Tim Candon's got the scoop...

The Carolina RailHawks signed veteran forward Ronald Cerritos on Thursday, team president and GM Chris Economides confirmed.

“We’re hoping he can come in and add a spark and some leadership to the team,” Ecoomides said. “He’s had a storied career with the El Salvadoran national team and MLS. He’s going to add an element that’s been missing.”

Cerritos, 33, has earned 47 caps and scored seven goals for El Salvador since 1995.

Read Candon's full post at SWakeSports.

The Carolina RailHawks come home to WakeMed Soccer Park to host the Vancouver Whitecaps on Friday, August 1st at 8pm. The game will be televised nationally on Fox Soccer Channel.

Beforehand, supporters will be gathering for a tailgate party in our usual pre-match gathering location -- the grassy, shady area just below the sculpture garden near parking lot D.

Bring your dinner, cooler, and some lawn chairs and join us from about 7pm to get ready for the big match. And don't forget to wear your orange!

I must have missed this when it first came out about a month ago, but find this very interesting.

Chelsea Football Club announced today the start of an unprecedented initiative to partner with America’s top youth football clubs.

Chelsea is beginning to build a network of top youth clubs across America to develop Chelsea Soccer Schools, a new Tournament called the Chelsea Sevens, coaching clinics and exchange programmes. The first relationship is with one of the largest and most successful youth football clubs in the U.S, the Capital Area Soccer League (CASL) of North Carolina.

Chelsea FC Chief Executive Peter Kenyon said: “Our new Chelsea youth super club network is the latest of many strategic projects Chelsea have in the U.S. “They are all designed to assist the growth and development of US soccer at the grass roots as well as the top level. The youth movement in the United States is a massive part of that. “CASL is clearly one of the leading American youth football clubs and I am delighted they are the first to become part of this project. “We will be working with them to support player coaching and development and this will be beneficial for both organizations.

More details of the partnership are available in the full press release.

I find this interesting in the context of all the discussions recently between the Carolina RailHawks and Burnley FC. Clearly, one of Burnley's key motivations for such an agreement would be access to the RailHawks youth development system, which in reality is a partnership with CASL. Could this deal between CASL and Chelsea scupper a potential partnership with Burnley for the RailHawks. That seems to be the early consensus on the Burnley discussion board.

An oddly timed piece in today's News & Observer: A player profile on Martin Nuñez.

With the RailHawks in the midst of a 4 match scoreless streak, picking up only 1 point on a critical West Coast roadtrip, plummeting down the table to next to last place on points earned per game, and our chances of making the playoffs falling for 9 straight weeks, it seems there might be something a little more topical to write about.

But it is great to see the News & Observer writing more and more about the RailHawks, and Madeline Perez's article does give us lots of nice background on the player who has clearly been one of the great signings of the off-season for the RailHawks.

Photo: Steve Rogers

All 2008 TSF members received a free Triangle Soccer Fanatics T-shirt with their membership dues. We have a few shirts in men's sizes Small, Medium, Large, and Extra Large available for purchase for non members.

T-shirts are single-sided with a "distressed" or "grunge" look TSF logo across the chest of an orange 100% cotton t-shirt. They are $15 and include shipping and handling. All proceeds go to help us defray the cost of operation of the supporters club and what little profit we do make on each shirt goes back into the streamers, drums, flags, banners, and other matchday expenses that the club incurs.

If you want to support the supporters, and proudly sport your orange around the Triangle, choose your size below and click "Pay Now" to purchase using PayPal or a credit card. Available while supplies and sizes last.

Men's T-Shirt Size

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When we launched the RailHawks Underground video podcast, we promised you some classic video highlights from last season. Since the 'Hawks haven't had any goal highlights from the past few matches, here's some great goals from early in the 2007 season.

Low scores Carolina's first league goal

Philip Long scores the RailHawks' first match winner against Chivas USA

These and other video clips courtesy of USL Live / PlayOn! Sports are also available through iTunes via the RailHawks Underground podcast.

RailHawks fail to score for the 4th straight match, and lose 1-0 in Vancouver.

On a bright note, no one saw a red card in the match ;)

The Independent Weekly logged this video report on the recent RailHawks v. Monterrey friendly.

Cary RailHawks U23 captain Darrius Barnes has been named to the Premier Development League All-Conference team for the Southern Conference. Barnes, who is a rising senior at Duke University and a Raleigh native, also received the same honor in 2006.

In 2008, Barnes logged more minutes (1253 in 15 matches) than any other U23 player and finished the season with 1 assist. His leadership from the backline and defensive pairings with Ike Opara and Mamadou Danso helped the U23s finish the season with 7 straight victories, including a 2-1 win over England's Burnley FC.

Allison Andrews at SoccerCityUSA has posted a number of pictures from last night's match against Portland along with a full writeup, from a Portland perspective, on the match.

After being gifted a man advantage for about the final 50 minutes of the match in Portland Thursday night when Chris Brown elbowed David Stokes in the face, the RailHawks failed to take advantage of their superior numbers to steal three points from the Timbers.

Instead, the RailHawks continued their undisciplined trend of earning ejections themselves as David Stokes was sent off late in the second half for a second yellow. Neither team was able to score in the final, frantic ten minutes and Carolina leaves Portland with a 0-0 draw.

Normally, a point on the road is not a bad result. But with such a long advantage and several good scoring chances that went unfinished, the 'Hawks have to be heading to Vancouver feeling they let two crucial points slip away tonight.

By halftime of the RailHawks’ Sunday afternoon friendly against the Mexican club Monterrey at WakeMed Soccer Park, it became evident that what happened this weekend is going to define Carolina’s season.

