Lots of TSF readers voiced your opinions, both good and bad, about the Carolina RailHawks name. But I think most of us can agree that we ended up with a better moniker than the teams that made the Who Ate All the Bratwurst's Top 10 list of worst football club names.

Last week, we noted an article in the News & Observer that named John Harkes as one of the prospects to be the first coach of the Carolina RailHawks. I guess the allure of joining longtime coach and friend Bruce Arena at Red Bull New York outweighed the chance to helm his own team as Harkesy has accepted an assistant coach positino with the New York MLS franchise today.

The US Women's National Team beat CONCACAF rival Canada 2-0 in front of 5,292 at SAS Soccer Park in Cary on Sunday afternoon. The goals came from an Abby Wambach penalty just before halftime and Natasha Kai, unassisted, in the 80th minute. U.S. Soccer has a full match report, photos from the match, and the post-match press conference on their site.

As I had done previously for the Atlanta v. Rochester match, I volunteered to work on the event staff and it was a ton of fun. I had two jobs today -- referee liaison and stretcher bearer.

The liaison job was a real treat for me. It is basically a "gopher" job, taking care of anything that comes up the refs need. I'm a grade 8 USSF ref (the lowest or beginner "adult" grade you can get) and I thoroughly enjoyed walking the pitch pre-match with a crew of professional international refs and being a fly on the wall as they prepared for the match. The job was doubly exciting to me as the center referee was Durham's own Sandra Serafini, who was actually my Grade 8 instructor. You know you've gotten a good education when your teacher is tapped to call a match between two of the best women's teams in the world.

Once the match started, there's not much for the referee liaison to do so I joined the stretcher crew during the run of play. I have to say, stretcher crew has to be the absolute best volunteer job you can get. You get to sit in chairs at midfield between the two benches, 3 yards off the touchline, and all you have to do is watch the match in the unlikely event someone needs to be stretchered off. The poor folks on the opposite side of the pitch paid $125 to sit behind the sign boards while I got the same vantage point for free, plus I got to listen to Greg Ryan up close and personal as he coached the women. However, it did make me feel a little like someone who watches NASCAR for the crashes. Everytime two players would go in for a tackle, I'd find myself thinking "Am I going to get to run out on the pitch this time?"

As I have said before, volunteering to work at these matches has been a lot of fun. The Triangle Professional Soccer exhibition season for 2006 came to a close with today's match but if you're interested in being a volunteer at RailHawks matches next season, I'm sure Jonathan would like to hear from you so he can add you to his maliing list for next year.

A week off did me some good. By Wednesday, I was itching to see the Columbus Crew v. Everton match on ESPN2 so I broke my rule, just for the evening. As I go through the backlog of news/blog/email articles, here's some things I missed this week while I was on vacation. Hopefully you didn't miss them too, but just in case, there are plenty of links below to catch us all up.

• Campbell University named Todd Clark women's head coach
  
  
• A reporter from Voice of America Indonesia sent me this video report that she filed on Sam's Army, much of which was shot at the Jamaica match in Cary and features lots of TSF readers on camera.
  
  
• Uber-stud of the US National Team Brian McBride retired from international football, a piece of news that I actually learned from the BBC World Service. Check out this great video retrospective on his career and the conversation with McBride podcast on USSoccer.com.
  
  
• In other Brian McBride news, Birmingham City have made a surprise bid for McBride, with Steve Bruce insisting that Bake is the man to replace Emile Heskey and lead City back to the Prem in their first season the Championship.
  
  
• Greg Ryan named his 18-woman roster for the USA v. Canada match on Sunday at SAS Soccer Park.
  
  
• The East swept the N.C. Coaches Association East-West boys and girls all-star matches
  
  
• The Cary News covers the announcement of the new RailHawks name and the USL All-Star match.
  
  
• College Soccer News has released their pre-season Men's Top 30. UNC sits at #3 while Duke comes in at #12.
  
  
• College Soccer News also released their Top 40 Men's recruiting classes, ranking UNC's as #3 and Duke #14.
  
  
• The CASL Spartan Elite U13 Girls, CASL 91 Spartan Premier Girls, Carolina Goldstar Select Blue U12 Boys, CASL 92 CASL Elite Boys, and Goldstar Carolina Goldstar Select U15 Boys, are participating in the Finals of the Doug Hamilton Memorial US Club Soccer National Championships in Greensboro this weekend.
  
  
• At the same time, the CASL 88 Elite Boys, TFC 88 Navy Boys, CASL Spartan Premier U14 Girls, and CASL 91 CASL Spartan Elite Girls are in Score at the Shore 2006, a premier national college showcase being held at Bryan Park in Greensboro.
  
  
• Former Tar Heel Carey Talley scored one of several cracking goals in the RSL v. Chivas match before it became obvious that the pressure and uncertainty of the future is getting to the front office staff in Salt Lake.
  
  
• Remember that one of the reasons I gave for choosing RailHawks for our team name is that it yielded ZERO google hits? It's amazing the difference a week will make...there's well over 15,000 hits now!
  
