MIDDLE CREEK PARK/ CARY—The outcome of the Carolina RailHawks’ first scrimmage of the 2010 USSF Division 2 soccer season was as incidental as its venue. For the record, the RailHawks defeated Duke University 3-2 in a match held at Middle Creek Park in Cary, an above-average parks & rec facility devoid of seating or a scoreboard. A modest number of die-hard fans—representing both sides—watched from along the touchline, close enough to hear the bawdy on-field clamor that normally evaporates in the more spacious confines of WakeMed Park.
Still, the match was sporty and well-contested, as evidenced by the urgent tenor of the players on the pitch. For the RailHawks, this debut preseason match was more an opportunity to observe a number of players vying to earn a spot on the team’s roster, prospects referred to generically as “trialists.” For various reasons, even the identities of these trialists are shrouded in mystery—inquiries to head coach Martin Rennie about the names of several went unanswered.
The RailHawks’ first half side was comprised almost entirely of trialists, joined only by returning midfielder Kupono Low, forward Sallieu Bundu and goalkeeper Eric Reed. Not coincidentally, Duke controlled the half and jumped out to a 2-0 lead, which was cut to 2-1 near halftime when one prospect punched a Bundu cross past the goalkeeper.
The RailHawks’ second half featured more familiar and formidable faces. Joining Reed and trialist Shintaro Harada from the opening stanza were Daniel Paladini, Andriy Budnyy, Mark Schulte, Joseph Kabwe, John Gilkerson, Devon McKenney, Josh Gardner, newcomer Floyd Franks and forward prospect Joseph Ngwenya, a 28-year-old Zimbabwean striker whose resume includes productive stints with the L.A. Galaxy, Columbus Crew and Houston Dynamo. Ngwenya hammered through the equalizer midway through the second half (see the goal here). Then Low, subbing for an injured Franks, chipped in the game-winner just before the referee blew the full-time whistle.
“Duke was really strong, so I was impressed with them, especially in the first half,” said Rennie. “Then, in the second half we took our chances and played quite well. It’s just the first week of training and it’s more important to get our fitness going and things like that, but it’s always nice to win.”
The daunting tryout process is best encapsulated by the case of Harada, a venerable Japanese defender/midfielder who last year starred with Crystal Palace Baltimore in USL-2. Besides Reed, only Harada played the entire match against Duke, displaying skill and passing efficiency. But, when asked after the game about Harada’s chances of making the club, Rennie stated, “We’re probably not going to sign him. He was trying out and played well during the course of the week, but probably not quite well enough.” Indeed, Ngwenaya is the only prospect from the Duke match that Rennie said was still being seriously considered for a roster spot.
Other news and notes:
- Leading up to training camp, the RailHawks have been stockpiling new defensive help, including Franks, 2009 USL-1 First-Team All-Leaguer Matt Bobo, and others. When asked when help was arriving for the front third, Rennie responded, “Well, Gregory Richardson will be back in a week, and we’ve signed someone we think is a big-time player from Malta who will be here pretty soon. We’ve also got Matt Watson coming back from injury, who is an attacking player. We’ll probably add another guy, but with all of those [Rennie mentioned], along with the three or four guys we’ve already got, we think we’re pretty close.”
- Josh Gardner’s presence at the Duke scrimmage was a bit unexpected, as it was commonly believed he had departed for opportunities in MLS. According to Rennie, Gardner’s status is still uncertain. “He’s got a potential offer from Seattle [Sounders], so he’ll have to decide what he would like to do. But, he likes being here and we like having him, so we’ll just have to wait and see.”
- In addition to those who played in the Duke scrimmage, other confirmed (officially and unofficially) returnees from last year’s RailHawks squad due to arrive by the end of the month include: Richardson, Watson, Greg Shields, Brian Plotkin, Caleb Norkus, Gavin Glinton and Amir Lowery. Rennie hopes to have his full plate of players by the March 5 preseason match against Elon University.
The RailHawks next preseason scrimmage is Saturday, Feb. 27 against Wake Forest on Field 6 at WakeMed Soccer Park.
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.
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 »
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 »
RailHawks goalkeeper Eric Reed shares a little love with Latino fans after the Tecos match. (photo by David Fellerath)
Ever since Saturday’s night’s friendly versus Estudiantes Tecos of the Mexican state of Jalisco, a 2-1 victory for the RailHawks, I’ve been thinking about how much I enjoyed watching the game with approximately 5,000 Latinos.
Simply put, there’s a different energy in the park. It’s so obvious as to be scarcely worth stating, but when fans are constantly chanting, cheering and jeering, you realize that the other half of the equation of a quality soccer match has been provided. It was a little humbling to see how nuts the Latino fans went for players that even conscientious American soccer fans have never heard of: for one, the veteran striker Bruno Marioni, who delivered a couple of gorgeous balls; and for another, a 37-year-old, Maradoña-sized attacker named Rodrigo Ruiz. His nickname is “El Pony,” which I know because the fans were chanting his name throughout the game until he finally entered in the 54th minute.
At one point, a surely intoxicated fan wandered out onto the pitch, standing inside the penalty box with the Tecos keeper Israel Villasénor. The referee whistled the ball dead and Cary’s finest hustled out to the field to arrest him. Here’s some fan-shot video of the incident:
The ’Hawks are off to the best start of the team’s three-season history, with six points in two games.
