Showing posts tagged “Jeremy Tolleson”
David Fellerath ·
11 Feb 2010, 12:45 PM ·
1 Comment
Item No. 1.: No new news from the RailHawks front office on signings, but there is, nonetheless, a fresh tidbit about RailHawk winger Josh Gardner, who is trialling with the Seattle Sounders. In a piece published today in The Seattle Times, we learn that Gardner, by his own assessment and others, has matured since he played with the USL Sounders in 2007 and 2008.
Currently training with the team in Arizona, Gardner has been reunited with Sounders gaffer Sigi Schmid, who coached him with the Los Angeles Galaxy from 2004-06. We also learn that Gardner’s trial with the Sounders is partly a result of a close relationship between Schmid and RailHawks coach Martin Rennie, and that Schmid “respects” the Scotsman’s opinion of players.
According to the dispatch by José Miguel Romero, Gardner is on a two-year contract with the RailHawks and expects to return to North Carolina should he not win a place with the Sounders. With his left foot and pace, he should enjoy a good hard look by the Sounders. For the RailHawks in 2009, Gardner saw action in 20 games and notched three assists.
Item No. 2: A few days ago we noted the retirement of defender Jeremy Tolleson, who decided to pursue Christian mission work in Honduras. This morning, we learned a bit more about his new calling: He will be working with an outfit called The Micah Project to assist boys off the street in Tegucigalpa, the country’s capital and one of the more impoverished cities in the Western hemisphere (readers of soccer writer Grant Wahl will recall that he was mugged in that city at gunpoint in broad daylight last October). In this post on The Micah Project’s blog, Tolleson gets a mention.
UPDATE 1:27 p.m. Make it three items of tidbittery: Ex-RailHawk Santiago Fusilier, who failed to secure a place on Martin Rennie’s team last year, has landed a job with Crystal Palace Baltimore.
Carolina RailHawks, Soccer Crystal Palace Baltimore, Jeremy Tolleson, Josh Gardner, Martin Rennie, Santiago Fusilier, Seattle Sounders, Sigi Schmid
David Fellerath ·
8 Feb 2010, 10:34 PM ·
3 Comments
The roster updates from the Cary offices of the Carolina RailHawks have been trickling in. There have been heartening re-signings, most notably that of quicksilver Guyanese winger Gregory Richardson. Also back for another season: stalwart defensive midfielder Amir Lowery, goalkeeper Eric Reed, the aggressive midfielders Brian Plotkin and Joseph Kabwe, and defenders Caleb Norkus and Mark Schulte. Right back Greg Shields—currently on loan to Partick Thistle of the Scottish second division (according to the gratifyingly transparent Web site of the Glaswegian club, we know that his loan expires March 31)—seems to be slated for a return, as well.
Today brought two pieces of news. First was the surprising retirement of 2009 team defender of the year Jeremy Tolleson. Only 27 years old, the Atlanta native has elected to hang up his boots and become a missionary in Honduras. Tolleson began last season on the sidelines, recuperating from a foot injury. His return came at a fortuitous time, however, when central defender Jack Stewart was lost for the season with a broken leg. Tolleson subsequently partnered with Schulte to anchor the league’s best defense; despite being only 5-foot-9, he effectively positioned himself to snuff out attack after attack, and also proved to be a dangerous attacking weapon with his long balls forward (3:18).
It’s disappointing to lose a player of his caliber, but one can’t help but be impressed by his willingness to walk away from a sport that has surely dominated his life for 20 years. Although it’s true that Division 2 soccer players in America are paid little more than missionaries (and perhaps D2 soccer players are secular missionaries, spreading love for a game that pays them less than they could make doing almost anything else), it still comes as a start to fans that an athlete could have a calling above playing sports for a living. Our hat is off to you, Mr. Tolleson, and Godspeed.