  
• One of the Sheffield Wednesday supporters I met during their trip to the States sent me a photo gallery from their tour of the US.
  
  
• Worth1000's latest photoshop contest yields an interesting prospective Playstation game.
  
  
• Artists renderings of the Poplar Point (DC United) stadium project were released on MLSNet. (see picture above)
  
  
• It appears that DirecTV is testing Sky Sports One (Sky One and Sky News too) for future inclusion on their satellite platform. The channels have shown up in the 9995-9997 range on my DirecTiVo unit and appear in the programming guide on the DirecTV website.
  
  
• GolTV has Bundesliga matches for this coming season. And MLS is back on Fox Soccer Channel (and FSE) through through the remainder of the year.
  

And I'll leave you with this great quote from Steve Sirk, who covers the Columbus Crew in a most entertaining way (probably more so than the actual team): "One of the great and frustrating things about soccer is that it is largely open to interpretation. It is not uncommon for two people who have watched the exact same game to have two entirely different opinions about everything. In some respects, soccer is more music than sport." If you need more evidence of this fact, check out just about any match thread on BigSoccer!

One thing I learned long ago is that if you feed an obsession too much, you'll burn out. I'm feeling a little like that at the moment. Between the World Cup, the Raleigh Elite, the RailHawks, MLS, and everything else, I'm actually getting a bit weary of it all at the moment.

Therefore, I've decided to take a little break from soccer. For the next week, I'm going to do nothing related to soccer. No blogging, no surfing the soccer-web, no watching soccer on TV, no coaching, no refereeing, no attending matches, no playing soccer on the PlayStation, etc. I'm quitting cold-turkey for a week.

This blog will return next Saturday, July 29th, just in time to preview the USA v. Canada WNT match at SAS Soccer Park and refereshed & ready for the coming collegiate soccer season, the MLS All-Star match, the kickoff of the English league season, and assembling the U6 team that I'll be coaching in the fall.

If you're looking for something to read in the meantime, I highly recommend On the Pitch, a blog maintained by Mike Baptiste over in Mebane, NC. You'll find the latest headlines from On the Pitch over in the sidebar to the right. Of course, I recommend you guys take a break too, there's a ton of soccer coming just around the corner.

As the name of the new USL-1 franchise in Cary was unveiled Wednesday night, I'm sure quite a few fans were left scratching their heads and wondering "What the [expletive deleted] is a RailHawk?"

So I thought I'd take a minute to explain the genesis of the name itself and what stood out about the name that I thought would make it a good moniker for our local soccer club.

To clear things up immediately though, let me assure you that a "RailHawk" is not a real animal, nor even a real word as far as we know. But then again, there is no rule that says a brand image (which, let's admit it, is all a sports team name is) must be a word taken from the Oxford English Dictionary. (Think 76'ers).

So when the name the team contest was announced back in late January, my buddy Jonathan and I, who, at least in our own minds, are the biggest soccer fans in the Triangle, knew that it was imperative that we pool our cognitive resources. Certainly, between his encyclopedic knowledge of all things soccer (all sports for that matter) and my background as a marketing manager, surely we could come up with a name that would get selected to be the new team name.

Those interested in showing your support for our newest sports franchise here in the Triangle may be interested in picking up a Carolina RailHawks T-Shirt ($15, white sizes Youth L - Adult XXL) or Baseball Cap ($18, white or black). They are available starting today exclusively at both locations of Premier Soccer in the Triangle.

Now that we have a name, it's time to square away the coaching situation for the Carolina RailHawks. A.J. Carr of the News & Observer is reporting that Chris Economides may in fact have a US Soccer Hall of Famer on the short-list to head up the new RailHawks organization.

Economides is interested in putting the RailHawks on a fast track competitively. He hopes to have a coach by "mid- to late" September and has already talked to several candidates, including American John Harkes, a former World Cup and Sheffield Wednesday player.

There has also been speculation that former Rochester Rhinos and local Triangle resident Scott Schweitzer may be in line for the coaching position. Schweitzer retired from the Rhinos just before the 2006 started and is now an assistant coach with the Raleigh Elite of the Premier Development League.

Bringing Harkes, who was one of the voices of the World Cup for ABC/ESPN last month and who is currently the director of youth development for DC United, would be a coup for Economides. For a new team looking for an identity, the instantly recognizable face of America's "Captain for Life" would go a long way to connecting the community with their new USL-1 team and players.

Carolina RailHawks Officially Unveiled at USL1 Division All-Star Game

CARY, NC – July 20, 2006 – Amidst the fireworks at half-time during the nationally televised USL First Division All-Star Game at SAS Stadium, Triangle soccer fans got their first long-awaited glimpse of the new Cary USL Expansion Team’s identity – The Carolina RailHawks.

The name was chosen from among 1,000 plus entries from dedicated area soccer fans by a panel of team officials and area media. Cary resident Jarrett Campbell, 33, was awarded two lifetime season tickets for winning the Triangle Professional Soccer’s “Name the Team” contest that ran through June 9th.

