What do you think of the new website layout? Let me know using the comments section.

It's still in "beta" as there are probably a few bugs still out there to hunt down. If something doesn't look right, let me know and I'll try to fix it while I have some free time over the Labor Day weekend.

RailHawks' fans that have listened to Dean Linke call our games on WSHA-FM or USLLive.com have certainly become familiar with Dean's "How 'bout the RailHawks?!?!?" exclamation whenever Carolina nets a goal or wins a game. But I have to say it didn't sound quite right to me when I heard Dean use our "trademark" phrase to accompany Ohio State's first goal of the college soccer season.

Linke was the play-by-play commentator for the first ever live sports broadcast on the new Big Ten Network today as West Virginia took on Ohio State in Columbus. Good thing American Airlines has re-instated their direct flights from CMH to RDU so Dean can make it back to SAS Soccer Park for the RailHawks match on Saturday night.

The Big Ten Network, which is currently available in the Triangle only via DirecTV, launched yesterday and the Friday soccer match was the first live event to air on the new channel. The network will feature all collegiate sports involving Big Ten teams, including soccer. Personally, I'm very much looking forward to Sunday's broadcast of top ranked UCLA taking on Indiana which will feature Cary resident and Athens Drive alum Brian Ackley who lead the Hoosiers with 7 goals last season as a sophomore.

For fans of ACC Soccer, don't expect a new television station from our local collegiate conference too soon. But in the meantime, most ACC soccer games, both men and women, are available via broadband at ACCSelect.com, a service of Turner Media who also run the USL Live streaming video service.

U.S. Soccer announced on Wednesday the possible pairings for the 2007 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup final, to be disputed during the first week of October in Seattle, Washington or Frisco, Texas.

The tournament finalists will be determined on Tuesday, September 4 as the Carolina RailHawks of the USL First Division face the New England Revolution of Major League Soccer at 7 p.m. ET at Veterans Stadium in New Britain, Conn. The second semifinal will see the Seattle Sounders (USL-1) host FC Dallas at 7 p.m. PT, also on September 4, at Qwest Field in Seattle, Wash.

Should the Seattle Sounders advance, the championship will be contested at 7 p.m. PT on Tuesday, October 2, at Qwest Field in Seattle, Wash. Should FC Dallas advance, Pizza Hut Park will host the final at 7 p.m. CT on Wednesday, October 3.

The New England Revolution travel to New Britain to face the Carolina RailHawks after a 2-1 win against the Harrisburg City Islanders (USL-2) on August 8 in the quarterfinals. They are led by Taylor Twellman, who notched the second goal in that quarterfinal clash.

Carolina will be ready for the Revolution, having posted a 1-0 quarterfinal victory against the Richmond Kickers (USL-2), in which Connally Edozien scored his fourth goal of the tournament, off an assist from Jonny Steele. The RailHawks advanced to the quarterfinals with a 1-0 victory against the reigning champions Chicago Fire in the third round of the tournament.

FC Dallas will travel to Washington State to face the Seattle Sounders after defeating the Charleston Battery (USL-1) 2-1 in overtime at Blackbaud Stadium in Charleston, S.C. Seattle advanced after a 5-0 thrashing of the Colorado Rapids at Qwest Field in the quarterfinals.

At stake in the tournament is $180,000 in prize money broken down as follows: $100,000 to the champion, $50,000 to the runner up and $10,000 to the team which advances deepest in the tournament from each of the USL-1, USL-2, USASA/PDL levels.

Take THREE massive points tonight against Montreal. Add in Charleston's THREE straight losses on their West Coast roadtrip after we took THREE points from the Battery for the THIRD time this season, and with THREE matches remaining, Carolina is now the holder of the 8th and final playoff spot in USL-1. We still have to fend off challenges from Miami and Charleston, but it is now ours to lose.

If you were raised in the Schoolhouse Rock era like I was, you may just find yourself whistling this song a bit for the next week.