In the meaningless match against Monterrey, the RailHawks played the opening 45 minutes with passion and purpose, two characteristics that were embarrassingly absent in a very meaningful visit from Puerto Rico on Friday.

If the RailHawks had defeated the Islanders — and had everything else around the USL First Division held true over the weekend — they would be tied for fifth place today. Instead because of the 2-0 loss, they are in ninth place, one point out of the last playoff spot, three points from the bottom of the table.

With a strong effort Sunday after a lackluster showing Friday, this weekend will be the catalyst for either a second-half turnaround or the season’s ultimate demise.

Carolina coach Scott Schweitzer is counting on the former.

“For us to be able to bring it two days later, now we all have to say, if we play that good all the time in our league, we’re not talking about our 20 points,” Schweitzer said. “We’re talking about our 30, 34 points. We’re not giving away goals at the end. We’re not tying games, we’re winning. Let’s all be honest with ourselves, recommit to the season, recommit to the team and everything that’s right and let’s go do it on the field.”

>> Read Tim Candon's full story at CaryNews.com

When Brian Levey was introduced as the RailHawks starting goalkeeper Sunday afternoon, it was the first time since the preseason he’d seen the field.

Even he conceded few of the 7,155 people at WakeMed Soccer Park probably knew who he was before kickoff. By the final whistle, his efforts didn’t go unnoticed. Levey had eight saves against Monterrey and gets credit for a shutout even though the RailHawks lost the game 4-1 in a penalty kick shootout.

“It couldn’t have worked out better,” Levey said. “It would have been nice to win in PKs, but I thought it was a total team effort. We had to rely on everybody on our team and I feel like everybody came through for each other.”

The highlight of Levey’s debut came on a 20th-minute free kick. From the top of the penalty area, Monterrey midfielder Luis Pérez struck the ball over the wall and Levey flew to his left and tipped it over the crossbar. Levey also got some help from his defense. In the 50th minute, Monterrey’s Humberto Suazo sprung Jésus Arrellano free. He touched the ball by Levey and had a look at the open goal, but left back Kupono Low headed it away to keep the match scoreless.

>> Read Tim Candon's full article at CaryNews.com

Here are a few highlights from the Monterrey exhibition on Sunday.

The first video showcases the great pass made by Santiago Fusilier to put Martin Nuñez through on Los Rayados' goal. There was a bit of controversy around this play as it looked like a handball outside the box and possibly even a sending off for Denying an Obvious Goal Scoring Opportunity (DOGSO). The more I watch this clip over and over, the more I think the ref made the right decision here. There was clearly another Rayados defender in the vicinity so I think a sending off for DOGSO would have been harsh. I'm still not sure whether he called a foul for contact or a handball on the keeper, but it really does look like in the replay that the keeper stopped the ball with his chest and took down Martin with his arm. Maybe a yellow card is warranted here, but a dismissal in a friendly would not have been in the spirit of the game.



The second clip here is an outstanding save from Brian Levey on a free kick. For a keeper who hasn't had a chance to show his stuff all season, Levey looks very sharp on this save. It's good to know we have a quality backup for McClellan should we need to deputize him at some point.



Finally, there are some additional videos posted on YouTube by the Monterrey staff who were following the team around with a handheld camera. The videos are a bit shaky and not as high quality as the clips above, but they do help capture a sense of the atmosphere at WakeMed Soccer Park on Sunday.

These and other video clips courtesy of USL Live / PlayOn! Sports are also available through iTunes via the RailHawks Underground podcast.

As the Carolina RailHawks walked to each section of the WakeMed Soccer Park bleachers to applaud their fans after Sunday's game against Monterrey, a portion of predominantly Hispanic fans congregated near the tunnel that leads to the locker rooms.

Though they were there waiting for their favorite Monterrey players to emerge, they turned their attention toward the RailHawks and returned a round of applause.

The exhibition between the RailHawks and Monterrey, a club from Mexico's first division, officially ended in a 0-0 tie. Los Rayados won 4-1 on penalty kicks, but the RailHawks hope, in the long run, they were the winners.

The vast majority of the 7,155 people who came to the game did so in order to support Monterrey. But after 90 minutes, Carolina owner Brian Wellman believes his team did enough to make further inroads into the Hispanic community and convert some of them to root for his club.

>> Read Tim Candon's full article at NewsObserver.com.

The Carolina RailHawks Women ended their Inaugural Season on a high note defeating the Richmond Kickers Destiny 3-1 on Sunday night with goals by NC State’s Lindsay Vera, W-League veteran Amanda Mueller and UNC standout Sterling Smith.

The W-League RailHawks finished their first year with a respectable 7-6-1 effort and finished fourth in the Atlantic division and the top half of the consolidated, 41-team league table.

Carolina 0 - 0 Monterrey
Monterrey wins the Tecate Cup on penalties.
Attendance ~ 7000.

Chris Gaffney has a full match report at Geostadia.

The Cary RailHawks U23s closed out there season last night with a 6-1 romp over the Nashville Metros. Cary got goals from Zack Schilawski (2), Brian Shriver, Billy Schuler, Mamadou Danso, and Brian Ackley. The U23s finished the PDL season 9-5-2 after starting the season with a 3-5-2 record and finished 3rd in the southeastern division of the southern conference.

The Carolina RailHawks Women also finish up their season this weekend with their final match at WakeMed Soccer Park scheduled for 7:30pm (note the new time). The women's last game of the 2008 season follows the Monterrey exhibition at 4pm. The Carolina Women look to improve on their 6-6-1 record while securing their 4th place position in the Atlantic division of the W-League.

On an overcast night in May, despite rain showers that dampened the stadium seats at WakeMed Soccer Park, Edith Serrano and her family sat glued to the twists, turns and kicks of the Carolina RailHawks.

