Showing posts tagged “Christian Arrieta”
David Fellerath ·
29 Oct 2009, 7:22 PM ·
4 Comments
Can Gregory Richardson, shown here scooting past USL-1 player of the year Cristian Arrieta of the Puerto Rico Islanders, lead the RailHawks into a successful new league? (Photo by Jeremy M. Lange)
In an interview Thursday afternoon, Carolina RailHawks president Brian Wellman confirmed that the dissident group of USL-1 club owners known as the Team Owners Association (TOA) would be submitting an application to the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) to form a new league.
“We’ll be submitting an application to USSF for a new league as soon as tomorrow,” Wellman said in a phone interview from Charleston, S.C., where he was meeting with Andrew Bell, president of the USL-1 Charleston Battery, to coordinate the scheduling of friendlies next season.
“Nothing’s changed as far as the teams go,” Wellman said of the composition of the proposed new league. The TOA consists of five former USL-1 clubs (Minnesota , Miami FC, Montreal, Vancouver and Carolina) and three ownership groups (in Atlanta, Tampa Bay and St. Louis).
Wellman suggested that the TOA has heard from other member prospects, as well.* “We have at least one conversation a day with people representing new markets. Even without media coverage [of the dispute], there’s a lot of interest in the league.”
Furthermore, Wellman left open the possibility that the new league might follow the FIFA calendar, playing during the winter months.
If the TOA settles on a winter schedule, Wellman said, “It wouldn’t be this winter. It would start sometime in the summer, and prorate as our fiscal year went along.” Continue reading »
Carolina RailHawks, Soccer Alec Papadakis, Atlanta, Christian Arrieta, CONCACAF, Daniel Paladini, EPL, FIFA, Gregory Richardson, Mexican first division, Miami FC, Minnesota Thunder, Montreal Impact, New England Revolution, NuRock, St. Louis, Tampa Bay, TOA, USL, USSF, Vancouver Whitecaps, Wilmington Hammerheads, Winter schedule
David Fellerath ·
29 Sep 2009, 8:36 PM ·
1 Comment
The RailHawks' bruising captain Mark Schulte played 2,500 minutes in 28 league games, leading one of the the league's two best defenses. (photo by Rich Bostwick)
Mark Schulte, the RailHawks’ workhorse of a center back and team captain, was named to the all-USL-1 second team today.
Schulte, who was a two-time defender of the year in the USL-2 while playing under coach Martin Rennie at Cleveland—before both decamped for Cary—led a defense that conceded only 19 goals, good for best in the league along with first-place Portland.
Here’s the USL-1 First Division Second Team:
- GK: Bill Gaudette (Puerto Rico Islanders)
- D: Stephen deRoux (Montreal Impact)
- D: Cameron Knowles (Portland Timbers)
- D: John Krause (Puerto Rico Islanders)
- D: Mark Schulte (Carolina RailHawks)
- M: Martin Nash (Vancouver Whitecaps)
- M: Lawrence Olum (Minnesota Thunder)
- M: Jonathan Steele (Puerto Rico Islanders)
- M: David Testo (Montreal Impact)
- F: Marlon James (Vancouver Whitecaps)
- F: Eddie Johnson (Austin Aztex)
Tomorrow, the first-teamers will be named. Will any RailHawks make it? Let’s look at the field:
- Goalkeeper: We meekly pointed out a couple weeks ago that the RailHawks’ tandem of Eric Reed and Caleb Patterson-Sewell combined for a league-leading 17 shutouts. Meanwhile, a USL tip sheet of sorts didn’t even include them, favoring Gaudette, Charleston’s Dusty Hudock and Portland’s Steve Cronin. However, we’re going to predict an upset here: Caleb Patterson-Sewell is ranked third in the league with 10 clean sheets despite playing only 15 games, and he’s second in the league with a .533 goals-against average. It’s true that Hudock has 12 shutouts and a staggering .279 GAA in only 18 games of an injury-shortened season, but Patterson-Sewell might get a boost as a new, young face—he’s 22, while Hudock is a 37-year-old veteran and the holder of many prior awards.
- Defender: The locks are Puerto Rico’s Cristian Arrieta, but for his offense—10 goals—and Portland’s David Hayes, for leading the league’s other top defense. Who gets the third spot? It’s got to be someone from Charleston, the third side that decisively out-defended the rest of the league along with Portland and Carolina. It should be Frankie Sanfilippo or Matt Bobo. What about the fourth spot? We think it should be Carolina’s Jeremy Tolleson, voted defensive player of the year on the league’s co-best defensive side.