With 4 games to play, Carolina's playoff picture became crystal clear Saturday night as both Charleston Battery and Miami FC dropped their matches 1-0 and 2-1 to Vancouver Whitecaps and Portland Timbers, respectively.

Although it's a tall order, the math is simple -- win 4 straight matches to finish the season and the Carolina RailHawks will make the USL-1 playoffs in their inaugural season. As the table stands heading into Sunday's 6pm home date with the Montreal Impact, Carolina trails Miami by 2 points and Charleston by 3 points. Miami has only 1 final match remaining so the best they can do is finish on 31 points. Charleston has 3 and could finish at 38 points if they run the table. Likewise, 4 straight wins would put Carolina tied in the standings with Charleston at 38 points.

But the first tie-breaker in deciding playoff positions in USL-1 is "head-to-head record based on total points in League games." That means that by virtue of Carolina's 3-0 record against the Battery this season, a level finish with Charleston would see the RailHawks take the final playoff spot.

However, 4 straight wins is something Carolina has not achieved all year. Their longest winning streak of the season dates back to their first winning streak, when they took 3 straight victories against Chivas USA (exhibition), Atlanta, and Charleston back in early May. That same streak also represents Carolina's longest league winning streak of 2 consecutive games.

The Carolina RailHawks will participate in a meet and greet at the Burlington train station to help promote Amtrak’s daily train service between Raleigh, Greensboro, Charlotte and six other cities on Saturday, August 25th between 2:00 PM and 3:00 PM.

The RailHawks will be on hand to sign autographs and meet their Burlington fans as well as promote all the NC DOT has to offer. Swoops, the RailHawks mascot will also be available for photo ops and to entertain the kids. Both the NC DOT and the Carolina RailHawks will have ticket giveaways for the fans in attendance.

The Burlington Rail Station is located at 101 N. Main Street in Burlington.

Toward the end of an 11-on-11 scrimmage at training Monday, Carolina’s Kevin Jeffrey mistouched a ball out of bounds and gave up possession.

McColm Cephas ran to the touchline and scooped up the ball. Before throwing it back in play, Cephas told Jeffrey, “Too much concentration. [Expletive] off,” drawing hearty laughter from both.

Things are light in Carolina’s camp, but the RailHawks’ season is at its most crucial point.

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

United Soccer Leagues announced the USL First Division Team of the Week for the 18th week of the season, honoring Carolina’s Connally Edozien as the Player of the Week and Chris McClellan and Kupono Low as part of their weekly select side.

In desperate need of points to climb back into playoff position, the RailHawks blasted southern rival Charleston, another side in the race for a playoff spot, last Tuesday 3-0 on a hat-trick from Connally Edozien.

Edozien put the RailHawks up in just the sixth minute of play and never looked back. Edozien was given time inside the Battery penalty area and slammed the ball to the far post after a controlling touch, leaving Battery goalkeeper Dusty Hudock helpless.

Edozien put his second of the night on the board in the 41st minute against the run of play. The RailHawks’ Chris Carrieri ran onto a ball played from the back and knifed a pass inside the Battery penalty to Phillip Long, who found Edozien with a heel-flick. Again, Edozien had little trouble beating a stranded Hudock.

He completed the hat-trick put the game out of reach in the 66th minute, out-jumping the Battery defenders to head home a Kupono Low corner kick.

The victory also gave the RailHawks their first trophy as they clinched the Southern Derby Cup contested between the Battery, RailHawks and Atlanta Silverbacks, whom the RailHawks would go on to play to a scoreless draw Friday to complete the three-way derby.

Joining Connally in the team of the week were Chris McClellan on the back of two straight shutouts and Kupono Low with an assist and crossbar rattling free kick that almost netted the RailHawks a win against Atlanta.

>> A complete list of USL Team of the Week honorees is available at USLSoccer.com

With 4 games remaining, the Carolina RailHawks need to make up two spots in the USL-1 table to qualify for the final playoff position. Over the weekend, the RailHawks got a little help from the Puerto Rico Islanders as they downed Miami FC 3-2 on Sunday.