Tolleson’s departure will intensify interest in whether Stewart will return to the club. Continue reading »
Carolina RailHawks, Soccer AC St. Louis, Amir Lowery, Brian Plotkin, Caleb Norkus, Caleb Patterson Sewell, Claude Anelka, Daniel Paladini, Jeremy Tolleson, Joseph Kabwe, Josh Gardner, Mark Schulte, Martin Rennie, NSC Minnesota Stars, schedule, Steve Ralston
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 ·
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 ·
18 Sep 2009, 3:32 PM ·
1 Comment
Mark Schulte and Sallieu Bundu celebrate earlier this season in a game against the Minnesota Thunder (Photo by Rich Bostwick)
We’re coming to the sad realization that the RailHawks’ regular season is drawing to a close. It’s been a real treat to see such a quality team this year. In reflecting on the season in advance of tonight’s regular season finale against the Montreal Impact, we find ourselves thinking about the issue of year-end league honors.
Team honors, selected by the players, will be announced prior to the playoff game Sept. 27—and you can vote, too, for “fan favorite.”
We’re thinking about the league: The USL will recognize a first and second team all-USL-1 lineup, and there should be citations for best goalkeeper, best defender, and most valuable player. A recent speculative press release from the league office, after reviewing the top performers from other squads, acknowledged the difficulty of recognizing the RailHawks, who are unique in their dependence on a revolving lineup of 20+ quality players, rather than four or five aces.
To take the most obvious example: The league leaders in goals scored (Johnny Menyongar of Rochester, Mandjou Keita of Portland, Charles Gbeke of Vancouver) all have 11 goals. The RailHawks’ leading goal scorers, however, have only six (Gregory Richardson and Sallieu Bundu), yet collectively the team is the second in the league in scoring goals, with 41.
However, if one looks at goals-per-game, one RailHawk in particular becomes one of the league’s best scorers. Richardson’s six goals have come in 11 games, a rate that would put him in first place in the league if it were sustained over the season. (Then there’s Joseph Kabwe and his five goals and four assists in 15 games and 806 minutes; production that’s good enough to place him in the the league’s top 20 in points.)
Richardson is probably the RailHawks’ best candidate among the scorers, with Bundu also a strong second-team possibility, but we’d like to make a case for Daniel Paladini for post-season honors. Continue reading »
Carolina RailHawks, Soccer All-USL honors, Amir Lowery, Caleb Patterson Sewell, Daniel Paladini, Eric Reed, Gregory Richardson, Jeremy Tolleson, Joseph Kabwe, Kupono Low, Mark Schulte, Montreal Impact, Sallieu Bundu
David Fellerath ·
23 Aug 2009, 5:20 PM ·
Comment
USLLIVE.com-After an anemic 0-0 draw before a crowd of 7,758 in Rochester’s Marina Auto Stadium, the RailHawks are now six points behind Portland, with six games to play for each team.
The ‘Hawks aren’t going to catch the Timbers: Four of Portland’s last five games are at home, and four of Portland’s last five games are against Cleveland and Austin, the twin doormats of the USL-1. The RailHawks have already earned 16 of the 18 possible points from the City Stars and the Aztex; Portland’s pace at the top of the table is all the more remarkable given that they’ve held these four fixtures in hand all season.
Meanwhile, the RailHawks’ last six games will be a grueling stretch against three different playoff contenders, including three against the Montreal Impact—two of which will be on the road.
Last night in Rochester, Martin Rennie showed a lineup that was unusual in two respects: Continue reading »
Carolina RailHawks, Soccer Caleb Patterson Sewell, Gregory Richardson, Jeremy Tolleson, John Cunliffe, Luke Kreamalmeyer, Martin Rennie, Portland Timbers, Rochester Rhinos
David Fellerath ·
22 Aug 2009, 2:58 PM ·
Comment
John Cunliffe, skimming on the Whitecaps (photo by Rich Bostwick)
The RailHawks and the Vancouver Whitecaps traveled an aggregate total of 10,000 miles in four days to emerge with two points apiece. Following Saturday’s 0-0 stalemate in Vancouver’s Swangard Stadium, the two squads battled fatigue and humidity Tuesday night in Cary for a 1-1 draw. After falling behind on a 66th-minute Vancouver goal, late sub Andriy Budnyy settled a ball from John Cunliffe and scored to salvage the draw in the 87th minute.
