Showing posts tagged “Aaron King”
David Fellerath ·
6 Oct 2009, 12:22 PM ·
2 Comments
WECT in Wilmington, N.C. is reporting that the Wilmington Hammerheads, regular season champions of the USL-2 in 2009, are out of the league. It appears to be unrelated to the turmoil in the first division, having more to do with the finances of team owner Chuck Sullivan, who took over the club prior to the 2008 season. The report notes that the franchise reportedly encountered difficulties paying players on time, but that those obligations have now been met.
We’re knee-deep in other work today, but we’ll be keeping an eye on this.
WECT Sports has learned that the United Soccer League has opted to remove the Wilmington Hammerheads from its list of franchises. Senior Director of Franchise Development Matt Weibe confirmed the move on Tuesday.
“We have discontinued our relationship with Chuck Sullivan,” Weibe said. “The USL is a franchised based league, where certiain requirements must be met and in this case they were not met.” When asked what those requirements were, Mr. Weibe said WECT would have to contact Mr. Sullivan.
The Wilmington Hammerheads played the USL-1 RailHawks three times in 2009—two friendlies and an epic clash in the 2nd round of the US Open Cup, won by the Hammerheads in PKs. RailHawks players Aaron King, Andriy Budnyy and Caleb Patterson-Sewell all did loan stints there last season.
Carolina RailHawks, Soccer Aaron King, Add new tag, Andriy Budnyy, Caleb Patterson Sewell, Chuck Sullivan, USL-2, Wilmington Hammerheads
David Fellerath ·
2 Sep 2009, 6:14 PM ·
Comment
Enough about the sale of the USL for now. The RailHawks, presumably refreshed from a couple of days of blissful francophilia (or would that be quebecoisophilia?), return to Saputo Stadium for a rematch of Sunday’s 1-1 draw. (Stat box here.)
At stake: Both teams are trying to solidify their spots in the playoffs. The RailHawks have sole possession of second place while Montreal, thanks to the recent collapse of Miami, seem safely in the playoffs. They’re in sixth place, but they’re fighting to stay ahead of Vancouver to avoid a first-round matchup with the RailHawks.
Sunday’s 1-1 tie was a tale of two halves. Those of us watching at home on usllive.com couldn’t help but notice the 12,000+ fans who were in attendance, but fortunately, that impressive turnout wasn’t enough to urge the Impact to victory. Montreal dominated the first, with Adam Braz exploiting a gap in the RailHawks defense to cross to the head of Tony Donatelli for their goal. John Cunliffe pulled one back in the second half on one of the season’s more dazzling displays of individual effort. After his 63rd-minute strike, he put his finger to his lips just like Arsenal’s Andrei Arshavin and there actually was a critical mass of fans to be gratifyingly silenced.
The crowd will surely be smaller tonight, as even French-speaking people with superior health care need to work during the week. Eric Reed should be in the goal, but, aside from Mark Schulte and Jeremy Tolleson in the central defense, all bets are off on the rest of the lineup. Game time is 7:45 p.m.; watch it on usllive.com.
Notes:
- Forward Aaron King, who struggled to find traction in the RailHawks lineup this season, transferred to Miami over the weekend. He logged 195 minutes in six appearances, and also spent part of the season on loan to USL-2 Wilmington.
- Yesterday, Joseph Kabwe was named USL-1 player of the week, thanks to his hat trick in the 9-0 shellacking of Miami. John Cunliffe also made the team of the week after scoring two goals—one in the Miami game and one against Montreal Sunday.
Carolina RailHawks, Soccer Aaron King, John Cunliffe, Joseph Kabwe, Montreal Impact
David Fellerath ·
23 Apr 2009, 4:19 PM ·
Comment
In a sign of the congestion at the top of the RailHawks’ single-striker attack, reserve forward Aaron King has been loaned to the USL-2 Wilmington Hammerheads, the RailHawks announced today.
The loan term will keep King in Wilmington through May 30, allowing him to appear in as many as seven games.
RailHawks coach Martin Rennie said the loan would give King some valuable playing time. ”As a striker you need to score to build confidence, and by getting a few games he’ll get more chances to do that. He’ll come back and I expect he’ll be a big part of the team,” Rennie said in the announcement.
Besides King, the forwards on the RailHawks roster include Sallieu Bundu, who has started most games; Gavin Glinton; and Hamed Diallo. John Cunliffe and Andriy Budnyy have also been listed on rosters as forwards, but neither signing has been announced.