“We identified the Carolina RailHawks right away as the name that incorporated all the elements we want this team to portray.” said Chris Economides, Rochester Rhinos co-owner and USL Hall of Fame inductee, who formed Triangle Professional Soccer in October of 2005 and was awarded the USL franchise in January of 2006.

The USL-1 Select side battled to a 0-0 draw with Sheffield Wednesday before a crowd of just over 5,000 at SAS Soccer Park on Wednesday evening. A full match report is available from the Sheffield Wednesday website and pictures from the match are available at Flickr.

Triangle Professional Soccer announced tonight during halftime of the USL All-Stars v. Sheffield Wednesday match at SAS Soccer Park that the name of the new USL-1 expansion team located in Cary, NC will be Carolina RailHawks FC and the team's colors will be blue, orange, and gray.

The team name was unveiled with an audio presentation that explains some the background behind the combination of the Railroad and Hawk icons and it's importance to both the Cary and Carolina region. Click here to listen to an mp3 of the audio presentation.

The name was chosen from over 1,000 entries submitted by local fans as part of a name the team contest which saw the submitter of the chosen name winning two lifetime season tickets to the new club. The winner of the contest was none other than your intrepid TSF blogger! I will detail the genesis of the RailHawk, which is a fictitious bird of prey, in an upcoming article.

More details on this announcement to follow shortly...

From today's Cary News...

On Wednesday night the wait will be over.

Officials will reveal the name and colors of Cary’s professional soccer team at SAS Soccer Park during halftime of the game between British soccer club Sheffield Wednesday and the United Soccer Leagues All-Star team.

The game at SAS Soccer Park starts at 8 p.m.

Jarrett Campbell, founder of Triangle Soccer Fanatics, said that the team will finally have an identity. “It’s going to feel like we have a real team,” he said.

The article also gives some background details on Sheffield Wednesday and their excitement about playing the States and against the USL All-Stars. The article quotes Paul Woolfson, the president of the London Owls, one of Wednesday's supporters groups:

"I'm thrilled about the opportunity to see Wednesday in action over in the U.S. as well as the chance to enjoy all the hospitality laid on by our hosts. It will be great to see stars such as Romario and Zinho in action and all your home grown talent and I look forward to seeing how well soccer is progressing in the United States."

>> Read the full article at the Cary News website.

Look for the name and logo of the new team to be posted on this site at approximately 8:45pm tonight.

Remember, Sheffield Wednesday, travelling USL, and local soccer supporters are all invited to join us for a pre-match Happy Hour and post-match party on Wednesday, July 19th before and after the USL All-Stars match.

Click here for full details.

 

Triangle Professional Soccer hosted a fun, family-friendly, free event under a blazing sun Tuesday afternoon as a prelude to the USL All-Star match which saw some of the USL-1 Select side participate, along with two keepers from Sheffield Wednesday, in a skills competition.

The Atlanta Silverbacks' Jason McLaughlin won the speed dribble contest over Gabriel Gervais of the Montreal Impact. McLaughlin also took the top spot in the vintage USL-style 7-second shootout. John Ball of the Rochester Raging Rhinos proved to have the hardest shot at 69 mph.

In a unique event, the USL All-Star goalkeeper tandem of Matthew Nelson (Virginia Beach Mariners) and Scott Vallow (Rochester Raging Rhinos) defeated Neil Kitson and Richard O'’Donnell of Sheffield Wednesday in a goalkeeper-only penalty shootout. The USL duo took home top prize in sudden death overtime. O’'Donnell gained a bit of redemption nailing the crossbar of the goal from 35 yards out in the final event to finish victorious in the crossbar challenge.

The final event allowed some of youngsters on hand to get the chance to take penalty shots against Sheffield Wednesday and USL All-Star goalkeepers. The skills competition wrapped up with the players signing autographs for the several hundred soccer fans who braved the 99 degree weather to see the players warm-up for tomorrow evening's match.



More photos from today's USL All-Stars SKills Competition are available at Flickr.

John Wilson played college soccer at Clemson University as a forward. During his time with the Tigers, Wilson helped them to an ACC Championship and an appearance in the NCAA Final Eight (1998). He talled 18 goals and 35 assists in his college career.

He was drafted by the MLS side, Kansas City Wizards in 1999 but went on to play for the A-League side, Charleston Battery, where he was voted Defender of the Year by the fans. During the 2000 season, Wilson played for both Kansas City (the Wizards went on to capture the MLS Cup that year) and a local Raleigh squad.

In 2001 and 2002, Wilson returned to Charleston and again was voted Defender of the Year in 2002. Wilson also played very briefly for the MLS side, New England Revolution, during 2002 and tallied his lone MLS goal. Wilson helped Charleston win the A-League Championship in 2003 and was an All-League First Team defender. In 2004, Wilson joined another A-League side, Rochester Raging Rhinos.

