September 07, 2007 | 09:11
On Tuesday night against the New England Revolution, Carolina played 120 minutes of nail-biting, extremely physical soccer against one of the best teams in Major League Soccer. The last 60 minutes of the match they played with only 9 men. They left everything they had, emotionally and physically, on that field in New Britain, Connecticut. Then, they had to leave their hotel at 3am to make a 2 hour bus ride to a small airport in the Hudson River Valley to get a flight to Minneapolis on Wednesday ahead of their match with the Thunder.
From the opening kickoff last night, it was obvious that both mentally and physically the RailHawks had been drained by the previous two days' affair. Leo Gibson and his Thunder teammates were waiting on the weary RailHawks and pounced from the opening kickoff, showing no quarter to Carolina who needed just one win from their last two games to qualify for the USL-1 playoffs. Gibson would go on to score four goals on the night, but it was Brian Farber's 52nd minute tally to make the match 3-0 that signaled the RailHawks had written off the match and were starting to think about getting the three points they needed in California. From that point, coach Scott Schweitzer went deep into his bench, resting starters and preventing tired bodies from picking up accidental bookings that could have them suspended for the showdown with the Victory on Saturday.
If it's any consolation, Carolina will be facing off with California on Saturday who are also reeling from a similarly embarrassing performance on Thursday night. The Victory traveled to Qwest Field where the Seattle Sounders moved back to the top of the USL-1 table with a 4-0 thrashing of league's last place side. Neither team can be happy with their performances but the RailHawks have much more incentive to reverse their fortunes on Saturday. California will be playing their final game of a disappointing season, both on and off the field...and one that many folks feel might be their final match of the franchise with the return of the San Jose Earthquakes to MLS next season. Carolina on the other hand will see the return of their captain Frank Sanfilippo from yellow-card suspension and will be playing a must-win game for playoff glory. So far this season, the RailHawks have showed they do have what it takes to win big games (e.g., Chivas USA, Chicago Fire, Charleston away). Let's hope they have at least one more stellar performance left in the tank this season.
From the opening kickoff last night, it was obvious that both mentally and physically the RailHawks had been drained by the previous two days' affair. Leo Gibson and his Thunder teammates were waiting on the weary RailHawks and pounced from the opening kickoff, showing no quarter to Carolina who needed just one win from their last two games to qualify for the USL-1 playoffs. Gibson would go on to score four goals on the night, but it was Brian Farber's 52nd minute tally to make the match 3-0 that signaled the RailHawks had written off the match and were starting to think about getting the three points they needed in California. From that point, coach Scott Schweitzer went deep into his bench, resting starters and preventing tired bodies from picking up accidental bookings that could have them suspended for the showdown with the Victory on Saturday.
If it's any consolation, Carolina will be facing off with California on Saturday who are also reeling from a similarly embarrassing performance on Thursday night. The Victory traveled to Qwest Field where the Seattle Sounders moved back to the top of the USL-1 table with a 4-0 thrashing of league's last place side. Neither team can be happy with their performances but the RailHawks have much more incentive to reverse their fortunes on Saturday. California will be playing their final game of a disappointing season, both on and off the field...and one that many folks feel might be their final match of the franchise with the return of the San Jose Earthquakes to MLS next season. Carolina on the other hand will see the return of their captain Frank Sanfilippo from yellow-card suspension and will be playing a must-win game for playoff glory. So far this season, the RailHawks have showed they do have what it takes to win big games (e.g., Chivas USA, Chicago Fire, Charleston away). Let's hope they have at least one more stellar performance left in the tank this season.
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News
September 07, 2007 - 12:32
Huh. I honestly never saw that happening...