USL-1 North Carolina FC

RailHawks meet Rochester with shot at first place

Published on August 4, 2009 under USL First Division (USL-1)
North Carolina FC News Release


The Carolina RailHawks head to Rochester on Wednesday with a chance to reclaim first place in the USL First Division for the first time since May 29.

The RailHawks (11-5-3) will face the Rhinos (8-6-5) at 7 p.m. at Marina Auto Stadium.

Carolina enters the week tied with Portland for second place in the USL First Division, two points from the top of the table with two games in hand over Charleston, which leads the league with 38 points.

But Carolina, making its first trip to Rochester in 2009, isn't thinking about what a win would mean. The focus is on continuing to perform well.

"Rochester is an experienced team with a lot of good players, and they are doing well," said RailHawks coach Martin Rennie. "There's a lot of teams doing well this season. I think the standard overall is really good. We know, against any team, we have to be at our best to get a good result. If we drop our standards at all, it will be difficult. So we've got to make sure we don't do that. We've got to keep our standards high and take it to them because they're a really good team."

Since June 30, the RailHawks' standard of play has been high, going 7-1-0 during the last five weeks, and they've outscored the opposition 17-4. They head to upstate New York having won their last two matches by by a combined score of 7-0, the best ever back-to-back performances in club history.

The RailHawks are in the midst of a packed month, where they will play eight games (four home, four away) in the space of 30 days. They got off to a good start on Saturday, defeating the Austin Aztex 3-0 at WakeMed Soccer Park.

SCOUTING ROCHESTER

The Rhinos are in the midst of a seven-match homestand. In fact, the Rhinos have only played one match away from Marina Auto Stadium since June 27 (their U.S. Open Cup semifinal loss on July 21 at D.C. United). But their home field hasn't been terribly kind. After opening the season with eight straight road matches and a 4-3-1 mark, the Rhinos are 4-3-4 since, including a 2-2-4 record at Marina Auto Stadium.

The Rhinos enter Wednesday's match coming off a 3-1 home loss to Vancouver on Friday night. The Rhinos have a goal differential of minus-1 on the season, and their 228 shots allowed this year are second-most in the league.

Forward Johnny Menyongar is tied for the league lead in goals (eight) and points (17) and midfielder Tiger Fitzpatrick and defender John Ball are tied with two others for the league lead in assists (five). Five other Rhinos have scored two goals and a total of 12 players have scored at least once for Rochester.

Long-time goalkeeper Scott Vallow has been out for much of the summer recovering from a hamstring injury, but Tim Melia has proven more than a capable backup. He is 4-1-4 in nine games, with six goals allowed for a 0.726 goals against average and five shutouts.

SERIES HISTORY

The RailHawks enter Wednesday's match with a 1-2-4 all-time record against the Rhinos. Carolina's first win over Rochester was in April. In their second match of the season (and Rochester's first), the RailHawks went on to a 1-0 win after Sallieu Bundu's 56th-minute goal. In three previous trips to Rochester, Carolina is 0-2-1 and has been outscored 7-4. The teams will wrap up their 2009 series on Aug. 22 in Rochester.

LAST TIME OUT

The RailHawks rolled to a 3-0 win over the Austin Aztex on Saturday at WakeMed Soccer Park. Three players accounted for the three goals, and three more each had one assist.

Joseph Kabwe opened the scoring in the 40th minute on a pass from Gregory Richardson. Sallieu Bundu scored again for the RailHawks in the 69th minute, from Mark Schulte, and Andriy Budnyy finished the Aztex off with a goal in the 85th minute, from Luke Kreamalmeyer.

The win was the RailHawks' seventh in eight matches, and it was their second straight shutout and 11th of the season.

SHUTOUT STREAKS

The RailHawks enter the week having not conceded a goal in 220 minutes. It's the third time this season they've held opponents scoreless for at least 200 minutes. From April 11-May 2, the RailHawks went 338 minutes without allowing a goal. They followed that up with a franchise-record 517 consecutive scoreless minutes May 9-June 14.

DID YOU KNOW?

The RailHawks lead the USL First Division in wins (11) and they have the fewest ties (three).

Check out the North Carolina FC Statistics

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