King played the last two seasons for the USL-1 Charleston Battery, scoring 11 goals in 51 appearances. Continue reading »
Carolina RailHawks, Soccer Aaron King, Wilmington Hammerheads
David Fellerath ·
15 Apr 2009, 10:21 AM ·
2 Comments
The biggest news out of last night’s RailHawks’ 2-0 victory over the USL-2 Wilmington Hammerheads was the return of Matt Watson, who scored 15 minutes after entering the game in the second half.
Watson, last year’s team MVP, joined the squad yesterday after helping his indoor side, the Baltimore Blast, to the MISL championship. Furthermore, his first child was born yesterday in Baltimore.
Although the team’s press release pointedly says last night’s squad shouldn’t be considered a second team, it notes that few of the players in the evening’s lineup saw action in last Saturday’s 2-1 victory over the Minnesota Thunder. Among them: Hamed Diallo, Gavin Glinton and Brian Plotkin (the Hawks’ release inadvertently omitted Plotkin).
Other players on last night’s lineup included the back four of Jeremy Tolleson, Caleb Norkus, Paul Ritchie and trialist Brad Rusin. Midfielders included Plotkin, Glinton and Watson. Players seeing minutes up top included Aaron King and John Cunliffe (who scored the game’s second goal in the 82nd minute). Caleb Patterson manned the goal.
The RailHawks’ Tim Candon has more.
Carolina RailHawks, Soccer Aaron King, Brad Rusin, Brian Plotkin, Caleb Norkus, Caleb Patterson, friendly, Gavin Glinton, Hamed Diallo, Jeremy Tolleson, John Cunliffe, Matt Watson, Paul Ritchie
David Fellerath ·
28 Mar 2009, 10:34 AM ·
3 Comments
The center-left party: In what looks to be a popular pair, Gardner comes down the flank as Bundu awaits. (photo courtesy of RailHawks)
WAKEMED SOCCER PARK/ CARY—If the March 14 victory over the “major league” New England Revolution was an occasion for a little well-deserved breast-beating, the loss to the definitely major league CD Olimpia was the occasion for—well, first, a dry towel.
A downpour worthy of a Sri Lankan monsoon at times threatened to obscure the action, and the slippery field was more or less responsible for defensive miscues that led to goals for each team. The 1:1 deadlock was broken in the 63rd minute when Jaime Rosales rocketed a very major league free kick that went over and around the RailHawks wall and skidded off the left post into the goal. A minute later, Coach Martin Rennie waved in five fresh players and the game took on a more scrimmage-like rhythm.
After the game, Rennie was beaming—and not just because he was finally dry. Continue reading »
Carolina RailHawks, Soccer Aaron King, Amir Lowery, Brian Plotkin, Caleb Patterson, CD Olimpia, Devon McKenney, Eric Reed, Hamed Diallo, Jack Stewart, John Cunliffe, John Gilkerson, Joseph Kabwe, Josh Gardner, Luke Kreamalmeyer, Mark Schulte, Martin Rennie, Montreal Impact, New England Revolution, Sallieu Bundu
David Fellerath ·
19 Feb 2009, 3:30 PM ·
Comment
Sallieu Bundu, as seen in training camp recently
The Carolina RailHawks signed yet another of Martin Rennie’s old Cleveland City Stars. Officials announced today that Sallieu Bundu, a 2nd-team All-USL-2 selection in 2008, had agreed to terms with the Cary-based team.
The Sierra Leone native is a striker and scored 11 goals last season for the Stars in league and non-league play. In August, he scored the winning goal in the USL-2 championship game.
The signing of Bundu, who had already been training with the team, means the RailHawks will have a deadly African duo up top—the other is Hamed Diallo of Ivory Coast, who returns to Cary after a fine half-season last year. The third forward on the roster, as it happens, is African-American: Aaron King.
Still no news of forward Dan Antoniuk, the major remaining question mark from last year’s squad.
The 25-year-old Bundu comes to Cary with a compelling back story: When he was 15, his family was forced to flee its home when civil war broke out. He, his siblings and his mother made it to Guinea; his father was murdered. Several years ago, Bundu received a green card and settled in Twinsburg, Ohio. After trying out with the Columbus Crew, he caught Martin Rennie’s eye at Cleveland.
The complete announcement comes after the jump: Continue reading »
Carolina RailHawks, Soccer Aaron King, Cleveland City Stars, Hamed Diallo, Martin Rennie, Sallieu Bundu
David Fellerath ·
6 Feb 2009, 2:27 AM ·
Comment
The man from La Liga
CARY—Probably the best sign that this year’s RailHawks are getting serious was on the brow of today’s signing, Marcelo Romero. Visible through his closely shaved hair was a Y-shaped scar—surely evidence of his hard-nosed career in the top divisions of Spain. No doubt goalkeeper Chris McClellan—or another—will find reassurance there.