Serrano, 37, cheered between her husband, Santos Ruiz, 38, and son, Noel Ruiz, 9. They had traveled from Wilson to Cary to see the RailHawks play the Seattle Sounders, braving the weather to claim their front row seats.

Soccer lovers of Hispanic descent, they halfheartedly gave the upstart RailHawks a chance last year in a match against well-known Chivas USA of Major League Soccer. Now they were devoted to the team.

The family's passion for the team is a victory for the RailHawks, who, two years into establishing a new professional franchise in the Triangle, have made attracting members of the Hispanic community a priority.

This season they acquired three players of Hispanic heritage to appeal to Hispanic fans and have increased their promotional efforts.

>> Read Edward G. Robinson III's full story at NewsObserver.com.

Photo: Ethan Hyman for the News & Observer

With a 2-1 win over Central Florida last night, Bradenton secured the final PDL playoff spot in the Southeast division, putting the playoffs out of reach for the Cary RailHawks U23s. Cary finishes their season tonight at WakeMed Soccer Park with a 7:30p kickoff against Nashville. A win would closeout the year with a six match winning streak.

The Carolina RailHawks didn't help themselves by gifting Puerto Rico 2 goals with defensive lapses, but they didn't get any help from the referee either who denied three legitimate penalty shouts against the Islanders on Friday night at WakeMed Soccer Park.



These and other video clips courtesy of USL Live / PlayOn! Sports are also available through iTunes via the RailHawks Underground podcast.

As usual, it rained just before the game, “killing the walk up”. Game time rain means many thousands of lost dollars to team management. Playing simply and intelligently in the back should mean more to the coaching staff. Both Puerto Rico goals were gifts: Carolina’s Solle and Stokes contrived to put Hanna through in the tenth minute through a bungled clearance. He simply couldn’t miss. Left-back Low’s seeing eye pass to attacking mid Villegas needed a touch but left McClellan no chance in the 16th and the game was effectively done and dusted. Carolina has never come back to win after being two goals down, and there was the general sentiment that one point would constitute both moral and pyrrhic victories...

>> Read the rest of Chris Gaffney's match report at Geostadia.

With only one week remaining to prepare for the opening of the 2008 Mexican Apertura, Primera division side Monterrey has arrived in Cary for a few days of training and an exhibition match against the Carolina RailHawks. Los Rayados opened their 3 day stay in the Triangle with a hard workout on Friday morning followed by a press conference. The press conference featured statements and Q&A sessions with RailHawks GM Chris Economides, coach Scott Schweitzer, defender Richard Perdomo, Monterrey president Jorge Urdiales, former Mexican national team coach and current Monterrey manager Ricardo Lopez, and legendary Mexican striker Jared Borgetti.

RailHawks fans may remember that Borgetti traveled to Carolina last summer with Cruz Azul, but did not appear in the exhibition match here last July due to injury. He is expected to play for Monterey on Sunday afternoon. One interesting point made by Urdiales during the Q&A session was the fact that Monterrey is currently in discussions with the Houston Dynamo of MLS around forming a partnership similar to the one shared by Club Deportivo Guadalajara (Chivas) and Chivas USA.

Monterrey will continue their preparations for the RailHawks match and their 2008 season with a practice open to the public on Saturday morning at 10am at WakeMed Soccer Park, Fields 2 & 3. The match kicks off Sunday at 4pm.

Full audio of the press conference, which was conducted in both english and spanish, is available here for download. A few photos from the training session and press conference are available on Flickr.

Jonny Steele returns to play in Cary for the first time since leaving the RailHawks at the end of the 2007 season when the 2nd place Puerto Rico Islanders visit WakeMed Soccer Park on Friday evening. The match, which kicks off at 7:30pm, is a critical game for Carolina, who still sits in 8th place, just outside the playoff picture.

Only 3 points separate Carolina and 4th place Seattle. A win could vault the RailHawks up the table. At the same time, a loss, coupled with other results, could start to create separation between the RailHawks and the last playoff spot.

Steele will undoubtedly be looking to leave his impression on his former teammates, coaches and fans, just as he did when the RailHawks visited Puerto Rico earlier this year. The former RailHawks' left midfielder diced the Carolina defense apart with two assists in the Islanders 3-0 victory.

Photo: News & Observer

It's not every week that a team from Mexico's first division makes an appearance in the Triangle so ahead of Sunday's match against Monterrey, the local hispanic media are turning up the volume on their coverage of the RailHawks. Here's a clip from Univision featuring some spanish-speaking RailHawks players in a short promo for weekend happenings in the Triangle:

Riding a wave of confidence and extending their winning streak to 6 matches, the RailHawks U23s downed the Atlanta Silverbacks U23s 4-1. The RailHawks got goals Zach Schilawski, Brian Shriver, Brian Ackley, and Alan Sanchez. The U23s finish their season at home Saturday against Nashville with kickoff at 7:30pm.

A few pictures from the match are posted on Flickr.

It's crunch time for the Cary RailHawks U23s. With two matches left to play, they've found themselves in a must win situation in order to make the PDL Southern Conference playoff tournament.

The U23s host the Atlanta Silverbacks U23s on Thursday night at 7pm at WakeMed Soccer Park, and then finish their season at home on Saturday at 7:30pm against the Nashville Metros. Two wins and six points would put Cary in second place in the Southeast division and in the final playoff spot. But they'll need a little help from the rest of the division as Bradenton, who currently holds second place, only needs a point from their last two matches to outpace Cary for the final spot.

The RailHawks U23s are riding a 5 match winning streak coming into Thursday night's match. A streak that includes a remarkable 2-1 victory over Burnley FC of the English Championship. The U23s so impressed Burnley manager Owen Coyle, that he invited no less than 5 members of the U23s to train with Burnley for the rest of their camp here in Cary.

