal for its first-ever win at Saputo Stadium thanks to goals by Etienne Barbara and Andriy Budnny.

The RailHawks were poised to defeat the Impact 2-0 again on June 26 at WakeMed Soccer Park after Sallieu Bundu and Floyd Franks scored second-half goals in the space of 12 minutes. But the Impact's Simon Gatti drew a goal back minutes after Franks' goal, and Tony Donatelli converted a controversial penalty kick in stoppage time to allow Montreal to steal a point from the contest.

Montreal got its only win of the season over the RailHawks 1-0 on July 14 at Saputo Stadium, thanks to Peter Byers' goal in the 73rd minute.

In their final regular-season meeting, the RailHawks won 2-0 on Aug. 7 at WakeMed Soccer Park on goals from Josh Gardner and Cory Elenio.

In the other semifinal series, No. 8 Puerto Rico will face No. 5 Vancouver. The Islanders downed No. 1 Rochester 3-2 on aggregate and Vancouver eliminated No. 4 Portland 2-1 on aggregate.

Tickets for Sunday's Carolina-Montreal match are on sale now and priced at $10, $15 and $20 if purchased in advance and $12, $17 and $22 if purchased on gameday. Please note Sunday's kickoff will be at 6 p.m., and gates will open at 5. Tickets can be purchased by calling the LGFCU Box Office at 919-859-5425 or by visiting CarolinaRailHawks.com. Both matches will be broadcast live at CarolinaRailHawks.com.

Check out the North Carolina FC Statistics

• Discuss this story on the U.S. Soccer Federation D-2 message board...

U.S. Soccer Federation D-2 Stories from October 11, 2010


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central