RailHawks management proudly displayed the 32-year-old holding midfielder to the media Thursday afternoon. Romero indicated that he was on a two-year contract, with only the first guaranteed. When asked what the biggest change would be in playing in America, Romero modestly made the obvious point: In Spain he played alongside (and defended) the likes of Zinedine Zidane, Luis Figo and Ronaldinho.
Nope, he won’t find them here—or even David Beckham, another old adversary, if he succeeds in wriggling out of the devil’s bargain he made with the MLS and the Los Angeles Galaxy.
Romero, a native of Montevideo, Uruguay, brings an enviable pedigree to Cary, as RailHawks coach Martin Rennie noted. “Players around the world dream of playing in the top leagues, and of representing their countries in the World Cup. In reality, very few ever get to to do that,” Rennie said. Romero has been there and done that, logging six seasons with top-flight Málaga, and playing with the Uruguayan side in the 2002 World Cup in South Korea and Japan.
I asked the right-footed Romero what his reputation as a player was. He replied, through a translator, “I’m known as a strong tackler, a strong marker. I have a lot of fight, and I leave everything on the field.”
Still, there’s the unavoidable question of what such a fine player is doing in the American second division. During the press conference, it fell to a Spanish-radio reporter to ask, not so delicately, how Romero felt about America’s reputation as the “cementario de grandes jugadores” (graveyard of great players). Romero responded gracefully, saying “it’s not the end of my career, it’s just another stage—and hopefully there will be a trophy at the end of it.”
Indeed, it’s true that Romero missed most of the 2005-06 season with an injury to his right knee, and played nine games the following season. His agent, Antonio Porretta of Score One Soccer, however, pointed out that, after successful surgery, Romero was signed for two more seasons with Málaga. A short stint with second division Lucena followed, before Romero decided to look across the ocean, Porretta said. And the knee? He’s fit, Porretta said firmly.
As for the question of how Romero came to the attention of the RailHawks, it appears that the matchmaking was done by Score One, a Charlotte agency comprised of Porretta and Daniel Araujo (a Montevideo native) that specializes in bringing Latino talent to America. Porretta also said his firm specializes in arranging North-South friendlies. So, if the ’Hawks schedule a match with a Mexican side—as they have in each of the last two years, with spectacular attendance—Score One may have something to do with it.
First impressions are just that, first impressions, but Romero is one tightly coiled born athlete, with a modest, poised demeanor that suggests he does his talking on the pitch. He may or may not be winding down his playing career, but he comes off as a man with plenty of game left in him, and plenty of experience and sophistication to offer his younger teammates. He’s an exciting addition to the squad.
In other news, Rennie said he expects midfielder Kupono Low to return to Cary, noting that Low’s versatility will allow him to find room on the field even if it’s Romero who’s running the back of the attack. Rennie also said he expects to see midfielders Santiago Fusilier and Martin Nuñez in training camp, which begins Feb. 9.
Martin Rennie
The second round of open tryouts, to be held Feb. 14-15, was scheduled because the team was “inundated” with reputable players who wanted a chance to show their stuff, Rennie said. He also said that one unnamed player, a midfielder, made a strong impression during the December tryouts and will be signed.
Rennie also offered appraisals of the RailHawks’ other signings, including striker Aaron King, late of the Charleston Battery. “He’s got a lot of potential. He’ll have more of an opportunity to attack rather than play with his back to the goal.”
Carolina RailHawks, Soccer Aaron King, Antonio Porretta, Kupono Low, Marcelo Romero, Martin Rennie
David Fellerath ·
30 Jan 2009, 3:32 PM ·
Comment
Aaron King
Aaron King, a second-team All-American his senior season at N.C. State, whose professional career seems to be picking up speed after early struggles to find his footing, signed with the RailHawks, the team announced today
King comes to the ’Hawks today after two productive seasons with the USL-1 Charleston Battery. Last year, he appeared in 35 of the team’s 38 league and non-league games, starting eight of them. Over the same span, he scored six goals and finished fourth on the team in points.
His pro career began in 2006 when he was taken the Los Angeles in the fourth round of the MLS Superdraft, but was quickly dealt to the Colorado Rapids. He spent a season with the Rapids without a single game appearance before arriving at Charleston.
His signing means the ’Hawks have two confirmed striker signings, with the returning Hamed Diallo being the other. We await word on Dan Antoniuk, the tall, aggressive forward who struggled for much of his first season in Cary, after a superlative season in Atlanta in 2007.
Carolina RailHawks, Soccer Aaron King, Dan Antoniuk, Hamed Diallo
