NASL Game Recaps – Opening Weekend
Neither rain, lightning or fog kept the NASL from completing their opening weekend. The Carolina RailHawks and Puerto Rico Islanders met in Cary and dealt with all those conditions, which included an almost two-hour weather delay, and in a foggy but exciting finish, the two D2 championship finalists ended the match with the Islanders winning 2-1. Elsewhere, a great crowd at Lockhart Stadium viewed a spirited match that saw the Strikers lose 2-1 to the upstart FC Edmonton squad in their first league match. FC Tampa Bay rewarded their home fans with a 1-0 win over MLS-bound Montreal, while the NSC Minnesota Stars got a very late goal to defeat an impressive Atlanta side 2-1.
Carolina RailHawks 1-2 Puerto Rico Islanders
The RailHawks and Islanders last met in the finals of the USSF D2 2010 playoff championship, with the Islanders taking the title. It was great to see the two teams, both of whom have undergone significant personnel changes, meet on NASL Opening Day, even if mother nature didn’t want to cooperate.
But although mother nature was less than helpful, both Martin Rennie’s RailHawks and Colin Clarke’s Islanders combined to put on an entertaining match. Unlike the other three NASL matches of the weekend, there was a goal in the first half – albeit after the lengthy rain delay – as midfielder Josh Hansen put the Islanders on top in the 32th minute on a ball from defender Richard Martinez.
But the dramatics didn’t just include the weather at WakeMed Soccer Park on Saturday night. Late in the game, the Maltese Knight, Etienne Barbara, drew a foul in the penalty area and put the resulting penalty kick past the Islanders’ Ray Burse to level the score minutes after entering the contest as a 79th minute sub and only days after arriving in Carolina. With his late goal, it looked like last year’s championship finalists would share a point as the rain was pouring heavily and even fog was hovering over the field. Carolina, playing a man down since Jonny Steele’s red card near the hour mark, had to feel good after Barbara’s tally.
But despite the acrobatic efforts of RailHawks ‘keeper Brad Knighton, the Islanders had one more trick up their sleeve. At the end of stoppage time, the Islanders gained a corner kick after another brilliant Knighton save, and in the dense fog and driving rain delivered a ball that former Aztex’ captain Jay Needham headed into the Carolina net. A fine effort by both clubs left La Tropa Naranja Rico departing with all three points.
Fort Lauderdale Strikers 1-2 FC Edmonton
It was a night of successes in Fort Lauderdale for the franchise and Coach Daryl Shore….except for the final score. An enthusiastic crowd of over 6,400 saw a fine pregame show and match, but unfortunately for them FC Edmonton took home all three points with a 2-1 victory.
“Tonight we weren’t good enough to win the game. It’s as simple as that, and that was disappointing,” stated Daryl Shore. “The vibe was great but the reaction after the first goal wasn’t good enough. We will get better, though, and we need the [fans] support and we’re going to support them.”
Defender Martyn Lancaster got the re-branded Strikers on the board first, with a headed ball off a corner kick, but FCE equalized on a booming shot by Shaun Saiko. Perhaps the Strikers were distracted by everything going on for a historic opening day under a new brand, and maybe they (and almost every other NASL fan) underestimated the quality of the new FC Edmonton club. But FC Edmonton showed they will be a team to reckon with, as they won the game on a goal by D2 veteran Daniel Antoniuk in the 67th minute. Antoniuk came in a substitute for T&T international Conrad Smith.
More goals looked to be on tap, but ‘keeper Rein Baart denied a strike by the Strikers’ Paulinho Le Petit while Edmonton’s exciting young Alex Semenets hit the Strikers woodwork with a blast, and Edmonton began their history with a brilliant win.
FC Tampa Bay 1-0 Montreal Impact
FC Tampa Bay rewarded an opening day crowd of almost 4,000 with a shutout victory over Montreal Saturday night. The game was the first at FCTB’s new home, Al Lang Field, longtime spring training home of the St. Louis Cardinals, New York Yankees, Boston Braves and Tampa Bay Rays. Baseball legends like Babe Ruth, Stan Musial and Lou Gehrig once played on these grounds.
But Saturday night was about another sport. Defense and goalkeeping dominated much of the game, as Montreal’s Bill Gaudette and FCTB’s Daryl Sattler were strong. Late in the match, though, a penalty kick was awarded to FCTB, with veteran D2 player Tsuyoshi Yoshitake to take the kick. Unfortunately for the home fans, Yoshitake, who otherwise had a good match, missed the penalty as Gaudette seemed to mess up his concentration, and the game looked to end as a scoreless draw.
But midfielder Takuya Yamada sent the crowd home happy and gave FCTB’s new coach, Ricky Hill, a win in his debut as Yamada smashed a late hopeful long shot that got past Gaudette to give FCTB the victory.
