Stewart, Safi and Trialist No. 16: RailHawks show veteran team and intriguing new faces in 4-1 stroll over NC State
WAKEMED SOCCER PARK/CARY—The first thing we saw last night was a red-clad team that looked like the N.C. State Wolfpack. Then we saw a team that was neither the Wolfpack nor the Carolina RailHawks. Closer observation revealed that the New England Revolution were in town, finishing up a light workout on their first day of training in Cary in advance of next week’s friendly versus the RailHawks.
The Revolution left the field and soon RailHawks began showing up in twos and threes. Warmups began. It was good to see Matt Watson on his feet again after that broken leg from last September. We overheard team captain Mark Schulte introducing himself to an unfamiliar teammate who would turn out to be Thomas Stewart, late of Derry City in the Irish First Division. Amir Lowery strolled up midway through warmups, howdying the onlookers like the celebrity he should be someday. Brian Plotkin, still recuperating from a groin injury, jogged on the adjacent field until he was informed by a RailHawks staff member that the field was closed (and perhaps toxic).
Off in the distance, someone who looked like goalkeeper Caleb Patterson-Sewell—who we thought was training with the New York Red Bulls—watched the proceedings for a few minutes before disappearing.
A light drizzle and overcast skies portended an unpleasant viewing experience, but the water went away and we were left with wind and a gloomy, unlit and pocky field. The RailHawks eventually played a game, spanking the fiesty Wolfpack by a score of 4-1. Although the Wolfpack—a solid, above-average team in the nation’s best college soccer conference—fought for every ball and enjoyed a fair amount of possession, they never seriously challenged the RailHawks defense.
“If it hadn’t been for the penalty, we defended well tonight and probably should have had a clean sheet,” RailHawks coach Martin Rennie said after the game. “We were working on a couple of set plays, defensively, which I felt we did quite well on. Generally speaking, there were guys getting 90 minutes for the first time. They got tired but that’s part of this process. We’re training twice every day and then playing games.”
The first two RailHawks goals were scored in the first half by an unnamed “Trialist No. 16″ playing up top, who turned in balls delivered from the Gregory Richardson side of the field. The third goal also came in the first half, on a Daniel Paladini free kick from 20 yards that he casually dinked into the lower left corner—completely ignoring the “wall” that was in front of him. The fourth came in the second half, when Stewart, fresh off a transatlantic flight, tapped in a cross from the left. Continue reading »