On May 27, 2005, Wilson donned the #27 jersey when he signed with MLS side, DC United, where he played mostly left back and some left midfield. Wilson played in the Copa Sudamericana for United, appearing in both games versus the Chilean side, Universidad Católica, where he had to change his jersey number to 3 to comply with CONMEBOL rules. Wilson also logged significant time with the DC United reserve team and aided them in their efforts to win the inagural MLS Reserve League title. So far in 2006, Wilson has made 10 appearances in 19 games as DC United is running away from the rest of their MLS competition as we approach the All-Star break.

While many of their contemporaries are hanging out by the pool, vacationing at the beach, or whiling away their summer vacation on MySpace, the girls of Triangle FC '91 Navy are gearing up for the soccer trip of their lives. Bobby Lovelace's squad, who plays in the NCYSA U14 Premier Division, is set to leave Thursday to test themselves against some of Britain's top youth competition.

The girls will square off against youth sides from Leicester City, Sunderland, Lumley, Ashfordby and Blyth Town as well as be hosted in a homestay by their peers in Blyth. In addition to the competition, the team will get a chance to visit historic St. James' Park and see USA Internationals Demarcus Beasley and Lee Nguyen play as PSV Eindhoven visits Newcastle United for a pre-season friendly.

Sheffield Wednesday FC train at SAS Soccer Park on Monday, July 17th. The team, which features St. Louis native Frankie Simek (pictured at right) has been working out twice daily at SAS Soccer Park as part of their USA pre-season tour which includes matches against the Wilmington Hammerheads, USL-All Stars, and the Rochester Rhinos. Wednesday open their Coca-Cola Championship campaign at Preston on August 5th.

>> More photos from the practice session are available at Flickr.

The Elon men's soccer program today announced that its September 13 match with Wake Forest will benefit The V Foundation for Cancer Research. A portion of all ticket proceeds, as well as the money raised by a silent auction will go directly to The V Foundation.

Game time is set for 7:00 p.m. under the lights at Rhodes Stadium on the Elon campus. Gates will open at 6:00 p.m. at which time the silent auction will begin. One dollar of each six dollar ticket will go directly to The V Foundation. Youth team members who wear their jerseys to the game will be admitted free as will children under five.

In her preview of the USL All-Star game in today's News & Observer, Rachel Carter notes that Triangle Professional Soccer will be announcing the name of their new team at halftime of the USL All-Stars v. Sheffield Wednesday match on July 19th and she hints at a few of the finalists:

At halftime Wednesday, the Cary franchise will announce its new name. The team invited fans to make suggestions -- a list of nearly 1,000 names. Among the suggestions were Railhawks, Copperheads and Clash. Team officials and members of the local media helped pick the name, and merchandise will be sold.

The Raleigh Elite rounded out their home season with a 2-0 victory over the Atlanta Silverbacks U23s under a scorching hot sun Saturday afternoon at SAS Soccer Park. Wadsworth and Guadarrama provided the goals in rapid succession in the 48th and 50th minutes before the teams both finished the match with 10 players as Kandji and Hoak were sent to the showers early in the 61st minute.

The Elite look to finish off the 2006 season and improve upon their 3-7-4 record next weekend with a roadtrip to Williamsburg on Friday and Northern Virginia on Saturday.

Sheffield Wednesday started their pre-season tour of the United States and preparation for the upcoming Coca-Cola Championship campaign with a 1-1 draw with the USL-2's Wilmington Hammerheads. The play started tentatively as Wednesday tried to find their legs in their first match of the year after 3 training sessions in Cary in only two days of being Stateside. Neither team had too many opportunities through 37 minutes of the first half when the referee ordered both sides to the changing rooms to avoid a massive electrical storm that was moving rapidly toward the grounds.

I spent the next 70 minutes under the stands at the Legion Sports Complex chatting with some of the several hundred Wednesday supporters who were marvelling at the lightning show nature was providing in lieu of a footbal match (not too many storms like that in South Yorkshire). I managed to get the skinny from several Owls fans who were more than happy to share their impressions of minor league soccer in America:

More than 2,000 soccer players will converge along North Carolina's Cape Fear Coast this week as the Veteran's Cup returns to Wilmington, NC for the second consecutive year. The Veteran’s Cup is a national adult amateur soccer championship established by USASA in 1998 to provide high-level competition for both male and female veteran soccer players.

Spectators are invited to watch tournament play each day from 7am until 6pm. Admission is free to all games. The 2006 tournament will be held at Veteran’s Park (555 Halyburton Memorial Pkwy.) and Hoggard soccer fields in Wilmington. Opening ceremonies will be held Tuesday, July 18 from 6pm-7pm in front of the Federal Courthouse located along Downtown Wilmington’s riverfront on Water Street. Semi-finals and finals begin on Saturday, July 22 and continue on Sunday, July 23, followed by trophy presentations and a final ceremony at Veterans Park.