- Midfielder: The locks are Ricardo Sanchez (Minnesota) and Ryan Pore (Portland). Given that there are three shoo-ins at forward, and assuming that this All-League team will be restricted to 11 players, we’re going to guess that they’ll settle on a 4-3-3 formation. So, one more midfielder in a league full of good ones. We think it’s going to be Carolina’s Gregory Richardson. Why? He’s ranked 12th in the league in points, despite playing only 12 games; furthermore, the only two true midfielders ahead of him in points are Sanchez and Pore. Is Richardson really a midfielder? Well, in Martin Rennie’s 4-5-1 he is.
- Forward: There are three that have a strong claim, and none are RailHawks: Eleven-goal scorers Mandjou Keita (Portland) and Johnny Menyongar (Rochester), and 12-goal scorer Charles Gbeke (Vancouver).
Player of the Year: Keita. With 29 points from 11 goals and seven assists, he led the league, and the league’s best team.
Coach of the Year: Portland’s Gavin Wilkinson. After finishing in last place last year, he presided over an overhaul and led the Timbers to a dominating run to first place. Carolina’s Rennie is the other obvious candidate, rebuilding the RailHawks and finishing second in his first season in the league, but this is Wilkinson’s year.
Tune in tomorrow for the announcement of the real USL First Division First Team and other awards.
And congratulations to Mark Schulte, a real warrior.
Carolina RailHawks, Soccer all-league team, Caleb Patterson Sewell, Charles Gbeke, Christian Arrieta, David Hayes, Frankie Sanfilippo, Gavin Wilkinson, Gregory Richardson, Jeremy Tolleson, Johnny Menyongar, Mandjou Keita, Mark Schulte, Martin Rennie, Matt Bobo, Ricardo Sanchez, Ryan Pore, USL-1 awards
David Fellerath ·
13 Sep 2009, 3:05 PM ·
1 Comment
The story of the first half: Gregory Richardson leaves Christian Arrieta behind. Photo by Jeremy M. Lange
WAKEMED SOCCER PARK—It was the most exciting league game of the year. Fast, furious and creative, the RailHawks brought their A-game against the rugged, battle-hardened and extremely adept Puerto Rico Islanders. It was also a road-weary Islanders lineup that put most of its regulars out on the field despite a looming, critical CONCACAF Champions League match against Mexican powerhouse Cruz Azul. The 2-1 result put the RailHawks back in second place ahead of the Islanders, which they can clinch with a win against Montreal Friday (although Charleston can tie them with two final victories).
The first 12 minutes were enough to win the game, as the RailHawks’ left winger Gregory Richardson waltzed at will past the Islanders’ star right back Christian Arrieta in the first half. In the second minute, Richardson broke into the box and took a ball from Joseph Kabwe, and put it past PR keeper Justin Myers at the far post. It was Richardson’s fifth goal of the season.
It was the fastest goal of the season for the RailHawks—and many fans were still arriving through the main gate. There was plenty of first-rate football left for them, however. In the 11th, Richardson left Arrieta flailing in a spectacular jinking operation, but the Islanders’ Sean Fraser came in to help. The ball came back upfield and Richardson uncorked from distance. It was on-frame, but the ball deflected off Andriy Budnyy on its high-speed way and the Ukrainian got his fourth goal of the season.
In the first half, the RailHawks put on their most fluid, creative and dazzling display of the season—an even more impressive performance than the 9-0 result against the hapless Miami, because Colin Clarke’s Islanders are no Miami. Continue reading »
Carolina RailHawks, Soccer Andriy Budnyy, Christian Arrieta, Colin Clarke, Gregory Richardson, Joseph Kabwe, Martin Rennie, Nicholas Addlery, Pablo Martin Nuñez, Puerto Rico Islanders
David Fellerath ·
9 Sep 2009, 2:34 PM ·
1 Comment
It wasn’t going to be easy to fly down to Puerto Rico and extract a point, and it didn’t happen.