With 4 matches to play, Carolina stands on 26 points. To qualify for the playoffs, they must leapfrog Miami FC (28 points with 2 matches to play) and Charleston Battery (29 points with 5 to play). Carolina has two tough home matches against 2nd place Portland Timbers and 3rd place Montreal Impact before they end the season on a two-match roadtrip to cellar-dwellers Minnesota and California.

Miami also hosts Portland before a match that every RailHawks fan will be watching closely -- their season finale at home to Charleston Battery. Charleston has a brutal finale to their schedule with a 4 game roadtrip that includes dates at first place Seattle, second place Portland, and defending champs Vancouver Whitecaps before finishing the away spell at Miami. The Battery's final match of the season comes Friday, September 7th against Puerto Rico at home.

By that time, Carolina will have played 3 of their remaining four matches and we'll know exactly what results (if any) will help the RailHawks into the playoff. With a strong run here at the end of the season, Carolina just might sneak into the playoff yet...but it's going to take some heroic results and a little more help from our "friends" like we got this weekend from the Islanders.

This match, and all RailHawks' matches future and past can be watched online live and on-demand at USLLive.com.

Video courtesy of PlayON! Sports/USLlive.com

The Carolina RailHawks will participate in a Back to School event on Saturday, August 18th from 12:00 to 2:00 PM at Whole Foods at 102 B New Waverly Place on the corner of Tryon and Kildaire Farm road in Cary. The RailHawks will assist Whole Foods team members with various tasks such as food demos and selling hot dogs and grilled items for charity. The proceeds will benefit the Big Brother, Big Sister Organization of the Triangle.

The event will also feature face painting and caricatures as well as a small area for kids to kick soccer balls around with the Carolina RailHawks mascot, Swoops. In addition the first trophy won by the Carolina RailHawks, the Southern Derby Cup, will be on display for plenty of photo opportunities. Fans are encouraged to come and help the RailHawks raise money and interact with the players throughout the store.

On Wednesday, after making the trip back from Charleston, I got to make a fun call to Kurt Braunsroth, head of the Atlanta Silverbacks supporters group:

Kurt: Hello?
Jarrett: Hi Kurt, this is Jarrett Campbell, head of the RailHawks supporters club.
Kurt: Yeah?
Jarrett: I think you have something that belongs to us.

By Thursday morning, Kurt had begrudgingly placed the Southern Derby Cup on Atlanta's team bus for the 6 hour trip up I-85. By Thursday night, the Cup was back in the Triangle for the first time since the 2000 A-League season when the Raleigh Capital Express won the inaugural Southern Derby Cup, ironically also on Charleston's home pitch.

After Friday night's match against the Silverbacks, now meaningless in the Southern Derby championship race but still pivotal if the RailHawks are to keep their league playoff hopes alive, former Raleigh Capital Express supporter and co-founder of the Southern Derby Fred Medlin will join me in presenting the RailHawks with the first piece of silverware in the team's short history.

Be sure to stick around after the game to see the Cup presentation ceremony and then join us at HIbernian Pub in Cary (1144 Kildaire Farm Rd) afterwards for our post-match Southern Derby championship celebration.

Panther Creek High School in western Cary is hosting a high school soccer showcase this weekend to benefit the Relay for Life, a charity program of the American Cancer Society.

This event, scheduled for August 18th, 2007 will benefit the ACS and the PCHS Athletic Boosters (proceeds to be split 50/50). Admission is $5 and covers all 9 of the 40-minute exhibition games which will feature teams from 6 Triangle area schools -- Cardinal Gibbons, Durham Jordan, Green Hope, Millbrook, Panther Creek, and Wakefield. The first match kicks off at 1pm and games run throughout the day until the final match which kicks off at 7:40pm. A full match schedule can be found at the PCHS soccer website.

Reserve tickets ahead of time and save $1 per ticket by emailing tickets@panthercreeksoccer.com.

Soccer is commonly referred to as "The Beautiful Game."