Full details of the tournament are available from the Veteran's Cup website and highlights of the 2005 event, also held in Wilmington, are available in the following video. Be sure to check out the Tokyo-Kanagawa Seniors, whose average age was 68, and their 79 year old right midfielder.

The first episode of USL Breakaway on Fox Soccer Channel airs at 8:00 pm ET Friday night, providing a behind the scenes look at various aspects of USL through features about players, coaches, administrators and facilities.

Episode One is comprised of features on former USL player and current national team forward Brian Ching, who sat with USL prior to heading to the World Cup to chat about his experiences in the game growing up in Hawaii and in USL as well as his time in MLS and with the National Team.

The show also highlights new Minnesota Thunder head coach Amos Magee, Hampton Roads Piranhas owner and women's soccer pioneer Marcie Laumann, and former PDL player Fabian Sandoval, who is now with USL First Division expansion side Miami FC. The show also includes a special look at the Three Lions Pub at Charleston's Blackbaud Stadium.

Former collegiate and professional standout Steve Armas has been named assistant men’s soccer coach at Campbell University, head coach Doug Hess has announced. Armas spent the past two years as an assistant coach for both Greensboro College and the Carolina Dynamo of the United Soccer Leagues Premier Developmental League (PDL).

While at Greensboro College, Armas helped to guide the men’s program to a 2005 USA South Conference tournament championship and a second round NCAA tournament appearance. With the Carolina Dynamo, Armas has had the opportunity to coach some of the best Division I collegiate players in the country. Two players from the 2005 Dynamo team are currently members of MLS teams DC United (Justin Moose) and Chicago Fire (Floyd Franks). The 2006 Dynamo squad included three Herman trophy candidates and several players entering their senior year that will potentially be drafted into the MLS and the USL First Division.

Armas attended Maryland and played in the U-17 World Cup in Japan as well as representing the USA at the U-18, U-20 and U-23 national team levels. He had an impressive professional playing career which included stints with various the New England Revolution, Columbus Crew, and Tampa Bay Mutiny in Major League Soccer as well as the Atlanta Silverbacks, Minnesota Thunder and Cincinnati Riverhawks of the USL. Two years ago, Armas played with the Pittsburgh Riverhounds of the USL2, where he helped the team capture the Atlantic Division and regular season championship. Armas spent the 2003 season with the Carolina Dynamo (USL2) where he played 17 games, scored 5 goals and had 16 assists (2nd in the League) to help the Dynamo capture the regular season championship.

In today's News & Observer, Ned Barnett covers the revival of a harrasment charge that has plagued UNC Women's head coach Anson Dorrance for the past few years.

North Carolina women's soccer coach Anson Dorrance cut reserve goaltender Melissa Jennings in 1998 saying she was out of shape, but as a legal opponent she's showing remarkable endurance.

Jennings and former UNC soccer star Debbie Keller sued Dorrance for sexual harassment eight years ago. Keller settled her portion of the lawsuit in March 2004, but Jennings pressed on. Her federal lawsuit was dismissed, and her appeal was rejected by a three-judge panel that split 2-1.

But a surprising decision by the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va., last month has given new life to the case, perhaps in response to a dissenting opinion that found strong merit to Jennings' complaint.

The court has decided to re-hear Jennings appeal en banc, meaning all 15 of the circuit's judges will sit together in Richmond to hear oral arguments. The court takes such action only about a dozen times a year.

>> Read Barnett's entire story at the N&O's website.

Anyone that reads my blog regularly know that I am a big supporter of PDL soccer in general, and specifically my hometown Raleigh Elite. At $25 for a season ticket, the Elite are one of the best values in soccer going and my kids absolutely love the family-friendly environment of their matches.

Last night, Jonathan, Clint, and I made a roadtrip down to Macpherson Stadium in Browns Summit (just outside of Greensboro) to see the Dynamo play Seattle in a third round US Open Cup match. We all thoroughly enjoyed the match and were very impressed with the entire experience.

As much as I hate to say it, I was left a little jealous in that the Dynamo are providing a better value for your entertainment dollar than the Raleigh Elite. Here's my Top 10 reasons why the Dynamo just may well be the crown jewel of PDL teams, if not in the whole country, at least in the state.

What does the the Salt Lake's County Council's rejection of a $30 million dollar proposal for Real Salt Lake to build a soccer-specific stadium in Sandy, Utah have to do with the USL expansion to Cary for 2007? On the surface, nothing. But if we take a closer look, things start to get interesting for soccer fans in the Triangle.

In the post-decision aftermatch, Real Salt Lake owner Dave Checketts warned that Tuesday's 5-4 Salt Lake County Council decision - which sent the team's suburban stadium dreams into oblivion - "puts the future of the club in Utah in serious jeopardy."

Media reports in St. Louis (where Checketts owns the National Hockey League's Blues) say RSL already is looking at moving the team there. Portland, Ore., Phoenix and Rochester, N.Y., are also considered in the chase, along with a rejuvenated Salt Lake City offer.