Here are video highlights, and here’s the stat box.
The thing of it is, it was a decent result for both sides. Vancouver got two points from a tough opponent to keep them in the playoff hunt. And, despite the results, the RailHawks are still in a strong second-place position—which some might consider a better prize than first place, with the first-round playoff bye that comes with it.
Right now, Portland is in the driver’s seat for regular season title, with 48 points to Carolina’s 44, with both teams having seven games to play. Here’s how the playoff contenders stack up, ranked by points-per-game. The top seven make the playoffs.
- Portland: 2.09 ppg
- Carolina: 1.91
Continue reading »
Carolina RailHawks, Soccer Andriy Budnyy, Caleb Patterson Sewell, Jeremy Tolleson, John Cunliffe, Martin Rennie, Portland Timbers, Rochester Rhinos, Vancouver Whitecaps
David Fellerath ·
13 Aug 2009, 8:40 PM ·
Comment
RailHawks keeper Eric Reed surely didn’t intend for his endorsement of rock-solid—and taciturn—defender Jeremy Tolleson in team blogger Tim Candon’s profile, posted today, to sound backhanded:
“He’s so dependable,” said goalkeeper Eric Reed, who played with Tolleson last year in Cleveland, too. “A lot of teams, because he’s not a physical presence back there like [Mark] Schulte or Brad [Rusin], you don’t think a lot of him. Teams will put forwards directly on him, and Jeremy will handle them no problem. You can count on him 99.999 percent of the time. Very rarely will he ever do something that will hurt you.”
Obviously, if defenders were perfect, they wouldn’t concede any goals. In fact, the RailHawks have given up 13, the second-fewest in the USL-1. For his part, Tolleson has been an unsung hero, fortuitously stepping in after missing the first few weeks of the season due to injury. He made his season debut in the same game that saw the towering Jack Stewart go down with a broken fibula. Tolleson, who played with coach Martin Rennie in Cleveland the last two seasons and with the PDL Cascade Surge before that, was expected to see time at left back, but the Stewart injury moved him to the middle. Candon’s appreciation is here.
Elsewhere in RailHawksiana today, the N&O’s Rachel Ullrich has a nice piece about the RailHawks’ foreign players that performs the useful service of nailing down which players are officially foreign, under USL rules, and which are not. (In the latter category: Sallieu Bundu, Andriy Budnyy, Gavin Glinton, Caleb Patterson-Sewell.) This story, by the way, ran above the fold on the front sports page. Kudos to the N&O for giving Ullrich space this summer. She’ll be missed when her internship ends.
The RailHawks are back in third place after victories by the Charleston Battery and the Portland Timbers. They have three games in hand on Charleston and one on Portland. They travel to Vancouver for a game against the Whitecaps Saturday, Aug. 15, at 10 p.m. EDT. Watch it on USLLive.com.
Carolina RailHawks, Soccer Andriy Budnyy, Caleb Patterson Sewell, Eric Reed, Gavin Glinton, Jeremy Tolleson, Martin Rennie, Sallieu Bundu, Vancouver Whitecaps
David Fellerath ·
29 May 2009, 2:33 AM ·
9 Comments
Daniel Paladini (left) against the Cleveland City Stars on May 22 (photo courtesy of the Carolina RailHawks)
After two frustrating seasons, fans in WakeMed Soccer Park tonight will be excused for some hard-earned self-congratulation—and considering the woefulness of the opponent, the Cleveland City Stars, who are in 10th place with only two goals scored versus 12 allowed, they should expect to see three more points added to the Carolina RailHawks’ points column.
Continue reading »
Carolina RailHawks, Soccer Andriy Budnyy, Cleveland City Stars, Daniel Paladini, Gavin Glinton, Jeremy Tolleson, John Cunliffe, Martin Rennie, Sallieu Bundu
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
