Showing posts tagged “MLS”
Neil Morris ·
17 Mar 2010, 9:36 AM ·
Comment
A joint press conference featuring coaches and players for the Carolina RailHawks and Major League Soccer’s New England Revolution was designed to promote the teams’ preseason friendly this Saturday evening, March 20, at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary.
However, another continuing revolution again took center stage thanks to one attendee, RailHawks’ President Brian Wellman.
Joining Wellman for Tuesday’s press conference at the Hilton Garden Inn in Durham, N.C. were RailHawks’ coach Martin Rennie and captain Mark Schulte, together with longtime Revolution head coach Steve Nicol and two of their young players, Raleigh natives Darrius Barnes (a Duke University grad) and Zack Schilawski (a former Wake Forest standout). All appeared before members of the local media and a smattering of diehard RailHawks supporters.
Barnes enters his second season with New England as the only field player in MLS to play every minute of every game during his last year’s rookie outing. Meanwhile, Schilawski is embarking on his rookie season with the Revolution after the team drafted him in the first round of this year’s MLS SuperDraft. Although Schilawski will play in Saturday’s game, Nicol confirmed that Barnes will not due to a minor injury.
Last year, the RailHawks won the Community Shield match against New England, 1-0. This year’s game marks the end of the Revolution’s 10-day training visit to WakeMed Park. Last weekend, the Revs traveled to Charlotte, where they defeated the USL-2’s Charlotte Eagles 2-0. The match against Carolina will be their final tune-up before the scheduled MLS season opener against the L.A. Galaxy on March 27—a event that could be delayed or canceled if the ongoing MLS labor dispute isn’t resolved by then.
I will defer to the RailHawks’s revamped Web site for much of the arduous work of transcribing the comments that came from the dais. It is safe to say that the Railhawks enter the season a hungry and confident kettle. Coming off last year’s regular season runner-up finish in USL-1, which included winning the most matches in the league, Rennie returns the core of his squad along with several new, key pieces.
“For players and for coach, a second-place finish isn’t what we’re after,” said team captain Schulte. “We want to be first. It was a commendable season, considering no one really knew each other the first month or so. This year, I think is going to be something special.”
But, it was Wellman who sounded the most insurgent chord, using his opening prepared comments to expound on the mindset of both his team and its fledgling, as-yet-unsanctioned league, the North American Soccer League (NASL).
“Every roster spot is a meaningful spot, and Martin has a plan for every guy on the roster to get us deeper in the playoffs and contend for championships in both the U.S. Open Cup as well as the NASL league cup.”
The latter reference is eyebrow-raising, seeing how such a cup does not currently exist. The USSF has mandated that the member squads of both the USL-1 and NASL play in a combined USSF-sanctioned Division 2 league for 2010. Neither the USL-1 or NASL are individually sanctioned as D2 leagues by USSF this year. Continue reading »
Carolina RailHawks, Soccer Brian Wellman, Community Shield, Darrius Barnes, Mark Schulte, Martin Rennie, MLS, NASL, New England Revolution, Nic Platter, Ramak Safi, Steve Nicol, striker from The Gambia, Zack Schilawski
David Fellerath ·
7 Jan 2010, 5:20 PM ·
Comment
There will be soccer in Cary this season after all.
After months of uncertainty surrounding the status of second-division soccer in the United States, officials with the United States Soccer Federation and representatives of two contending organizations announced today that the United Soccer Leagues and the nascent North American Soccer League would soldier through a provisional season under an unusual compromise arrangement. As part of this temporary resolution, all pending claims between the leagues and its parties will be dropped.
The two leagues will play a season divided into two conferences, the USL Conference and the NASL Conference. Each conference will have six teams, with the Carolina RailHawks falling into the NASL Conference.
| USL CONFERENCE |
NASL CONFERENCE |
| Rochester |
Montreal |
| Portland |
Vancouver |
| Puerto Rico |
Crystal Palace (Baltimore) |
| Minnesota |
St. Louis |
| Austin |
Carolina |
| Tampa Bay |
Miami |
A few things to notice about this provisional arrangement: Continue reading »
Carolina RailHawks, Soccer Alek Papadakis, Carolina RailHawks, D2, Division 2, MLS, NASL, New England Revolution, Sunil Gulati, TOA, US Soccer, USL
Joe Schwartz ·
24 Nov 2009, 11:12 AM ·
1 Comment
Pelé, seen in the film Once in a Lifetime: The Extraordinary Story of the New York Cosmos (Miramax Films)
Carolina RailHawks majority owner Selby Wellman expects at least 10 teams to be in the newly named North American Soccer League, though he declined to name the possible additions to the nine confirmed ownership groups.
Wellman and fellow owners announced Monday that they will bring back the NASL name, conjuring up memories of the first American professional soccer league, which included the likes of Pelé, Franz Beckenbauer and Johan Cruyff before it folded in 1984.
“We talked about it a long time. There’s pros and cons because the league didn’t make it, that would be the con. The pro is it really did launch professional soccer in
America and had a good brand,” he said. “There’s a lot of us around here with some gray hair that’ll say, ‘I remember that brand.’”
The league now has a name, but the owners have a lot of questions to answer before the first ball is kicked in April. Along with the RailHawks, former USL teams Atlanta Silverbacks, Miami FC, Minnesota Thunder, Montreal Impact and Vancouver Whitecaps FC are part of NASL. St. Louis Soccer United, Tampa Bay Rowdies and Crystal Palace Baltimore also are slated for inclusion in the breakaway league.
Others have speculated that Rochester Rhinos may be included, but Wellman, also the spokesman for the new league, isn’t saying as of yet.
“I can’t name them,” he said. “We already have plans underway, and we’re getting all kinds of requests coming in from different groups.” Continue reading »
Carolina RailHawks, Soccer Atlanta Silverbacks, Carolina RailHawks, Crystal Palace Baltimore, Don Garber, Franz Beckenbauer, Johan Cruyff, Miami FC, Minnesota Thunder, MLS, Montreal Impact, NASL, Pele, Rochester Rhinos, Selby Wellman, St. Louis Soccer United, Tampa Bay Rowdies, TOA, USL, Vancouver Whitecaps FC
David Fellerath ·
1 Jul 2009, 8:15 AM ·
Comment
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 »
Carolina RailHawks, Soccer Brian Plotkin, Chicago Fire, MLS, Panama, U.S. Open Cup, upsets, USL-1, USL-2, Wilmington Hammerheads
David Fellerath ·
23 Sep 2008, 8:47 PM ·
Comment
From left: Antoniuk, Nuñez, Watson, Sanfilippo, Fusilier
Prior to last Saturday’s home finale, the Carolina RailHawks announced their team awards, citing five players for excellence during a rocky season that nonetheless ended with a 5-2-1 record over its last eight games, good for 16 points.
Probably the biggest surprise was the choice for Most Valuable Player: midfielder Matt Watson. Continue reading »
Carolina RailHawks, Uncategorized Dan Antoniuk, Frankie Sanfilippo, Hamed Diallo, Martin Nuñez, Matt Watson, MLS, Santiago Fusilier