RailHawks U23s coach Dewan Bader could not be prouder of his team. After the match he said, "I think anytime you get a chance to play with or against professional players -- or even players that are recognized at being at a high level -- it is great opportunity to gauge yourself and to show off your talents. Obviously, for these college kids to play against a club like Burnley FC was very exciting, and to play well and win was an added bonus. To have 5 players get identified and asked to come to training was certainly the icing on the cake. I think it helps to validate the level of play we have in the US and in particular at the colleges in the greater Triangle area."

For those of you that just discovered the hidden talents of our U23 squad, this is your last chance to see them in action. So don't miss the matches on Thursday and Saturday and help cheer these young men on to two wins and (possibly with a little help from Central Florida and Panama City beating Bradenton) the final playoff spot in the Southern Conference.

Photo: Cary Railhawks' defenseman Evan Brown is tackled by Burnley FC midfielder Wade Elliot as the battle for possession of the ball. By Michel McLoone for the Cary News.

As Tim Candon points out over on the SWakeChat blog, those of us that attended the RailHawks v. Red Bull NY pre-season friendly back on March 28th will likely be some of the last folks to see Claudio Reyna play a competitive soccer match.

It has been widely reported that Reyna will retire from playing soccer at a press conference today in New York.

As long as I watch US Soccer, I'll never forget his game against Mexico in Korea in 2002 and no matter how many times I watch the highlight reel, I still hold my breath hoping that audacious attempt to chip Oliver Kahn from 60 yards in the World Cup quarterfinals will find the net and level late for the USA.

The Cary News' Tim Candon is at it again this week, churning out another three articles on soccer and the RailHawks for this week edition. At CaryNews.com you'll find:

• Pipeline Dreams - RailHawks host Burnley as a part of exploring a mutually beneficial relationship between the U.S. and English clubs
  
• Striker swap pays dividends - Diallo assists in each of first two matches
  
• A passion for Burnley burns in Dave - England native hasn't missed a Clarets' match since 1974

If you read nothing else about soccer this week, you've got to read the last article on Dave Burnley. It's incredible.

Anybody think I should change my name to Jarrett RailHawk? Should I name my next child Swoops? :)

Steve Rogers has sent us more than 350 photos from the RailHawks Men's and Women's doubleheader against Seattle and Charlotte back on July 3rd.





>> The Men's photo set and Women's photo set are both posted on Flickr.

Video highlights of Dan Antoniuk's goal (and Hamed Diallo's second assist in as many games since joining the RailHawks) last night in Vancouver.



These and other video clips courtesy of USL Live / PlayOn! Sports are also available through iTunes via the RailHawks Underground podcast.

Dan Antoniuk and Eduardo Sebrango-Rodriguez traded goals 60 seconds apart in the 74th and 75th minutes, respectively, as Carolina earned a road draw and a valuable point against the Whitecaps.

With the 2 points from the two away draws earned this week, Carolina still sits 8th in the USL-1 table, one spot out of the playoffs, but has several games in hand against higher ranked teams.

If you're staying up late tonight to watch the RailHawks at Vancouver (10pm kickoff Sunday), join us in the TSF chat room to discuss the match.

The Carolina RailHawks Women defeated the Tampa Bay Hellenic 3-2 in the second to last home game of their Inaugural Season.

UGA standout Carrie Patterson tallied two goals assisted by NC State’s Lindsay Vera and Wake Forest’s Sarah Winslow scored one assisted by McKenzie Burman for the RailHawks. Gabi Rivera and Rhonda Jones scored for the Tampa Bay Hellenic.

The match saw the RailHawks debut of UNC forward Mandy Moraca who was sidelined most of the season due to injury. RailHawks head coach Jay Howell also had to do without former NC State and US Women national team member Thori Bryan who is out due to injury. Bryan is expected to return in the next game in Hampton Roads and will most likely be in the lineup for their final match of the season on July 20th against the Richmond Kickers Destiny.

Source: RailHawks press release

These and other video clips courtesy of USL Live / PlayOn! Sports are also available through iTunes via the RailHawks Underground podcast.

Earlier this week I posted an excerpt of an interview I did with Dan Jewell at 2br, 99.8 FM, a local radio station in Burnley previewing the Clarets match on Thursday. Dan and I got together again post-match to recap the RailHawks U23s famous victory and talk a little more about the game and Burnley's visit to America. I've posted an excerpt from that post-match interview below.

Click here to download an MP3 of an excerpt from the radio interview

In the opinion of this referee, NO.

For those that haven't seen the situation, here is a video of the incident, and my explanation below.

Minnesota had a ceremonial restart for a free kick about 19 yards from goal (that is, the ref was setting the wall and the players had to wait for his whistle to restart).

The ref sets wall and walks back to get in position. As he walks back, Minnesota positions one player over the ball and one about 2 yards away. A Thunder player standing over the ball plants his foot firmly on the ball and leaves it there, touching the ball.

The ref takes up his position and blows the whistle. The Thunder player doesn't move but their player's foot is still firmly planted on the ball. The confusion here comes from the fact that the Laws of the Game state that a ball is in play when it is "kicked" and "moves". However, no one is quite sure what constitutes "kicking" and "moving". It is a well known fact that the ball does not have move from the spot to be in play. Simply flicking a foot at it or touching a foot onto it has been interpreted by many referees to be "movement". Is the Minnesota player trying some trickery here? Or is he legitimately trying not to move and not to start play? I was confused watching on USL Live and it was clear that our wall was confused as well.

