It’s Tuesday, and again the white-hot Carolina RailHawks are a little underrepresented on the USL-1 team of the week. This afternoon, word came from league HQ that Joseph Kabwe, who’s seen a resurgence of form after being largely absent from the lineup, would be so honored. The citation is chiefly for his goal against Austin Saturday, but it’s also perhaps a bit of a makeup for leaving him off last week’s team after his two assists in the 4-0 rout of Miami. Announcement here.
Not the weekly honors matter all that much, of course. The team would surely much rather have that Wilmington game back, for the RailHawks in their present form would be making a good show of it in the U.S. Open Cup. Including two friendlies, the RailHawks have won seven of their last eight games (five out of six without the exhibitions), and they’ve played those eight with an aggregate score of 18-4.
Today, the RailHawks released this highlight reel from Saturday’s 3-0 romp over Austin, from the USLLive.com feed. You’ll see (and Kabwe surely doesn’t need to be reminded) that the Zimbabwean midfielder shoulda-coulda had a hat trick, going 1 for 3 on lay-offs from Gregory Richardson.
Wednesday night, the RailHawks visit the Rochester Raging Rhinos at Marina Auto Stadium. The Rhinos have been nipping at the heels of the league’s top four all season and this game will be no picnic. (Well, that’s what I said in advance of the Miami game.) The RailHawks will have midfield mainstays Amir Lowery and Daniel Paladini available again, after the duo served suspensions during the Austin game. Kickoff is 7 p.m. and you can watch on USLLive.com.
WAKEMED SOCCER PARK/CARY—One can always gauge the attendance figures by looking at the “kids tunnel” that forms to welcome the referees and players onto the field. Last night there were 40 kids and an official attendance of 2,138. On the bright side there were two pantomime cows, Swoops, and several dozen dogs, as it was “Bark in the Park Night,” a howler of an idea. I am looking forward to explaining this to my students in Brazil. The hilarious bit was that the cows put their hands over their hearts for the national anthem, though I’m not sure they got the anatomy right.
The Austin Aztex are in their first year of USL-1 competition and are having a rough go of it. This young team has lost a number of close games, given up leads late in games, been docked points for ineligible players and been hit by a spate of injuries that have kept them floating at the bottom of the table. The RailHawks, coming off a 4-0 thrashing of Miami and a week of rest, took full advantage of the Texan debutantes. Continue reading »
The expansion Austin Aztex, season-long cellar dwellers with Minnesota and Cleveland, visit WakeMed tonight at 7. Both Tim Candon of the RailHawks and Rachel Ullrich of the News and Observer have pieces about the Aztex’ Michael Callahan, Cary native and one-time star for Green Hope High School and the UNC Tar Heels (the latter team he led to a surprise appearance in the NCAA finals last December).
Ullrich tells us that Callahan expects a good turnout from his family and friends. Candon tells us about an unfortunate gaffe by the Aztex, who (surely inadvertantly) played Callahan in a game against Montreal on July 25 when he should have been serving a one-game suspension for accumulated yellow cards. For the violation, the league docked the Aztex a point in the standings, and they also had to forfeit the point they earned by drawing with Montreal. This deals a serious blow to any hope the Aztex have of making the playoffs.
One thing unmentioned by both Candon and Ullrich: Callahan trained for at least a day with the RailHawks back in February. Triangle Offense visited camp and saw a number of recent ACC standouts, including Callahan, N.C. State’s El Hadj Cisse and a dude a couple of years out of Wake Forest by the name of Amir Lowery.
We’re not sure how close Callahan came to making the RailHawks roster, but we never heard his name again until he popped up in Austin a month later. For the sake of a RailHawks midfield that will be missing Lowery and Daniel Paladini (both serving suspensions for yellow-card accumulation), let’s hope Callahan has nothing but fond feelings for the RailHawks club—the PDL squad of which he played on for two years.
And what the hell: While we’re thinking about tonight’s game, here’s our guess for the RailHawks’ lineup: Reed, Schulte, Tolleson, McKenney, Gilkerson, Low, Plotkin, Kabwe, Richardson, Kreamalmeyer, Bundu. On the bench: Rusin, Watson, Norkus, Budnyy, Cunliffe, Gardner, Patterson.
Weather forecast for kickoff is skies clearing, 81 degrees.
Mark Schulte's throw-ins resulted in two extra-time goals. (photo by Rich Bostwick)
WAKEMED SOCCER PARK/ CARY—What happened Tuesday night? That’s the question. The U.S. Cup dream—an important priority for the RailHawks organization—is dashed for this season, thanks to the gutsy, irreverent and opportunistic play of the Wilmington Hammerheads. There’s no doubt that the RailHawks took Wilmington seriously, but still—no one thought they’d actually lose this second-round game.
And now the only way the Chicago Fire will come near Cary is if they have to connect to Wilmington at RDU.
The game itself was a wild one that featured 33 shots, with at least three that clanged off the cage. Wilmington scored first, and after the RailHawks equalized, Wilmington again took the lead in extra time. But after the RailHawks rallied for the second time—on a Gavin Glinton goal from an Amir Lowery flick of a Mark Schulte throw-in—and went ahead 3-2 in the 118th minute, fans and media began packing it in.
I folded up my notebook and walked down to the field to wait for the final whistle. I wasn’t the only one: Aside from the moans of the 50-strong contingent of blue-clad Wilmington supporters, the atmosphere was one of relief that the home side had survived this second-round scare. An unexpectedly long Tuesday night seemed to be drawing to a close with the rightful winner prevailing.
But there was one problem: The Hammerheads were still playing. Continue reading »
Kyle on "UNC holds off pesky NCCU with big second half, awaits selection committee": Mike Potter does Triangle sports fans a wonderful service by providing a unique perspective of events that may not otherwise receive media coverage. Thanks Mike for all you have done and continue to do in your outstanding career as a journalist and an ambassador for the Triangle.
caniacgirl on "Peters and pipes pickpocket a peck of prickly Penguins": I absolutely love the headline! Games like this one definitely reignite the little bit of playoff hope I have left in me. It should be an interesting few weeks that's for sure.
Greg Nccu Student on "Miller leads NCCU to 11th victory": There are a lot of Rumors on Campus about Joanna Miller leaving NCCU next year. Please Coach Robinson, We need to keep this player from gong to another College.
Last night there were 40 kids and an official attendance of 2,138. On the bright side there were two pantomime cows, Swoops, and several dozen dogs, as it was “Bark in the Park Night,” a howler of an idea. I am looking forward to explaining this to my students in Brazil. The hilarious bit was that the cows put their hands over their hearts for the national anthem, though I’m not sure they got the anatomy right.