Then in this morning's Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, Rhinos beat writer Jeff DiVeronica quotes Rochester Rhinos President Frank DuRoss as saying that his ownership group had been in preliminary discussions with Checketts about the possibility of moving RSL to Rochester to play in the brand-new PAETEC park which the Rhinos opened earlier this season. DuRoss, who is part of the ownership group bringing USL-1 soccer to Cary next spring was quoted as saying he was "confident we'll be talking in the future." DuRoss wouldn't elaborate on any discussions with Real Salt Lake, but said, "We wouldn't do anything that doesn't make (financial) sense."

Even MLS Don Garber weighed in on the possibility. "I've said this since I became commissioner: At some point we want to find a way we can have an MLS team in Rochester." Garber also said for the first time that Rochester could be an MLS team despite not having a stadium with at least 20,000 seats.

The Rhinos' "Phase 2" for PAETEC includes the possible addition of a second upper deck to PAETEC. That would boost seating capacity to about 18,000. "The expanded PAETEC would be fine for the Rochester market," said Garber, who recently signed a four-year extension. "Certainly, the New York metropolitan area, a city like Chicago or Los Angeles or Dallas are larger markets and require a slightly larger capacity, but it's only a few thousand more (seats). We'd be fine with that capacity for Phase 2 in Rochester."

So this brings us to the impact on Cary. Should DuRoss, and his partner Chris Economides who is heading up the new Cary USL-1 franchise, strike a deal to bring MLS to Rochester, they will be left with their existing Rhinos operation who will need to find a new home. What better way to fill out an expansion team than to move an entire organization, and it's rich 10+ year history and tradition of league-topping performances? Fans in Cary might be seeing one of the top teams in USL-1 playing here in the Triangle next year rather than the expansion franchise we were originally promised.

Of course, this is all speculation at this point and I would not be surprised to find out that the threat of moving is all posturing on Checketts part to get the Salt Lake County Council to reconsider their decision. But as this unfolds, it looks as if what could be a disastrous day for soccer fans in Salt Lake City could be a win-win situation for fans in Rochester and the Triangle.

The Premier Development League's Carolina Dynamo had to come from behind twice Wednesday night but managed to outlcass their USL-1 rival Seattle Sounders for a 3-2 victory in the third round of the US Open Cup.

Carolina started the match strong, attacking from the opening kickoff and were lucky not to convert several opportunities in the first ten minutes into one or more goals. For a half hour, it appeared Seattle were tired from their long flight or simply disinterested in their PDL competition. Sloppy turnovers from the Sounders defense and more desire from the Dynamo lead to the balance of play in Carolina's half for the first third of the match.

The game then settled into a back-and-forth affair until a costly defensive lapse by Carolina gave Seattle a corner which Cam Weaver converted with his head in the 76th minute. Although many of the 500 or so on hand to see the Dynamo play their biggest match of the season probably felt their side was done for, someone forgot to send the memo to the players. Carolina attacked straight-away from the ensuing kickoff and within 90 seconds, Michael Lahoud, who had entered as a sub just before the Sounders goal, slotted home an equalizer.

When I first moved to the Raleigh-Durham area, I wanted to get involved with soccer here locally, both for my children, and as a parent volunteer. Not knowing my CASL from my TFC, the first thing I did was look for a local AYSO chapter. I was surprised to find that the American Youth Soccer Organization did not have a presence in the Triangle.

AYSO is a nationwide non-profit organization that develops and delivers quality youth soccer programs in a fun, family environment based on AYSO's Five Philosophies:

• Everyone plays
  
• Balanced teams
  
• Open registration
  
• Positive coaching
  
• Good sportsmanship
  

I was recently contacted by James Wood from the AYSO Membership Development Office. He is looking for individuals that are interested in assisting with organizing AYSO leagues in the Triangle area. If you have interest in getting involved with AYSO, please contact James at jameswood@ayso.org or by phone at 1-800-USA-AYSO (872-2976) ext. 5434.

For those of you in the Triangle with TimeWarner Cable, don't miss USL Cary owner Chris Economides on News 14's Sports Night Tuesday evening at 10pm. Economides will talk with Jim Connors about the new franchise and the upcoming USL All-Star match v. Sheffield Wednesday scheduled for a week from Wednesday at SAS Soccer Park.

Campbell University rising sophomore Sonny Guadarrama, who earned freshman All-America honors last fall, has decided to forgo his final three years of collegiate eligibility and sign a professional contract with Santos of the Mexican First Division.

Guadarrama, who was named Atlantic Sun Conference Freshman of the Year and finished 16th in the national scoring race during the fall of 2005, has played with the United States U-17, U-18 and U-20 National Teams.

Triangle Soccer Fanatics is pleased to host Sheffield Wednesday supporters travelling to the Raleigh-Durham area for their match against the USL Select XI on July 19, 2006 at 8pm at SAS Soccer Park in Cary, North Carolina.

