USL-1 North Carolina FC

RailHawks Host Rhinos Saturday, April 18

Published on April 16, 2009 under USL First Division (USL-1)
North Carolina FC News Release


The Carolina RailHawks return to WakeMed Soccer Park on Saturday, April 18 to face the Rochester Rhinos at 7 p.m.

The RailHawks (1-0-0) enter the match sitting in first place in the USL First Division table, while Rochester has yet to play a game.

After winning their season opener over the Minnesota Thunder last weekend, the RailHawks are in search of another first win this time out - their first victory over the Rhinos. Rochester holds a 1-0-4 advantage in the all-time series.

"I'm really looking forward to it because we got a good win last week. Rochester is one of the most respected teams in the USL. They've won the championship I think four times. They've won the U.S. Open Cup. They were in the top three or four last season and they got to the semifinals of the playoffs. I don't know if the RailHawks have ever beaten them, so it's a big game and I'm really looking forward to it."

In past seasons, the RailHawks' roster has featured a number of former Rhinos, and this year is no different. Forward Hamed Diallo spent the first half of the 2008 season in Rochester before he was traded to Carolina, and midfielder Luke Kreamalmeyer spent all of 2008 with the Rhinos before joining the RailHawks in the offseason.

With a win over the Rhinos on Saturday, it would mark the fifth time in club history that the RailHawks will have won back-to-back matches, and it would be the first time it will have won consecutive games at WakeMed Soccer Park. In 2007, the RailHawks won back-to-back games once (May 12, 2-1 at Atlanta-May 19, 1-0 vs. Charleston). Last season, Carolina win two straight three times (April 26, 1-0 vs. Charleston-May 4, 1-0 at Miami; Aug. 15, 3-2 vs. Miami-Aug. 22, 2-1 at Minnesota; Sept. 19, 2-1 at Charleston-Sept. 20, 1-0 vs. Portland).

Gates open at 5:30 p.m. The match is presented by Stanley Dentistry, the Official Dentist of the Carolina RailHawks. It is College Night, too. Show your college ID and receive two Spectator tickets for the price of one. White Tiger Tae-Kwon-Do will provide a halftime demonstration.

Monkey Joe's Inflatables for children will be on the East Concourse, and those who want to participate in the Kids Tunnel should meet at North End corner of the stadium 30 minutes before kickoff.

Spirits Pub & Grub, located 701 E. Chatham St. in Cary, will host a postgame party immediately following the final whistle.

Injury report

Three players are unavailable for Saturday's match due to injury: midfielder Kupono Low (muscle strain), defender Jeremy Tolleson (foot) and midfielder Nate Norman (midfielder).

Scouting Rochester

Darren Tilley returns for his second season on the bench, and he has brought back 12 players from last year's group that finished fourth in the USL-1 table and reached the semifinals of the playoffs.

After making several midseason moves last year, including a trade for Portland's Andrew Gregor, Tilley has had a full offseason to reshape his squad, making several changes with four significant departures. Defender and assistant coach Steve Guppy left for a post on the Colorado Rapids staff and eventually lured away the Rhinos' Scott Palguta as well. Luke Kreamalmeyer moved on to the RailHawks. Striker Matthew Delicate returned to the Richmond Kickers, his former club.

Tilley's new players hail from a variety of sources. He signed Puerto Rico striker Taiwo Atieno and Cleveland's Kwame Sarkodie. He also brought in from the Atlanta Silverbacks Mike Ambersley and Brent Sancho, who was also named as Guppy's replacement as assistant coach. Rochester also added a trio coming in from Europe: Christopher Nurse, Darren Kenton and Christopher Sanders. But Sanderson is out for the season after suffering an ACL injury during preseason.

Series history

June 8, 2007: T, 2-2

In the teams' first ever meeting, they traded two goals apiece in the first 45 minutes in Cary, then played the final 45 even. Carolina forward Conally Edozien scored in the 11th and 38th minutes, but Rochester countered with goals by Mike Ambersley and Matthew Delicate in the 37th and 45th minutes. The match featured 31 shots, 29 fouls and four yellow cards.

July 6, 2007: L, 2-1

Hamed Diallo (currently with the RailHawks) tormented Carolina with a goal early (third minute) and a goal late (90th minute) to give the Rhinos a 2-1 win over Carolina in Rochester. Antony Maher scored Carolina's goal in the 11th minute. Like their first meeting a month earlier, this one was also rather contentious. It featured 45 fouls and five yellow cards.

May 24, 2008: T, 1-1

Martin Nunez gave the RailHawks a 1-0 lead in the 14th minute, and Carolina was minutes away from gaining three points from the Rhinos, but Mauricio Salles knocked in the equalizer (from current RailHawk Luke Kreamalmeyer) in the 89th minute. The match was down on shots (16) and fouls (25) but up on yellow cards (six).

