Showing posts tagged “Brad Rusin”
David Fellerath ·
28 Sep 2009, 8:10 AM ·
2 Comments
RailHawks midfielder Joseph Kabwe plays the ball as Ansu Toure defends. (photo by Rich Bostwick)
WAKEMED SOCCER PARK/ CARY—Bummer. It was a lovely evening for soccer, sunny and mild in early fall. Just as it’s a little early for the leaves to change color and drop from the trees, it was a little early for the RailHawks’ remarkable season to end.
But end it did, as an exhausted and increasingly desperate squad failed to put the ball in the net against the seventh-seeded Vancouver Whitecaps, finishing with a nil-nil draw. The RailHawks needed a 1-0 victory just to get to penalty kicks, but the Cary XI closed their season by failing to score in 180 minutes and two home-and-home legs against a bigger and more experienced, playoff-hardened Vancouver side.
By the end, the RailHawks were in a 4-4-2 and throwing everyone forward. “We had chances in the first half and didn’t take them,” coach Martin Rennie said. “It made it a little more difficult. We started to go more direct.
“When you go more direct, you need the ball to bounce your way and it didn’t—which usually isn’t the way we play,” Rennie said. “We’re usually much more thought-through, much more precise. But once we weren’t getting the goal, I think maybe we began to panic a little bit, which made it more difficult to break them down.”
“You’ve got to credit Vancouver,” center back and captain Mark Schulte said. “They knew what they had to do: They had to shut us down—they sat in [on us].”
In truth, the RailHawks showed little of the squad that scored 43 goals in USL-1 league play. They launched 12 shots, but Whitecaps keeper Jay Nolly only needed to make four saves.
It was one save in particular that would prove to put the kibosh on the season. Continue reading »
Carolina RailHawks, Soccer Amir Lowery, Andriy Budnyy, Brad Rusin, Brian Plotkin, Caleb Norkus, Daniel Paladini, Greg Shields, Gregory Richardson, Jay Nolly, Jeremy Tolleson, John Cunliffe, Joseph Kabwe, Josh Gardner, Lyle Martin, Mark Schulte, Martin Rennie, Matt Watson, Matthew Delicate, playoffs
David Fellerath ·
8 Aug 2009, 3:05 PM ·
Comment
In advance of tonight’s game against the Cleveland City Stars (7 p.m.; WakeMed Soccer Park) we decided to examine the standings and league schedule. We’ve been keeping an eye on the table all season, and now, two-thirds of the way through the season, four distinct groups have emerged:
There’s a three-way struggle for first place between teams that have been consistently strong all season; two teams safely in the playoffs jostling for fourth place; three teams vying for the last two playoff spots; and three teams far, far behind.
- Charleston 41 pts; 22 games; 1.86 ppg; +11 goals
- Portland 39; 20; 1.95 ppg; +19
- Carolina 39; 20; 1.95 ppg; +13
———————
- Puerto Rico 35; 22
- Rochester 29; 20
———————
- Vancouver 25; 20
- Miami 25; 19
- Montreal 23; 19
———————
- Minnesota 15; 18
- Austin (-2) 14; 21
- Cleveland 13; 21
Continue reading »
Carolina RailHawks, Soccer Brad Rusin, Cleveland City Stars, first place, Martin Rennie
David Fellerath ·
3 May 2009, 1:50 PM ·
Comment
USL LIVE/ WEB—This weekend, reality set in for the Carolina RailHawks. No one expected the team—which won its first three games—to continue its perfect form, but after two games this weekend in Portland in which they went 180 minutes without scoring, the difficulty of building and maintaining a first-place team is now evident.
To be sure, after last night’s 2-0 loss to the Timbers, the RailHawks are still in first with 10 points, but lurking below in third is Puerto Rico, which has seven points and two games in hand. Rochester also has seven points, with one game in hand.
Perhaps in an effort to bring water to the goal-scoring drought, coach Martin Rennie showed a radically different lineup last night. Up top, Sallieu Bundu returned after sitting out Thursday’s game, but instead of the ever-present Josh Gardner and Luke Kreamalmayer on the flanks, Rennie started Andriy Budnyy and John Cunliffe. In the midfield, Matt Watson saw his first start alongside Kupono Low and Amir Lowery. The previously stable back four of John Gilkerson, Mark Schulte, Jack Stewart and Caleb Norkus/ Devon McKenney became Schulte, McKenney, Brad Rusin and Jeremy Tolleson. Eric Reed took his turn in goal.
Unfortunately, if predictably, the initial result of the roster remix was a lack of cohesion that yielded a quick fifth-minute goal for Portland. The ’Hawks regrouped thereafter, and proceeded to out-shoot the Timbers 8-3 for the half, 14-8 for the game. But the equalizer would not materialize, despite episodes of heavy Carolina pressure in the box. Timbers keeper Chris Seitz turned away a couple of dangerous shots en route to a nine-save performance.
(Seitz is nominally employed by Real Salt Lake. He’s an up-and-comer, though, and his MLS minders seem to be training him this season with a series of short-term USL loans. He’s also played a game on loan for the so-far woeful Cleveland City Stars, giving up a goal to Miami FC. One wonders if the RailHawks had a chance to check his plane ticket to make sure he’s not heading to Cary next weekend to stand guard for the Charleston Battery. But Seitz can’t be an excuse for the disappointing Portland trip; if the RailHawks could score against keepers for the New England Revolution and CD Olimpia, they can score against Real Salt Lake’s third-stringer.)
The best news out of the weekend is the evidence that Rennie has drafted a broadly talented roster, and he’s not afraid to experiment with lineups. He’s providing his players ample opportunity to shine within a squad that has demonstrated a tough defensive alignment and good possession instincts. It’s a team with a solid foundation and a nice new floor; however, that flooring awaits its finishers.
Match stats here.
Carolina RailHawks, Soccer Andriy Budnyy, Brad Rusin, Chris Seitz, Jeremy Tolleson, John Cunliffe, Martin Rennie, Portland Timbers, Real Salt Lake
David Fellerath ·
28 Apr 2009, 5:45 PM ·
1 Comment
A couple of items from the RailHawks home office before we return to our regularly scheduled HURRICANES LIVE BLOG.
First, although the RailHawks scarcely seem to need any backfield help, having conceded only one goal in their first three games, the team couldn’t pass up an impressive prospect out of UCLA by the name of Brad Rusin.
He hasn’t seen any first-team action yet, but the RailHawks’ press announcement indicates that he will travel with the team this weekend for two games against Portland—as good an indication as any of his value as a prospect.
To make room for Rusin, the team announced that Nate Norman, who has not seen action with the first team, has been released but will remain with the club in an “outreach capacity.”
Rusin, by the way, is listed at 6-foot-4. We’ve seen him in person, so we can attest that his hair is not being included in the measurement. (Press release after the jump.)
Also, the USL-1 team of the week is out, and midfielder Brian Plotkin, who scored the game’s only goal Sunday against Minnesota, and left back John Gilkerson, have been named. Continue reading »
Carolina RailHawks, Soccer Brad Rusin, Brian Plotkin, John Gilkerson, Nate Norman
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