Many details for travelling supporters are addressed in our Traveller's Guide section of this website. In addition, here are some additional recommendations:

Now that the World Cup is over, I wanted to take a minute to say "hello" and "nice to meet you" to all the great folks I met out at the Fox and Hound and other pubs around the Triangle area during the World Cup.

One of the goals for TSF during the World Cup was to get the word out about our club and let people know about our regular soccer viewing party habit. Considering we had close to 100 people at the Fox and Hound yesterday and have been featured twice (here and here) in the News & Observer over the last couple of weeks, I'd say the World Cup was a great success for our club.

Now it's time to move on...turn our focus back to soccer happening in the Triangle area. For those of you lost on where to turn your attention next, here's a short list of upcoming soccer events in the area to keep your passion at a fever pitch:

About a hundred yards away from where they squared off with the same result in last year's ACC Tournament Final, Justin Hughes (UNC) and Justin Papadakis (Duke) backstopped their respective PDL teams through 90 minutes of scoreless play. Although neither team's offense was overly threatening on the night, Raleigh should take some solace from the fact that a draw is an improvement over their last two meetings with the Augusta Fireball. Previously this season, Raleigh had failed twice to take any points from their South Atlantic Division rivals.

Raleigh plays hosts to the Atlanta Silverbacks U23s in their last home match of the season next Satruday, July 15th at 3pm at SAS Soccer Park.

Big Game, Big Screen, Big Fun.

Galaxy Cinema in Cary is inviting Triangle Soccer Fanatics readers, and all local soccer fans, to join them at 2pm on Sunday, July 9th to watch the World Cup in one of their theaters. A full selection of $1 snacks, in addition to their normal theater fare, will be on offer from the concession stand. For those that have never visisted the Galaxy, they provide a wide selection of beer at the concession stand (see below).

While admission is FREE, folks interested in joining the crowd for Sunday's match are encouraged to stop by the theater box office, located at 770 Cary Towne Boulevard in Cary, near Cary Towne Center (just off I-40 Exit 291 in Cary), and pick up passes in advance as seating will be first-come, first-serve.

Galaxy Cinema Beer List:

Amstel Light Lager …………….….$4.00
Hayward’s 5000 Indian Lager…….$6.50
Heineken Imported Dutch Lager....$4.00
Stella Artois Imported Belgium Lager...$4.00
Red Stripe Imported Jamaican Lager…$3.50
Sam Adams Boston Lager………..$3.50
Kingfisher Indian Lager……………$3.00
Ambari Premium Indian Lager……$3.00
Krait Imported Belgium Lager…….$3.00
Yuengling Lager……………………$2.50
Guinness Irish Stout………….…..$4.00
Carolina Pale Ale…………………..$3.50
Newcastle Imported Brown Ale………..$3.50
Miller Pilsner Beer…………………$2.50
Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer…………..$2.00

There's something about matches between the Raleigh Elite and Richmond Kickers Future that always lends itself to late match drama. Some of you may remember a US Open Cup qualifier between the two a few years back that ended with Raleigh winning the match on a golden goal penalty kick late in extra time and the ref being physically assaulted by one of the Richmond players. Tonight's matchup didn't boil over like that one, but it did have an exciting finish.

Richmond Kickers Future started the scoring in the 22nd minute when Anthony Andrew's shot was turned away by Justin Hughes at full stretch but Matthew Lacey pounced on the rebound and finished before the Raleigh defense could clear. Richmond had most of the run of play in the first half but Raleigh came close when Robbie Hoak's 25 yard free kick was turned over the crossbar by Richmond's Andrew Dykstra.

With the World Cup in full swing, I've been remiss at keeping the USL Alumni Series going. Time to get back to the action with a guy who broke the MLS record for most career games at 285 last night* played his 285th MLS regular-season game last night.

After starting every game at Duke University, Jason Kreis played with the now-defunct Raleigh Flyers of the USISL and was drafted 43rd overall by the Dallas Burn (now F.C. Dallas) in the fifth round of the MLS Inaugural Draft. He scored the first goal in Burn history, and hasn't stopped since. In 1999, Kreis was the first American-born player to be named league MVP after he led the league in points and goals, and also registered the first 15 goal, 15 assist season in league history. The five-time all-star has led his team in goals five times and in points four times.

On June 26, 2004, Kreis scored his 89th league goal against DC United, moving past Roy Lassiter to the top of the all-time goalscoring chart. He ended his ninth MLS season with career totals of 91 goals and 65 assists for 247 points, plus added four goals and two assists in the playoffs.

On November 17, 2004, Kreis was traded to Real Salt Lake, becoming the first player in the club's history. He left Dallas as the franchise's all-time leader in games played (247), goals (91), assists (65), and points (247). Kreis scored the first goal in Salt Lake's history in its second match, a 3-1 loss to the Los Angeles Galaxy. In doing so, he became the first player in league history to do so for two different teams, as he scored the inaugural goal for Dallas in 1996 as well. On August 13, 2005, he became the first player in MLS history to score 100 career league goals.