Atlanta Silverbacks 1-2 Minnesota Stars
Over 3,500 fans cheered on the Silverbacks, witnessing the quality of Atlanta’s youngsters. But it was NSC Minnesota’s Kentaro Takada who got on the board first and scored the first NASL goal of 2011. That goal came in the 57th minute off a Jeff Cosgriff cross that saw Takada chest the ball while on the run towards the Atlanta goal, handle it well and accurately place it past Atlanta ‘keeper Jimmy Maurer.
But the Silverbacks retaliated seven minutes later, as Gordon College rookie Matt Horth showed that he had the right stuff, taking a cross from Mexican Primera Division veteran Mario Perez to knot the score. Atlanta looked to get a result and played well, but perhaps the experience of Manny Lagos’ side, which returns many veterans from last year’s expansion playoff squad, was a bit too much for the Silverbacks, as Andrei Gotsmanov netted the winner for the Stars with a dangerous free kick in stoppage time to disappoint the home crowd, although they had to be happy with the team’s poise and young talent. Still, a fine performance for Silverbacks Coach Jose Manuel Abundis and his staff that should keep Atlanta fans coming back for more excitement.
Game Report xxxxxxxxx IMSoccer News Report
Good goalkeeping, high quality goals and very solid performances from FC Edmonton and Atlanta indicate that the league will be very competitive in 2011. Next week, the Strikers host NSC Minnesota on Friday night while on Saturday FC Edmonton travel to Atlanta to match up with the Silverbacks and Marc Dos Santos and Martin Rennie try to get their clubs in the win column as the Impact visit Carolina. Sunday, FC Tampa Bay host the Puerto Rico Islanders.
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6400, 4000 and 3500 seem like very good attendance figures for D2 opening day. But what was the attendance at Cary? I imagine that the 2-hour delay would’ve decimated attendance – any indication how many stayed?
Not a clue. All the NASL attendances were blown out by Orlando, however. They pulled in 7,933.
Orlando’s attendance will drop.
Small clarification on Carolina’s Etienne Barbara: He’d been in NC less than 24-hrs. following a 15-hr. flight from Malta. He came into the game with out sleeping since leaving home and was not expecting to see the field so soon upon arriving. Wish we had more like him!
The only attendance figure I’ve seen thus far is 2,016:
http://twitter.com/SWakeSports/status/56922615796867072#
Despite the poor weather in Cary, I think from a league standpoint you’d have to consider the 2011 opening weekend a success for the league. As I’ve been telling you all for awhile now LOL the Strikers returned to a very Strikers-like atmosphere at Lockhart. 6,402 was an excellent way to kick off the season, and on a historical note, even topped by a few hundred the inaugural game of the original Fort Lauderdale Strikers. On the field, well, I’ll just sumarize by saying Edmonton was a lot better than I thought they’d be, especially attacking, and the Strikers played below expectations.
I was slightly disappointed in the Rowdies attendance figure. It looks like the move to St. Pete might end up costing them a bit at the gate this year. Looks like they were about 200 off of last year’s average. Hopefully they can up it a little as the season goes on. Winning, like they did against Montreal last night would sure help that cause!
Wow is what I have to say to the attendance in Atlanta! I think they doubled what most people figured they would get for opening night. Time will tell, but I sincerely hope they are onto something there, and that the fans will come back after watching what was an exciting opening night match the Silverbacks came up just short in. New investors are one of the league’s top priorities this year, and if the Silverbacks can bring in crowds of 3,000 – 3,500 consistently this year, maybe it will be enough of a number to get some interested parties to give Traffic a call. Nice win for the Stars on the road in week one, and Atlanta showed they aren’t going to be a walk in the park for the rest of the league.
They had everything but the kitchen sink in the rematch of last year’s D2 final. Is anyone really surprised that Steele got his first red card of the season out of the way this early? The guy plays some really physical soccer. Puerto Rico, just like last year, comes up a winner in the end. Kudos to all the Railhawks fans that braved the elements on opening night. Here’s hoping the rest of the season goes a bit smoother on that front. Anyone Carolina supporters who could post an attendance number, or at least their best reasonable estimate?
@BQ – I must say I am completely and unequivocally stunned by the Orlando attendance figure that was announced. I sincerely hope it isn’t as inlfated as the number they released for the Philly preseason friendly. The videos making the rounds on that one showed that the 3,600 figure they released was pretty laughable. But let’s for a second say that they indeed had somwhere between 6k – 7k in paid attendance. That’s got to be well beyond the expectations of everyone, up to and including Mr. Rawlins.
