Showing posts tagged “Chicago Fire”

The RailHawks & Panama, the USL & the MLS: Night of the long knives?

David Fellerath · 1 Jul 2009, 8:15 AM · Comment

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630-plotkinpanama

Caleb Norkus and Sallieu Bundu celebrate Brian Plotkin's goal. (photo by Rich Bostwick)

WAKEMED SOCCER PARK/ CARY—The RailHawks fielded a reserve-heavy lineup and beat a Panamanian national squad composed of same, 1-0, on a Brian Plotkin strike in the 59th.

I wasn’t there for the goal. I was at the office late, and only caught the last 20 minutes. Here’s Rachel Ullrich’s account in the N&O.

I wasn’t the only one who wasn’t there—about 2,000 other WakeMed regulars were missing, too. In truth, the party was elsewhere. Round 3 of the US Open Cup was being held, and MLS teams were going down in flames to teams from the USL:

  • USL-2 Wilmington, which defeated Carolina two weeks ago, beat the Chicago Fire 1-0
  • The Harrisburg City Islanders, also of USL-2, defeated New England Revolution 2-1
  • The USL-1 Rochester Rhinos defeated the Columbus Crew 1-1 (5-3)
  • The USL-1 Charleston Battery beat Chivas USA 3-1

Only D.C. United and Kansas City avoided defeat last night, and KC did so just barely, beating the Minnesota Thunder 3-3 (4-2). And tonight, the USL-1 has two more opportunities to knock out MLS sides. Both are regional matchups: USL-1 Portland Timbers versus the brand-new MLS side Seattle Sounders, and the expansion USL-1 Austin Aztex versus the MLS Houston Dynamo. The Portland-Seattle one will be a battle royale, and we plan to watch it tonight (DirecTV subscribers may even want to try hunting around on your back channels for the feed from local television in Portland). [UPDATE: The indefatigable Jarrett Campbell has tweeted: The game will be on channel 687, Fox Sports NW, at 10 p.m. ET] Continue reading »

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RailHawks to play for chance to play Chicago Fire

David Fellerath · 16 Jun 2009, 4:30 PM · Comment

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It’s Round 2 of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup and the opponent is I-40 USL-2 rival Wilmington. To the winner the spoils: the opportunity to host the Chicago Fire on June 30.

The RailHawks’ Tim Candon has the pregame report here. Although the RailHawks knocked off the Richmond Kickers 2-1 in Round 1 a week ago, they’ve been struggling. They haven’t scored in the last 222 minutes of league play; however, they’ve got a way to go before the offensive futility matches the defensive excellence of earlier this season, when the clean sheet streak reached 416 minutes (including the non-league Richmond game).

Here’s another forecast: the weather.

The RailHawks take the field tonight at WakeMed Soccer Park, Field 2. Kickoff is 7 p.m. We’ll be there, provided that the paper has gone to press and I don’t have to ride on my motorcycle in the rain.

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