Kreis has only had brief chances with US National Team, never quite translating his prolific goal scoring prowess in MLS to the National Team level. Kreis has managed to tally 1 goal in 14 appearances with the senior National Team. He received his first cap on August 30, 1996 against El Salvador.

In his spare time Kreis enjoys carpentry and spending time with his wife and children. As of July 5, 2006 he has a record 105 goals scored in MLS.

* Thanks to Clint K. for pointing out that Chris Henderson actually still leads MLS in career games at 300 regular season and 29 playoff matches.

U.S. Under-21 Women’s National Team head coach Jillian Ellis has named the 18-player squad that will travel to Norway for the 16th Annual Nordic Cup being held July 16-22 in five small venues in and around Stavanger, Norway, in the southwestern part of the country.

Among the 18 making the trip to Norway with the U21 WNT are Cary, NC native & UNC defender Kendall Fletcher as well as Duke midfielderRebecca Moros. The U.S. team will assemble on the east coast to train for a few days before leaving on July 11 for Norway, which will be hosting its third Nordic Cup, but first since 2001. Held in Northern Europe every summer, the Nordic Cup is the top competition in the world for U-21 women and the focus of the USA’s oldest youth national team during its six-month run-up to the prestigious tournament. The USA has won eight Nordic Cup titles, including a dominating 6-1 championship game win vs. Sweden in Norway in 2001.

Germany v. Italy
World Cup Semifinal

Talullas
456 W. Franklin St, Chapel Hill
Tuesday, July 4th, 3:00pm

The Nashville Metros finally found a way to defeat the Raleigh Elite, beating them 3-2 on the road Friday night after two ties with them earlier this season.

The Metros used goals from Igor Stjepic, Mark Photivihok and Drew Ducker to grab a 3-1 lead after Raleigh defender Robert Hoak scored an early goal 18 minutes in. Despite a Raleigh score from in the 58th minute from Greg Walters, Nashville was able to hold on for the victory, something they could not do against the same team two weeks ago in Murfreesboro when Raleigh came back from a 3-0 first half deficit to earn a 3-3 draw.

The win moves Nashville (2-4-3, 9 points) out of the South Atlantic Division cellar pending two more road matches against the division’s top teams this weekend. The Metros meet the first place Carolina Dynamo on Saturday night and the second place Augusta FireBall United on Sunday. Carolina and Augusta are the only teams to defeat Nashville this season, with each doing it twice.

A playoff team in 2005, Raleigh (2-6-2, 8 points) falls back into last place in the division with the loss.

United Soccer Leagues announced the coaches and players for the USL First Division All-Star Game set for July 19 at SAS Soccer Park in Cary versus English Coca-Cola Championship League side Sheffield Wednesday. The game will be carried live on Fox Soccer Channel at 8:00 pm ET.

Leading the list of players is former World Cup MVP Romario, who currently ranks second in the league in goals with nine on the campaign. The Brazilian legend will be joined by fellow 1994 World Cup teammate Zinho. The coaches for the team are Montreal’s Nick DeSantis, who will serve as head coach, and Rochester’s Laurie Calloway. The pair finished first and second for the 2005 Coach of the Year honors, respectively. The 18-player squad for the USL First Division All-Star Game was selected by United Soccer Leagues in consultation with DeSantis and Calloway.

>> Click here for the full roster.

4 local youth players have been selected to participate in the 2006 Adidas Elite Soccer Program (ESP), a premier youth development program and showcase for talent scouts.

CASL's Sean Haglund (Raleigh), Tyler Lassister (Wake Forest), and Drew McKinney (Cary) join Triangle Futbol Club's Tommy Drake (Chapel Hill) and 132 other top youth players around the country July 5-10 in Windsor, CT to train with coaches from Chelsea FC, MLS, and former US National Team players in front of over 120 college and professional coaches.

Since being founded in 1997, Adidas ESP has served over 1,000 of the finest youth players from across the United States and become the most recognized development camp in the country. Notable graduates of the Adidas ESP are DaMarcus Beasley, Alecko Eskandarian, Jonathan Spector, and Edson Buddle. Adidas ESP is run in conjunction with US Youth Soccer as a sanctioned Olympic Development Program event.

After sharing the spoils with Charleston for the past two seasons, Atlanta swept their recent two match series with the Battery by identical 1-0 scorelines both home and away to give the Silverbacks sole claim to the 2006 Southern Derby Cup.

The Southern Derby Cup is an annual cup competition in USL-1 initiated by the supporters of several southern USL teams. The charter of the Southern Derby states the competition was started, "to foster and develop fan support of A-League soccer, thru the establishment of an inter-league tournament that is recognized by the A-League and the fans as a competition as serious as the League's playoffs".

The original Southern Derby was contested between Raleigh, Charleston, and Atlanta in 2000 with the Capitol Express winning the inaugural Cup. It is TSF's hope that Cary's new USL team can re-join the Derby next season and perhaps return the Southern Derby Cup to original, and rightful home here in the Triangle.