Not sure what to do, Fusilier, Curfman, and Nuñez , believing that Minnesota has just put the ball in play, hesitantly break the wall, then stop confused (the ref must be yelling at them to stay in the wall), then they rush the ball and try to take it way to break up the free kick. Ref blows the play dead and sends off Nuñez, who he had just been booked 60 seconds earlier for dissent, with a second yellow, apparently for delay of restart or failure to retire the appropriate distance.

This is a harsh decision, in my opinion, and I believe my position is supported by the 2006 US Soccer Federation's Advice to Referees where they state:



The last line is the important part: "referees should not unfairly punish...when an opponent was clearly confused by a touch and a movement..."

Even if the ref was absolutely insistent on booking a player here, why not do the wise thing and book one of the OTHER players who actually started the infringement in this case. Fusilier nor Curfman had been booked and a yellow to one of them gets the ref's point across, that he believes the RailHawks failed to retire, yet keeps 11 men on the pitch for the remainder of the match.

Instead, he sends off Nuñez and gifts Minnesota 25+ minutes of advantage, which they used to equalize the game.

A good ref is one that you don't notice. Not one whose decision making influences the outcome of the game.

For the 4th time in 5 matches in their franchise career, the RailHawks and Minnesota Thunder have tied.

The final from a weather-delayed match in Blaine, MN is 2-2.

RailHawks lead 2-1 at halftime on goals by Nunez (pk) and Fusilier. Nunez was then sent off in the 64th minute on a horrible bit of officiating for two yellow cards in a matter of about 60 seconds. More on that tomorrow after I've consulted a few referee's with higher level certifications than mine to get their opinion of the sending off.

Once again the RailHawks conceded an equalizer inside the final 10 minutes to drop another 2 points on the road.

The Carolina RailHawks square off against the Minnesota Thunder tonight at 8:05pm EDT in the match that marks the halfway point of the RailHawks' 2008 season. The game will be shown live on USL Live.

Carolina will be looking to leap from 8th place, just outside of the playoff picture, all the way up to a tie for 3rd place should they take 3 points in Minnesota. But they'll have the cards stacked against them.

The RailHawks, 1-4-2 after starting the season 3-0-4, have never beaten Minnesota, going 0-1-3 against them all time (including a pre-season friendly in 2008). They enter the match decidedly shorthanded -- Mauricio Segovia (knee), Frankie Sanfilippo (hamstring), Jacob Coggins (hip flexor) and Joey Worthen (hamstring) are out due to injury, and Kupono Low is unavailable because of yellow card accumulation.

RailHawks' new signing Hamed Diallo is ready and eager to help the RailHawks change their karma against the Thunder. After completing a physical in Cary on Thursday morning, Diallo joined the team flight to Minneapolis and is expected to play tonight for the RailHawks. The Cary News' Tim Candon caught up with Diallo at RDU on his quick in and out visit to the Triangle and has the full details of the trade here. He also has a few match notes ahead of tonight's match posted at the SWakeChat blog.

The whole point of last night's friendly with Burnley FC was to impress upon Burnley's millionaire director Brendan Flood and his organization that the Carolina RailHawks were a club worthy of partnering with for future player and business development opportunities.

By all impressions, both the players on the pitch and the front office did their job impeccably well last night.

Full marks to the RailHawks organization for turning up the marketing volume and leveraging their youth soccer connections in the area to pull in close to 3,000 fans on an overcast Thursday night for a U23s match. Their decision to air the game live for free on the internet was a huge hit back in Britain where scores of Burnley supporters chatted obsessively into the wee hours of the morning on the Clarets Mad forum while heaping praise on the USL Live production for the quality of the pre-game and halftime analysis features as well as the quick use of replays to highlight key moments in the match. The production was obviously much higher quality than their best expectations had been for coverage of a pre-season friendly a continent away against an amateur team.

But the biggest praise needs to be heaped on Dewan Bader and his U23 side. Bader has scoured the college ranks, from the obvious local talent like Zach Schilawski and Darius Barnes, to the obscure diamonds in the rough like Southern Polytechnic (where?) standout Mamadou Danso, to put together a very talented group of young men that were able to show all those watching back in the UK what a talented pool of young soccer players we have in this country. Every write up on the game, whether by professional journalists or supporters on message boards, echoed the same sentiment -- genuine surprise at how talented, fit, and quick our U23s were and what attractive, quality soccer they played against a much heavily favored opponent.

The goal last night was to make a lasting impression that soccer in the United States is quickly moving from a joke or afterthought by Europeans to a serious professional sport market worthy of attention and investment by some of Europe's oldest and largest clubs. And by all accounts, the Burnley organization should be heading to Minnesota early next week with that exact impression.

Well done RailHawks!

Video highlights from last night's friendly.



These and other video clips courtesy of USL Live / PlayOn! Sports are also available through iTunes via the RailHawks Underground podcast.

The Cary RailHawks U23s gave Burnley Football Club a rude introduction to the game we call "soccer" here in America with a 2-1 victory over the Clarets on Thursday night at WakeMed Soccer Park.

The match was the first of a two match tour for the English Championship side who will also play the Minnesota Thunder after a few more days of training at WakeMed Soccer Park this weekend. Burnley are touring the States as their management investigates possibly partnering with a USL team like the RailHawks or the Thunder in a joint player development enterprise. And from the view they got tonight of our PDL team, I imagine they will leave believing there is quite a bit of talent to be harvested from the university and pro ranks here in America.

The match started off with Cary on the backfoot and Burnley on the attack from the opening kickoff. But RailHawks U23 keeper Brian Newbold kept the Clarets at bay and gave his defense time to settle. Once they realized they could play with these boys and not be overly awed by the level of competition they were facing, the RailHawks hung tight, taking a 0-0 draw into the changing rooms at the halftime interval.