The person that came up with that slogan obviously didn't envision the Charleston Battery's play Tuesday night against the Carolina RailHawks.

With its playoff hopes still very much in doubt, the Battery came up with one of its worst overall performances of the season in a 3-0 loss to the Carolina RailHawks in front of a crowd of 3,463 at Blackbaud Stadium.

With five games left in the regular season, the Battery, which is 7-2-2 in its last 11 home games, dropped to 8-10-5 (29 points), but remained in eighth place in the USL First Division. The RailHawks improved to 6-10-7 (25 points) and are in 10th place. The top eight teams will advance to next month's USL First Division playoffs.

Connally Edozien scored all three goals for the RailHawks, including two in the first half, as Carolina dominated the action for most of the match.

>> Read Andrew Miller's full article at the Charleston Post & Courier's web site.

On Tuesday, a handful of Triangle Soccer Fanatics made the journey down to Charleston to see our boys win the Southern Derby Cup at Blackbaud Stadium. Click on each picture below for more details on our various adventures.

Connally Edozien's hattrick lead the RailHawks to a 3-0 victory over Charleston on Tuesday night. The win makes the RailHawks a perfect 3-0 in Southern Derby Cup play and secures the 2007 trophy for Carolina.

More when I recover from the after party!

The Carolina RailHawks will travel to Charleston to face the Battery on Tuesday August 14th at Blackbaud Stadium. During halftime, the RailHawks will present a check for $10,000 to the City of Charleston’s Firemen’s Fund for the families of the victims of the furniture store blaze that took the lives of nine firefighters on June 18th in Charleston.

The money was collected by the Cary Professional Firefighters Association (CPFFA) at SAS Soccer Park on June 23rd when the Charleston Battery visited the Carolina RailHawks. The Carolina RailHawks organization matched the money collected bringing the total to $10,000 dollars and will travel with Andy Hiscock of the CPFFA to present the check to Battalion Chief Wayne Schofield of the Charleston Fire Department.

I noticed this weekend while watching FSC that Glidden is sponsoring a contest where you can win a trip to MLS Cup 2008 as part of a promotion for their "Team Colors" line of paints. The premise is that you use these paints, which are color matched to MLS team colors to paint your room and show your support for your club and then submit a photo of your creation for consideration in the contest.

It's too bad they won't accept USL teams as part of the contest. Recently we decided to remodel my son's room and somehow I convinced my wife that the color scheme should be tangerine, blue, and gray (ring any bells?). After my brother who works in a digital print shop chipped in by creating us a custom Wallbanger of the RailHawks' logo, I think we've got just about the perfect room for a young RailHawks fan.



I'm still working my wife on the idea of using this color scheme in the other rooms in the house! :)

The theme from Superman blared as Scott Vallow was introduced to the crowd of 10,029 at PAETEC Park on Friday night.

On cue, Vallow flexed his biceps to the fans.

But it wasn't just the veteran keeper being back in goal for the first time in nearly four months that led the Rhinos to a 2-0 win over rival Carolina and their first shutout since June 1. As a unit, Rochester played like men of steel and it needed to, because Carolina had the Rhinos under siege.

"I'm really proud of the guys. We really fought tough for 90 minutes and that's what it took," said Vallow, who made six saves, including two big ones in the second half, as the 10th-place RailHawks outshot fourth-place Rochester, 15-8.

"A team (like Carolina) that's desperate for points, we knew we had to be at our best."

>> Read the full story at the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle

Data courtesy of Allison Andrews at SoccerCityUSA.com

The Carolina RailHawks are currently 5th in league attendance in the USL First Divsion, averaging just under 5,000 fans per game. Only league stalwarts Montreal, Rochester, Portland, and Vancouver average more than the first year franchise. Fellow expansion club California Victory are averaging only about fifth what the RailHawks are drawing while 2nd season Miami is the worst draw in the league.

Those numbers only include league matches. With the additions of friendlies like Cruz Azul (8,500) and Chivas USA (5,205), the RailHawks are averaging well over 5,000 per game to date.