Last week, Mark Schulte was the USL-1 player of the week, and today, news comes that, for their performances in Saturday’s 1-0 victory over Rochester, defender Jack Stewart and winger Josh Gardner have been named to the season’s first USL-1 team of the week.
In a rough game that saw six yellow cards and three reds, John Gilkerson (right) goes to the air. (Photo courtesy of Carolina RailHawks)
WAKEMED SOCCER PARK/ CARY—In the murky wilds of Cary, North Carolina, the Carolina RailHawks claimed the collective hide of the Rochester Rhinos with a 53rd-minute goal by Sallieu Bundu. The goal poacher from Sierra Leone gave the home fans a much-deserved reward for their consistent, if tepid exhortations. This 1-0 victory was the first time in six attempts that the ‘Hawks had been able to sink its talons into Rochester and now have maximum points from their first two league matches.
The goals should have been faster in coming and if not for the inspired play of longtime Rhinos netminder Scott Vallow, the second half would have been devoid of tension. Carolina dominated possession for much of the opening stanza and though the game had become choppy and increasingly violent by the end of the first half hour, it was clear that the crash of hyperborean Rhinoceros was lost in the Appalachian piedmont ecotome.
While dominating in possession, Carolina struggled to find clinical form inside the 18- and 6-yard boxes, squandering a beakful of chances.
The center-left party: In what looks to be a popular pair, Gardner comes down the flank as Bundu awaits. (photo courtesy of RailHawks)
WAKEMED SOCCER PARK/ CARY—If the March 14 victory over the “major league” New England Revolution was an occasion for a little well-deserved breast-beating, the loss to the definitely major league CD Olimpia was the occasion for—well, first, a dry towel.
A downpour worthy of a Sri Lankan monsoon at times threatened to obscure the action, and the slippery field was more or less responsible for defensive miscues that led to goals for each team. The 1:1 deadlock was broken in the 63rd minute when Jaime Rosales rocketed a very major league free kick that went over and around the RailHawks wall and skidded off the left post into the goal. A minute later, Coach Martin Rennie waved in five fresh players and the game took on a more scrimmage-like rhythm.
After the game, Rennie was beaming—and not just because he was finally dry. Continue reading »
WAKEMED SOCCER PARK/CARY—Today’s two hour training session began with some light jogging and stretching followed by a short passing game. For aspiring coaches out there, the game involved two players, three cones and a ball. After passing between two cones, the receiving player was required to take a touch moving the ball around a cone before sending his second touch back between two cones. After warming up with this for 10 minutes, the lads jogged lightly and stretched. Then they repeated the exercise in a competitive fashion, gaining points when their partner couldn’t complete the move in two touches. The total time for the exercise was about 30 minutes. The three ‘keepers, Levey, McClellan and Reed trained on their own, first by taking close range shots both high and low, and then by pulling crosses out of the air.
The second part of training was a game of 6 v 3 possession in a 15 x 10 yard area with the six players standing around the edge of the area. Touches were unlimited though it is mightily difficult to take more than two in such a confined space. There were three separate games watched by Rennie, and Triangle Fútbol Club coaches Henry Gutierrez and Dewan Bader.
The third segment of today’s training was full field 11 v 11. This provided a good opportunity to see some of the new signings in action as well as to assess who has come into camp fit and ready to compete for a position. As David mentioned in his earlier post, some of the notable absences were Nuñez, Antoniuk and Watson. We know that Watson is due in camp after the indoor season finishes. Nuñez appears to have jumped ship to Puerto Rico. Antoniuk we are just not sure about yet.
Watching the 11 v. 11 the T.O. crew were scrambling to put names with faces. We saw familiar faces in Low, Solle, Norkus, McClellan, Fusilier, Diallo, Stokes, and possibly Curfman. We began to familiarize ourselves with new signings Josh Gardner, Daniel Paladini, Marcelo Romero, Luke Kreamelmeyer, Brian Plotkin, John Gilkerson, and Reed. It looked like Gardner would be the first choice on the left wing, with Romero providing solid cover for Watson in midfield.
Also on display were trialists Michael Callahan, Amir Lowery and El Hadj Cisse from U.N.C., Wake Forest, and N.C. State respectively. Lowery had a number of good moments in the center of midfield, maintaining possession in tight situations and distributing away from traffic. Cisse looked a little less comfortable at right back but has the physical attributes to play in the rough and tumble USL-1. It will be interesting to see if Coach Rennie brings these prospects along with pointed direction or if he remains mum, as he was for the entirety of the session.
At the end of training, nearly everyone walked off immediately to the showers. While I am by no means questioning the dedication or integrity of the players, it was a bit disheartening to see that no one stayed after training to practice free kicks or penalties (especially since a penalty was blocked and a free kick sent 20 yards over the goal during the scrimmage).
Training is open to the public everyday from 10 a.m. to noon and it’s a great way to get familiar with players, coaches and the ways and means of professional soccer in the USA.
The RailHawks announced today the signing of 26-year-old midfielder Josh Gardner, a veteran of three journeyman seasons with the Los Angeles Galaxy and two considerably more productive seasons with the Seattle Sounders. With the latter squad over the last two seasons, Gardner scored 7 goals in 52 appearances, playing on the left side.
We asked the RailHawks if there are any updates on last year’s midfield mainstays of Matt Watson, Martin Nuñez and Santiago Fusilier and were told to “stay tuned.”
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.
