NASL Week 5 Recap: RailHawks Roll, Edmonton Bounces Back

Three NASL matches were played Saturday evening.  The Carolina RailHawks continued their undefeated streak, downing FC Tampa Bay 3-1 while FC Edmonton returned to winning ways on the road as they downed the Atlanta Silverbacks 2-0.  Up north, NSC Minnesota came back to gain a 1-1 draw with the Fort Lauderdale Strikers.

FC Tampa Bay 1-3 Carolina RailHawks

Etienne Barbara scores his 5th and 6th goals of the season in Saturday evening's matchup with Tampa Bay

Carolina hasn’t lost since their opening day re-match of last year’s USSF D2 finals with the Puerto Rico Islanders. Saturday night in Tampa, NASL April Player of the Month Etienne Barbara showed that he deserved the vote by scoring twice and having a hand in Carolina’s other goal for a relatively easy 3-1 win.

Barbara put Martin Rennie’s Carolina squad on the board first as he slotted past FC Tampa Bay rookie goalkeeper Jeff Attinella, who’s taken over in goal for the injured Daryl Sattler. But Ricky Hill’s Tampa Bay squad found the equalizer shortly afterward, as midfielder Pascal Millien finally earned his first 2011 goal. The half ended 1-1.

But FC Tampa Bay couldn’t keep up with Barbara. The 28-year-old striker, who’s played 30 games for the Maltese National Team, found ex-Portland Timbers midfielder Brian Farber seven minutes after intermission with a pass in front of goal that Farber easily knocked in. Barbara himself added his sixth goal in five NASL games this season on a shot that deflected past Attinella for a 3-1 final score.  Despite efforts by FC Tampa Bay’s Mike Ambersley, the team couldn’t put another goal past Carolina’s Brad Knighton.

The win puts Carolina tied with the Puerto Rico Islanders atop the NASL standings with both having 10 points, although the Islanders have a game in hand. FC Tampa Bay’s disappointing loss in front of over 3,300 fans at Al Lang Field drops them to sixth place in the standings.

Atlanta Silverbacks 0-2 FC Edmonton

FC Edmonton found the form it displayed at the start of the season and dropped the Atlanta Silverbacks 2-0 on Saturday.  FC Edmonton, which had lost four straight (including both legs of the Nutrilite Canadian Championship semifinals to Toronto FC), gained their second 2011 win in Atlanta this year.

Each side had opportunities in a scoreless first half. Edmonton’s Shaun Saiko missed a great chance near the 20th minute from the penalty area, as his curled shot went just wide of goal. His Atlanta counterpart, rookie midfielder Lucas Paulini, sailed a shot near at the half hour mark that went just over the bar of Edmonton’s goal.

Edmonton’s goalkeeper Lance Parker, deputized for suspended regular ‘keeper Rein Baart, was up to the task in Atlanta. The former Missouri State Bear from Oklahoma City denied Atlanta’s Raphael Cox and Matt Horth about 20 minutes into the second half, keeping Edmonton in the game until Paul Craig rode to the rescue of Harry Sinkgraven’s squad.  The young forward from the University of Saskatchewan netted after taking a Saiko pass to beat Atlanta keeper Felipe Quintero and then, five minutes later, played helper as Edmonton added an insurance goal when Craig found Kyle Porter to make the final score 2-0.  Credit Parker with the clean sheet.  Saiko now leads the NASL with three assists.

FC Edmonton raised their record to 3-0-2, good for nine points and third place in the NASL standings. José Manuel Abundis’ Atlanta club continue in the cellar of the NASL standings with only one point after five matches.

NSC Minnesota Stars 1-1 Fort Lauderdale Strikers

Eduardo Coudet scored his fourth penalty kick goal of the season, but it wasn’t enough to give the Strikers all three points as the Stars came back on a Simone Bracalello goal to earn a 1-1 home draw.