I am very skeptical that they will pull anywhere near that large a number consistently, but then who knows? Orlando has never really proven itself to be a pro sports town, and there have to be legitimate reasons for that. But all that aside, congrats to them (not Donner, but everyone else in the organization LOL) for a successful opener. As bart likes to say, let’s see how they’re doing in June and July.
@MH Thanks for clearing up Etienne Barbara’s arrival. I wrote the article Sunday and saw that he arrived Friday…and duh, two days ago. Makes his performance even more amazing. Glad he’s returned to the NASL.
Saturday was a great night for lower division soccer in America. Before anyone rains on my parade and points out this and that, let’s just enjoy the moment. As Kartik K. twittered today, 18,000 fans were in attendance in pro games in the Sunshine State, Charleston drew over 4,000, Atlanta had a nice crowd of over 3500. There was quality professional soccer played in seven non-MLS cities Saturday. That has to be something we all want.
Gotta give a shout-out to the former ACSTL players in action Saturday — Luke Kreamalmeyer for Montreal, Mike Ambersley for FCTB, Jack Traynor for Orlando City, Troy Cole for FC New York and Mark Bloom and Chris Salvaggione for Charlotte, along with Michael Videira of the Chicago Fire and loanees Chris Shuler, Luis Gil and Collen Warner for Real Salt Lake.
The game last night in St. Pete was a great time! I was shocked when I read that the attendance was under 4K since it seemed like there was 7K there! It was a great night for FCTB. Yes, there will probably be questions to answer about the drop in attendance from last years home opener, but the overall game experience was 10 times better. The field is full size, its closer to the stands, doesnt have a baseball infield, and the downtown St. Pete atmosphere was much more pleasant and accomodating than ‘New York, New York’ ever was…plus, we won! There really isnt any excuse as to why there wasnt a better turnout. The marketing was solid, there wasnt anything that was really competing with it, and the weather was perfect. Regardless of the actual number, though, it was a lively and entertained crowd that Im sure will be back for more.
Oh…and The Rowdies found a defense during the offseason!
@ Strikers Return
I sincerely hope that like you with Orlando, the Ft. Lauderdale Striker audience numbers were not spiked or inflated with incorrect numbers.
Like you with Orlando, I am very skeptical that Lauderdale, Atlanta and Tampa will ever pull the same numbers as they did on opening day. But…. let’s wait for June and July to see if these essentially non-sports town teams can make it.
More importantly, let’s hope both leagues continue on this path of for the good of soccer in the US.
Bart,
I believe the numbers are accurate for both Orlando and FTL. However, just because these tickets were scanned doesn’t mean they were paid for. The trick will be to get the people who came out on Saturday to come out in pouring down rain in the middle of July with Hurricane Bertha coming. Additionally, getting someone to come out for “Orlando v. New York” is a significantly different thing than getting someone to come out for “Orlando v. Antigua Barbuda.”
I was shocked that only 3700 were listed for Tampa.
I would have guessed about 5,000.
Place was well more than half full (75%)
It is a really good venue…
Agree 100%, Superrookie!
And I agree with you, Gerry, about how impressive it is that 18K fans were at soccer games in Florida, and Minor League at that!
All in all, it was a great opening weekend!
@ Steve
I think you are going to be surprised how many Carribean Islanders live in Central Florida and want to see their national teams play.
FWIW, the Tampa twitter site says:
“Audited our new ticket system today and @FC_TampaBay attendance for home opener was actually 4,161, not the announced 3,693″
That looks a little better.
These NASL/USLPro numbers that you guys mention here are great, except that I think no one has mentioned the USL Pro International division’s numbers: Sevilla PR vs River PR (315), Sevilla FC vs PR United (105) (and I’m told it was more like 55 people).
One thing that’s affecting attendance is that United and River are playing in alternate stadiums because they don’t have USL compliant stadiums or have them under construction, but still, It’s not a good sign for 2 of the 3 Puerto Rico teams.
Something about that 4K number that makes it look better! Of course, now I hope it gets to 5K and so on…
After thinking about it, Steinbrenner Field was much more open and stretched. Since the field couldve ideally only fit in the outfield portion, it seemed to pull the two stands apart. There were several empty banks of seats between the End-liners (mob) and the sideliners. With the crowd being so disconnected from the action on the smaller pitch, it made for a whole different atmosphere. Now at Al Lang, the two sets are closer, with fans even choosing the ‘home plate’ seats and still having a good vantage point. The atmosphere as a result was much better because the action is closer, and the fans more engaged. This is why 4,161 seemed like 7K to me/us.
To think now if we had 7K there on Saturday, what that wouldve been like?
@rjhtpr: You are right, if you take away the USLPRO attendances in Puerto Rico things started off really, really well.
The incredibly disappointing attendance figures in PR are going to be source of continuing concern for the USL and quite honestly for the PRSL, as well.