But just after the break, Burnley's Wade Elliott made a dazzling run down the right side to give the professional side the lead on 54 minutes. All credit has to go to the amateurs as they did not hang their heads after such a brilliant individual effort for a top-level footballer. Instead, they attacked right back and within 2 minutes, Cary's Zach Schilawski had pounced on a loose ball in the Burnley box and stuffed in an equalizer past Brian Jensen. Buoyed by their goal, Cary began to attack relentlessly at Burnley's back line. As the recent flight, new start to summer training, and the Southern heat started to take their toll on Burnley's legs, Cary made the most of their new found space at the back and CASL alum Tyler Lassiter ripped a brilliant left-footed shot into the Burnley net to put the home side ahead in the 76th minute.

Burnley looked to level but a very solid performance by Cary's defense, anchored spectacularly by Southern Polytechnic's Mamadou Danso, never gave Burnley another clean look at goal and second half goalkeeping sub Akira Fitzgerald controlled his box well on a few late corners and free kicks. 3 minutes from full time, Cary almost added to their famous victory when Alan Sanchez was the width of an upright from doubling the lead when his dipping volley hit the outside of the post.

Burnley's website has a detailed write-up on the match as well as photos from the game.

Photo: Jarrett Campbell of the Triangle Soccer Fanatics celebrates the 2-1 victory with Dave Burnley, a Clarets supporter who officially changed his name to that of his favorite football team and has not missed a match they've played in 35 years.

For some of you going to tonight's Burnley FC match against the RailHawks U23s at 7:30pm, it may be the first time you've seen our U23s play (shame on you!). The U23s are a virtual all-star team from our local universities and you've been missing some great soccer action on Field 2 at wakeMed Soccer Park this season.

But as a quick primer for those of you new to supporting the U23s, here's a quick list of 5 players to keep an eye out for in the match tonight.

#4 Michael Videira - Videira is a playmaking midfielder and our captain. He has graduated from duke and was drafted into Major League Soccer by New England Revolution. He has refused to sign a contract based on terms offered and is holding out to sign an international contract during the transfer window. Videira holds a Portuguese passport so a work permit to play in Europe is no issue.

#7 Zach Schilawski - Schilawski is a rising junior at Wake Forest University . He is local from Cary (Cary High School) and scored the winning goal for Wake Forest in the NCAA national championship game in 2007. He is fleet of foot, makes well-timed runs, and gets himself into the right space to score goals. Zach could give the Burnley defense a lot of trouble as they will likely not be match fit yet and the heat will be more than they are used to playing in.

#2 Darius Barnes - Another local Raleigh-Durham area player, Barnes is a rising senior at Duke University and a Triangle Futbol Club alum. He is an athletic right back who really knows how to pick the right time to make a loping run forward. Barnes has perhaps the best long throw-in I've ever seen. He can put the ball on the head of a forward at the penalty spot from a throw...better than a corner most of the time.

#6 Michael Callahan - Another crafty midfielder and another local Cary boy (Green Hope High School). Callahan is a rising senior at University of North Carolina and will likely play in Major League Soccer after his collegiate career.

#16 Ronnie Bouemboue - Is a rising junior at North Carolina State University. He missed all of last season with a knee injury and has been using the U23 season as rehab. He is extremely fast and has a nice outside shot. He's the leading scorer for the U23s this season, tallying 5 goals and 3 assists in 9 matches this season.

And one player you won't get to watch...

#23 Ike Opara - Opara is a rising sophmore at Wake Forest University and is from Durham. Last year, he started the season on the bench and earned his way into the starting back four for the team that went on to win the national championship. Opara will miss the match on Thursday night as he has been called into the USA U20 National Team for a friendly against Mexico.

Wonder why we traded a forward for a forward? Maybe these goal clips will help answer the question of why the RailHawks are bringing in Hamed Diallo.

The first clip is a beautiful goal and won Diallo Goal of the Week honors for week 9 last season in USL-1.


The second clip shows that although he might have a beautiful goal in him, he also can score the scrappy goals that can make a difference in a match.



Remember, these and other video clips courtesy of USL Live / PlayOn! Sports are also available through iTunes via the RailHawks Underground podcast.

Burnley FC have started their summer training here in Cary, NC with a workout this morning on Fields 2 & 3 at WakeMed Soccer Park. I was all set to go out and shoot photos of the practice but my camera broke last night while shooting the U23s v.Dynamo match. Luckily David Vaught bailed me out and managed a few snaps of their practice.





Click here to see David's full set of photos over on Flickr.

The Carolina RailHawks announced today they have traded forward Jamil Walker to the Rochester Rhinos in exchange for Ivory Coast native forward Hamed Diallo pending USSF approval. The trade is effective immediately and fans can expect to see Diallo wear RailHawks Orange as soon as this Friday, July 11th as they take on the Minnesota Thunder in Minneapolis. Walker's final destination however is not Rochester as he has been traded on by the Rhinos as part of a three-way trade involving Carolina that sees Jamil land in Portland with the Timber's Andrew Gregor moving to Rochester.

“We are extremely excited to have a player of Diallo’s ability and quality join the RailHawks,” said RailHawks Head coach Scott Schweitzer. “He’s an experienced player whose speed will help our attack minded offense. He will give us the ability to be more lethal as we continue our quest for the USL-1 Championship.”

Diallo is an experienced forward who played most of his career in Europe. He was a member of the 2000 Ivory Coast National team that participated in the African Cup in Ghana. In his first season in the USL with the Rochester Rhinos in 2007 he was named team MVP and tallied nine goals and two assists in 18 games played. One of his nine goals last season was against the RailHawks when he slotted one past Chris McClellan in stoppage time in Rochester last June. He received French Division 2 striker of the year honors in 1999 with Laval scoring 22 goals and in 2002 with Amiens scoring 20.