Before over 1,600 home fans, NSC Minnesota looked shaky at times, particularly very early on when Aaron Wheeler took advantage of some poor defensive play and got an easy shot on goal, which Stars ‘keeper Joe Warren saved. More defensive lapses continued for Minnesota, and a long ball into Minnesota’s half saw defender Jack Stewart get tangled up with the Strikers’ forward Martin Nunez, with a resulting penalty kick called. Coudet slotted past Joe Warren and the Strikers had a 1-0 lead by the 35th minute.  Daryl Shore’s Fort Lauderdale side have developed an uncanny ability to draw penalties so far in 2011.

The Stars looked brighter in the 2nd half after going into intermission down 1-0.  The insertion of Devin Del Do, Amani Walker and Ryan Woods seemed to energize the Stars’ attack, although Joe Warren had to come up big to deny the Strikers’ Paulo Le Petit’s header from a corner kick in the 65th minute.

As the last minutes of the match clicked away, the Stars’ Simone Bracalello again played the role of hero. Bracalello stepped up for a free kick and curled one past Strikers’ goalkeeper Matt Glaeser from 30 yards out in the 88th minute, his second of 2011. The Stars had a chance to gain all three points, but Glaeser dived to knock away a Del Do shot to split the points between the teams for the second time in the 2011 season. Bracalello, however, will be unable to duplicate his heroics of the last two matches next week, as he picked up a late second yellow card that will result in his suspension.

Stars’ Coach Manny Lagos wasn’t enthused about his team’s performance.  “I expected more of us tonight,” Lagos said. “Before the penalty, we were handling them well with our shape in some areas, but we weren’t making good decisions in key parts of the field. That got us in trouble and put us in positions where we had to recover.”

The draw leaves the two teams tied for the fourth spot in the NASL table with each at six points on one win and three draws. The Stars had a narrow advantage in total shots 13-10, and shots on goal 6-5, whereas Fort Lauderdale gained four corner kicks to only two for Minnesota.

NASL News

Both NASL clubs involved in the 2011 Nutrilite Canadian Club championship bowed out of the tournament this past Wednesday. FC Edmonton lost in Toronto 1-0 to lose out to Toronto FC 4-0 on a two-leg aggregate. The Montreal Impact, idle this weekend, were unable to build on their 5-0 spanking of FC Edmonton last Sunday in NASL play and were eliminated in the second leg by the Vancouver Whitecaps on a Moloud Alkoul goal in extra time. Montreal’s performance was much stronger than in the first leg of the series, but MLS clubs Toronto FC and Vancouver will now duel to hoist the Voyageur’s Cup and represent Canada in the CONCACAF club tournament.

The Puerto Rico Islanders began their defense of last year’s Caribbean Football Union title in Suriname against the Walking Boyz Saturday. After a scoreless first half, the Islanders were able to come back to gain a 1-1 draw with Walking Boyz on a Jamie Cunningham goal. Cunningham, 23, is a defender in his first season with the Islanders after playing at Fort Lewis College and for PDL sides the El Paso Patriots, the Austin Aztex U-23 and the Victoria Highlanders.  The two teams meet in the second leg next Saturday, May 14,  at Juan Ramon Loubriel Stadium in Bayamon.

Week 6 of the NASL season sees two midweek games, as the hot Carolina RailHawks host the Fort Lauderdale Strikers on Wednesday while further south, FC Tampa Bay hosts FC Edmonton.  Both Wednesday night matches kick off at 7:00 pm ET.  On Saturday May 14, the Montreal Impact host Carolina in an afternoon match while on Saturday evening the Strikers host FC Tampa Bay in the much-anticipated Florida derby and NSC Minnesota continues its home stand in a clash with the Atlanta Silverbacks.

Barbara lead the NASL in goals with six, followed by Coudet and the Islanders’ Jonathan Fana with four each.  Carolina’s Brad Knighton has been called on for a league-leading 24 saves, while Minnesota’s Warren has made 22.  Despite their last-place standing, the Silverbacks are averaging 3,116 fans per match after four home games, fourth best in the league.