We followed this one on Twitter (while we watched Zidane with a bunch of Dukies) and caught the highlights on USLLive.com: After 74 scoreless minutes, the Islanders’ Christian Arrieta converted a PK after a foul by RailHawks keeper Caleb Patterson-Sewell. (Arrieta’s goal was his 10th of the season, one off the league lead. He’s also second in the league with 24 points. Pretty phenomenal considering that he’s a right back.) A few minutes later, ex-RailHawk Jonathan Steele sent a corner kick to the forehead of defender John Krause for the clincher. The game saw 12 shots, five for the RailHawks.
It brings the RailHawks’ losing streak to two, only the second time this season they’ve lost two league games in a row. (In a sign of what a bummer week it’s been, no RailHawk made the team of the week.)
The likely result of the failure to get a point in Puerto Rico is a second-place finish for the Islanders and a third-place finish for the RailHawks. The Islanders have 50 points with three games to play; the RailHawks have 49 with two left.
Here’s how the standings shake out, as of this afternoon.
|
Points |
Games |
| Portland |
55 |
27 |
| Puerto Rico |
50 |
27 |
| Carolina |
49 |
28 |
| Charleston |
46 |
27 |
| Rochester |
41 |
28 |
| Montreal |
39 |
27 |
| Vancouver |
36 |
27 |
For the RailHawks to regain second place, they’ll probably have to take six points from their two remaining games—both at home, one against Puerto Rico. Meanwhile, the Islanders will not only have to lose the final RailHawks fixture, they’ll have to fail to beat either Minnesota or Miami. (Of course, Puerto Rico could simply lose or draw all three of their remaining games—which are all on the road—but that’s unlikely to occur. Portland could lose its last three games and finish in a tie with Carolina, too.)
Second place isn’t impossible, but third is the more likely outcome—unless Charleston collects nine points from its final three games (against Miami, Rochester and Minnesota). In this case, the RailHawks could finish in a tie for third with the Battery, and presumably be seeded fourth on the basis of their performance this season against Charleston.
Two big games are coming up. Clear your schedule for Saturday, Sept. 12 and Friday, Sept. 18. The RailHawks need the 12th man in a big way as first the Islanders, then the Montreal Impact come to town.
As for last night’s game, here’s the stat box; match report; Tweets from the RailHawks’ Tim Candon. Candon’s own write-up is after the jump. Continue reading »
Carolina RailHawks, Soccer Charleston Battery, Christian Arrieta, John Krause, Jonathan Steele, Montreal Impact, playoffs, Puerto Rico Islanders
David Fellerath ·
28 Jun 2009, 2:35 PM ·
2 Comments
Gavin Glinton, in one of several opportunities inside the 18 against the Islanders. He finished with two shots in 74 minutes. (Photo by Rich Bostwick)
WAKEMED SOCCER PARK/ CARY—When the final whistle blew after five minutes of stoppage time, and the RailHawks were once again without a victory, losing 2-1 to the Puerto Rico Islanders, the normally unflappable Martin Rennie gave vent—ever so briefly—to his feelings. A water bottle on the grass felt the brunt of Rennie’s one-time professional kick, before the young coach composed himself and shook hands with Puerto Rico’s formidable coach, Colin Clarke.
June has been brutal for the RailHawks: With only one game remaining this month—a friendly against Panama on Tuesday (a substitute for what woulda/coulda/shoulda been a 3rd round US Open Cup match against the Chicago Fire—the record for the month is this: 0-2-2 in league play and 1-3-2 overall. The only victory came in the month’s first game against the USL-2 Richmond Kickers in the opening round of Open Cup play.
What’s more, the team that entered June having reeled off four consecutive victories, with an aggregate score of 7-0, and had conceded only five goals all season, gave up nine goals in all competitions in June (four were conceded to USL-2 opposition).
The RailHawks are still in third place, four points behind the Islanders, who took the league lead with the victory. However, the RailHawks have played two fewer games than Puerto Rico, one fewer than second-place Charleston and two more than fourth-place Portland. In terms of points-per-game, the top of the table looks like this:
- Portland: 1.91 2.0 [updated to reflect Sunday night results, which also dropped RailHawks to fourth in the points standings]
- Puerto Rico: 1.75
- Carolina: 1.71
- Charleston: 1.69
Continue reading »
Carolina RailHawks, Soccer Amir Lowery, Charleston Battery, Christian Arrieta, Jonathan Steele, Mark Schulte, Martin Rennie, Portland Timbers, Puerto Rico Islanders