June 20, 2008: T, 3-3

A wild back-and-forth affair ended in a stalemate once again. Carolina played a man down for 87 minutes after Frankie Sanfilippo was sent off in the third minute. Rochester's Mauricio Salles scored on a fourth-minute penalty, but Carolina's Santiago Fusilier equalized in the 17th minute. Twenty minutes later, Matt Watson gave the RailHawks a 2-1 lead, but Rochester's Scott Palguta answered in the 42nd. A Carolina own-goal in the 55th minute allowed the Rhinos to take a 3-2 lead, but Caleb Norkus salvaged a point for the RailHawks with a goal in the 90th minute. This one featured 34 fouls, five yellow cards and one red.

Sept. 14, 2008: T, 1-1

The RailHawks were once again on the doorstep of their first win over the Rhinos but allowing a late goal left them short of taking three points. Hamed Diallo, who joined the RailHawks two months earlier from Rochester, scored seven minutes into the contest. But Carolina allowed the equalizer in the 82nd minute (Ross Smith from Luke Kreamalmeyer), and the RailHawks left Rochester with only one point.

Last time out

The Carolina RailHawks opened the 2009 season with a 2-1 win over the Minnesota Thunder on April 11 at WakeMed Soccer Park, the team's first win in a season opener in its three-year history.

Defender Mark Schulte scored on a screaming 20-yard blast in the 12th minute. After Minnesota equalized in the 24th, Gavin Glinton scored the eventual game winner in the 56th minute, four minutes after entering the match.

On Tuesday, the RailHawks stepped out of league play and met the USL Second Division's Wilmington Hammerheads in an intradivisional friendly in Wilmington. The RailHawks won 2-0 on goals by Matt Watson and John Cunliffe in the 79th and 82nd minutes, respectively.

Schulte USL-1 Player of the Week

Defender and captain Mark Schulte was named the USL-1 Player of the Week after leading the RailHawks to a season-opening 2-1 win over Minnesota last weekend.

Schulte scored a goal in the 12th minute. While he wasn't given an assist, he helped set up the eventual game winner with a throw-in in the 56th minute.

"This honor for Schulte was very well deserved," said RailHawks coach Martin Rennie. "He had a really good game and was involved in both goals. Our whole team played very well and we want to build upon that in the next game on Saturday."

What a week for Watson

Matt Watson had himself quite the week.

The Carolina midfielder joined the RailHawks on Tuesday - hours after his fiancee gave birth to their daughter in Baltimore - in time to make the trip to Wilmington for the friendly with the Hammerheads. Fifteen minutes after checking into the contest, he belted a masterful strike from 18 yards to give the RailHawks a 1-0 lead.

Tuesday's busy day for Watson came on the heels of leading his indoor team, the Baltimore Blast, to its second straight MISL championship on April 11, where he also scored a goal in the Blast' 13-10 win.

"It's been crazy," Watson said on the field at Legion Stadium, his head still clearly swirling over the events of the previous 96 hours. "Everything's happening so quick, I'm not really ready. I'm just playing."

Unfortunately, Watson will not be with the team for Saturday's match with Rochester. He is tending to some personal affairs in Baltimore, and he will join the team full time next week.

Glinton, the super sub

Gavin Glinton has quickly made his mark as Rennie's first substitute.

Four minutes after entering the match against Minnesota, Glinton scored the game winning goal. Glinton tracked Daniel Paladini's shot that took a deflection off a Minnesota defender, then hit the crossbar. As the ball came back toward the ground, Glinton beat Minnesota goalkeeper Nic Platter to the ball and headed it in at the near post.

Against Wilmington, Glinton entered the contest at halftime, and he assisted both of the RailHawks' goals. On Matt Watson's 79th-minute tally, Glinton played a clever back pass to Watson, who hammered the ball into the net. Three minutes later, Glinton spotted Cunliffe and played along ball from the right side of the field to Cunliffe on the left. Cunliffe brought the ball down, took a few touches and hit it in the net.

Did you know?

After last week's 2-1 win over Minnesota, Martin Rennie remains undefeated in season-opening matches in his coaching career (3-0-0). And his teams have won all three games by the same score. In 2008, his Cleveland City Stars beat the Pittsburgh Riverhounds 2-1. In 2007, Cleveland beat Cincinnati 2-1.

With last weekend's win over Minnesota, the RailHawks remain undefeated all time in the month of April (2-0-3).

Schulte's goal in the 12th minute was the fastest Carolina had scored a goal since Sept. 19, 2008, when Hamed Diallo scored eight minutes in during the RailHawks' 2-1 win at Charleston.

Last week's season opening win was the first time the RailHawks have won a season opener, but they are undefeated in their second game of the season (1-0-1). In their second time out last year, they beat Charleston 1-0, and they tied Atlanta 0-0 the year before.

RailHawks on the web

Keep with the Carolina RailHawks on the team's web site, CarolinaRailHawks.com, on the team's blog, RailHawksReport.blogspot.com, on Twitter, twitter.com/railhawksfc, and on our Facebook Page.

Also catch RailHawk Talk, a weekly podcast devoted to the team. It is available at RailHawks Report. Catch the debut episode with coach Martin Rennie and this week's show features defender Mark Schulte.

Check out the North Carolina FC Statistics

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USL First Division Stories from April 16, 2009


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