Hamed Diallo will most likely make his WakeMed Soccer Park Debut on Friday July 18th as the RailHawks take on the Puerto Rico Islanders at 7:30 PM at WakeMed Soccer Park. Then on Sunday, July 20th the RailHawks welcome Mexican First Division’s Rayados de Monterrey in the second edition of the Copa Tecate at WakeMed Soccer Park at 4:00 PM.

Darren Bentley of Burnley Football Club is chronicling the his team's summer training trip to the United States. The team arrived in Cary yesterday afternoon and got a chance to check out their Thursday competition at the RailHawks U23s match on Tuesday night. Here's some excerpts from Bentley's letter to the Burnley fans:

Hours after arriving in Cary ourselves, it would have been easy to call it a night. However, Owen Coyle, Sandy Stewart and Steve Davis wasted little time checking out Thursday's opposition.

The WakeMed Soccer Park, venue for Thursday's game against the Carolina RailHawks PDL (an U23 side also known as the Cary RailHawks), is a short taxi ride away. And with a competitive pre-season game against nearby Greensboro underway, our intrepid trio hailed the nearest cab, with a group of staff going along for the ride. What greeted us were college training facilities that would put many English clubs to shame: A vast expanse of seven floodlit, bowling-green-flat pitches with ample stand seating, a real family environment and a modest but perfectly equipped main arena, which will provide a terrific backdrop for the Clarets opening pre-season game. As I mentioned earlier Carolina is a football hotbed (the use of the word 'soccer' is hereby banned, other than in stadium titles!), with no fewer than six colleges of sporting stature in the vicinity.

Football is one of, if not the fastest growing sport out here in America and it's easy to see why when cash is ploughed into helping produce the players of tomorrow.
For the record, a thrilling end to the game on the pitch - as a thunderstorm threatened its conclusion - saw the RailHawks turn around a 1-2 deficit to score twice in the dying minutes to snatch a 90th minute victory.

"Go Hawks", as they say in these parts. Me? I'm going to bed!

Check out Bentley's full letters at Burnley FC's website.

Children and adults who wear their soccer jerseys get in free ticket when the Carolina RailHawks U-23 PDL team plays one of England's oldest professional soccer clubs, Burnley Football Club, on Thursday.

The game against England's Coca-Cola Championship Division stalwart starts at 7:30 p.m. at WakeMed Soccer Parkin Cary. Anyone who wears an English or European jersey will receive two free tickets.

Some of you may have heard that the McClatchy Company, the company that runs the Charlotte Observer, our News & Observer, and the Cary News, has been undergoing some re-organization and cost-cutting measures. One of those measures was to cut the local sports department at the N&O and run Triangle sports coverage out of Charlotte.

The upside for RailHawks fans is that the new sports editor in Charlotte seems to have an eye towards MORE coverage of soccer in the Triangle instead of less (I always knew the former N&O sports editor secretly hated soccer!). It looks like Tim Candon of the Cary News will be getting significantly more of his coverage into the News & Observer now, which of course means more work for our favorite* soccer reporter.

But as for today, Tim's fingers are flying on behalf of the Cary News, filing no less than THREE stories in this week's edition. Check the links below for full coverage of both the Men and Women this week:

• Time to take a breather
  
• Fusilier finds stride, scoring touch
  
• Carolina finds W-League a worthwhile challenge

*Full disclosure: Tim is now also the goalkeeper for the TSF indoor soccer team so unless we want to worry about him letting in soft goals just to spite us, we need to stroke his ego and let him think he is our "favorite" soccer reporter even if he's got some stiff competition from Grant Wahl and Steve Goff. :)

Ahead of the RailHawks U23s v. Burnley FC international friendly set for Thursday, July 10th, I spent some time with Dan Jewell at 2br, 99.8 FM, a local radio station in Burnley talking about what the RailHawks, the facilities at WakeMed Soccer Park, and what the Burnley players and supporters can expect to find here in Cary later this week.

Click here to download an MP3 of an excerpt from the radio interview I did with 2BR earlier this week.

Long time readers will remember that we experimented a little with podcasting last season.

Now TSF is happy to bring back the RailHawks Underground, this time with video clips that you can download through iTunes or your favorite podcatcher to your computer and take with you on your iPod / iPhone or other MP4-capable video device.

The podcast will feature the same match video clips that we share on the TriSoccerFan website, courtesy of USL Live / PlayOn! Sports. We'll try to have video highlights of every match carried on USL Live within 24 hours of the match's completion. In addition, we'll be digging deep into the USL Live archive to podcast some "classic" highlights from matches from the RailHawks' inaugural season.

• Click here to subscribe to the podcast in iTunes
• Or use your favorite podcatcher by subscribing to the RSS feed here.

Don't have a portable video player and just want to watch the highlights on your computer? Check out the RailHawks Underground channel at Veoh.com.

Remember, season pass and monthly access subscribers to USL Live can watch the full matches in high-resolution of all Carolina RailHawks & USL-1 games from their extensive match archive from the 2007 & 2008 seasons.

Four years ago, Thori Bryan's soccer career seemed over. When the Women's United Soccer Association suspended operations in September 2003, Bryan, then a member of the San Jose CyberRays, took what she thought would be her last steps off the field.

But even after giving birth to her son, Kameron, and settling down in Wake Forest, the N.C. State graduate felt the urge to compete. And with the establishment of the Carolina RailHawks in Cary, Bryan realized that the game had not passed her by.

"It was difficult to fill the void of the competitiveness. I need to do something. It was like a drug. I just had to have it," Bryan said.

>> Read Madeline Perez's full story at NewsObserver.com.

Photo: Robert Willett for the News & Observer

I've just got confirmation from the club that they do intend to provide a live feed of the RailHawks U23s v. Burnley FC match on Thursday, July 10th. The game will be shown on USL Live will be FREE.

This is great news for Burnley supporters who will be looking to see their club's first exhibition of the new season and great exposure for the RailHawks and WakeMed Soccer Park over in England.

Video courtesy of USL Live/Play On! Sports

The Charlotte Lady Eagles continued their mastery over the Carolina RailHawks Women with a 3-0 win in the first match of the RailHawks Independence Day Weekend doubleheader on Thursday night.

Then in the second match of the evening, the RailHawks clawed back from a 2-1 deficit to equalize with Seattle when David Stokes directed home a corner kick in the 87th minute to keep Carolina unbeaten at home in the league this season.

Carolina jumped on top early in the match when Jacob Coggins scored in the 12th minute, But Seattle, who were riding high from a 2-0 upset of Chivas USA in the US Open Cup on Tuesday, scored in the 45th and 69th minutes through Sebastien Le Toux and Kenji Treschuk, respectively.

Carolina almost made the late comeback even more stunning with a game winner before the end of the match. The RailHawks left two last gasp efforts begging when Connally Edozien skied a shot over the crossbar from inside the six yard box in stoppage side and then Dan Antoniuk could not connect solidly when he trapped a ball around the penalty shot and turned the Sounders defense, but could not get the ball to setup for him to get off the winning tally.

Video courtesy of USL Live/Play On! Sports

The Carolina RailHawks are getting the July 4th weekend started a day early with a soccer doubleheader on Thursday night. The festivities start at 4pm on July 3rd as the Carolina RailHawks Women take on the high-flying Charlotte Eagles, who currently sit 2nd in the Atlantic Division with a 9-1-1 overall record.

The fun continues at 8pm when the men take on Seattle. Carolina is coming off an exhausting lost to Kansas City Wizards on Tuesday in extra time while the Sounders are sure to arrive on a high note after dropping Chivas USA out of the US Open Cup 2-0. However, Carolina has already beaten Seattle at home 2-1 once this season and will be looking to defend their league unbeaten streak at home.

The RailHawks are offering some great ticket deals for tonights doubleheder, including a "4 for $44" special that includes 4 tickets to both matches, 4 hot dogs, and 4 sodas. Visit the team's website for more information on the deal.

In the immediate aftermath of Ivan Trujillo's 94th-minute winner for Kansas City Tuesday night, RailHawks defenders Mauricio Segovia and Kupono Low and goalkeeper Chris McClellan looked at each other as if to say, how on earth did that just happen?

The inquisitive expression was specifically intended for that moment. But the question "how did that happen?" applies to the final 60 minutes of the third-round U.S. Open Cup match at WakeMed Soccer Park.

The RailHawks squandered a 2-0 lead at the one-hour mark and Kansas City prevailed 4-2 in extra time. Trujillo, who entered the match at halftime, scored twice and all of the Wizards goals came after the 68th minute.

>> Read Tim Candon's full story at CaryNews.com

After 120 minutes of play Tuesday night, players for the Carolina RailHawks looked exhausted and whipped to the bone. Some sat on the grass. Others stood with their hands behind their heads.

Sweat poured from their pores. Disappointment filled their faces. No one smiled.

There wasn't any reason to be happy. A 4-2 overtime loss to the Kansas City Wizards at WakeMed Soccer Park had knocked the energy from each player and ended the RailHawks' pursuit of the 2008 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.

The Wizards, a Major League Soccer team, traveled here and battled back a determined opponent from the United Soccer Leagues First Division, rallying from a two-goal deficit and securing an overtime victory before 3,116 fans in attendance.

>> Read Edward G. Robinson III's article at NewsObserver.com

Photo: Robert Willett for the News & Observer

The Kansas City Wizards rallied from a two-goal deficit to defeat the Carolina RailHawks of USL-1 4-2 Tuesday in extra time. Kansas City advances to the quarterfinals of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup against the Seattle Sounders (USL-1).

Carolina jumped on top with goals on either side of halftime. First, midfielder Santiago Fusilier put the RailHawks on top in the 44th minute after taking a pass from midfielder Ryan Solle up the middle and lofting a ball over on-rushing goalkeeper Eric Kronberg. Then, in the 58th minute, midfielder Matthew Watson slammed a right-footed blast inside the left post from the top of the 18-yard area off a headed pass from forward Dan Antoniuk.

Kansas City began a four-goal onslaught ten minutes later, when substitute midfielder Michael Harrington, a former CASL and UNC Chapel Hill standout, found substitute forward Trujillo. Harrington collected a loose ball on the left edge of the penalty area and cut to the end line, losing a defender in the process. His left-footed cross found the head of Trujillo at the top of the six-yard area, and Trujillo redirected the ball into the lower-right corner to bring Kansas City within a goal.

The Wizards then equalized in the 82nd minute after midfielder Roger Espinoza was fouled inside the penalty area. Designated player Claudio Lopez stepped to the penalty spot and buried a left-footed blast under the cross bar to tie the game 2-2.

Kansas City struck immediately into stoppage time, as Lopez played a brilliant through ball out of midfield for Trujillo running toward goal. Trujillo calmly slotted the ball past goalkeeper Chris McClellan for a 3-2 lead the Wizards would not relinquish.

Lopez created another goal in the 119th minute, when he played a long ball between defenders for Ryan Pore. Pore was free to goal and rounded the goalkeeper, but McClellan ran into Pore, knocking him off the ball for a penalty kick. Pore stepped to the spot and buried a shot into the lower-right corner for the final 4-2 score line.

Source: KC Wizards press release