NASL Week 8 Recap: Defense Dominates; RailHawks Continue Streak – Islanders Win Caribbean Championship

Shutouts were the rule of the day on this Memorial Day weekend as defense dominated NASL Week 8 play.  The league-leading Carolina RailHawks were the only team to dent the scoreboard as they beat the Atlanta Silverbacks on late goals 2-0, while the Fort Lauderdale Strikers and Montreal Impact played to a scoreless draw, as did host NSC Minnesota and FC Tampa Bay. The RailHawks now have a commanding nine point lead over 2nd place NSC Minnesota.

Elsewhere, in the Caribbean Football Union tournament, the Puerto Rico Islanders again were crowned champions and will head to the CONCACAF Champions League tournament this summer.

Carolina RailHawks 2-1 Atlanta Silverbacks

The Atlanta Silverbacks were about to earn their second consecutive shutout, but Etienne Barbara and the excellent form of the RailHawks were too much for the Silverbacks. Barbara, whose eight game consecutive goal-scoring streak was snapped, played the role of selfless, creative provider, assisting on both late Carolina goals to extend the club’s unbeaten streak to eight games and re-emphasize to the rest of the NASL that they are the team to beat this season.

Although Saturday’s match in Cary featured the NASL’s first-place RailHawks against the last-place Silverbacks, for most of the match the uninitiated would have had difficulty determining which club was atop the league and which in its cellar, as Atlanta brought its A game and Carolina, though playing well, seemed a tad out of sync for much of the match.

Credit RailHawks ‘keeper Brad Knighton with another superb performance. In the first half he denied an early header from Silverbacks defender Willie Hunt from a Raphael Cox corner kick, diving to his left to make the save. Ten minutes later, Knighton again denied two legit Atlanta scoring chances when he initially stopped a drive from forward Matt Horth and scrambled up to grab the rebound off the goalline before an onrushing Cox tapped it into the net. The speedy Cox looked threatening throughout the first half, holding the ball well and successfully taking on defenders with his dribbling skills.

Carolina’s best first half scoring opportunity came right before intermission as their dynamic frontline duo of Barbara and Pablo Campos teamed up. Barbara made a great flick from near the goalline to an awaiting Campos, who headed the ball into the goal, but the play was nullified because Campos’ hand touched the ball.

The second half continued in a similar vein, with neither team able to take a lead despite efforts from Campos and Atlanta’s Jordan Davis. But the veteran RailHawks averted a scoreless draw, as substitute Cory Elenio found Barbara open in the box. The NASL’s leading scorer chipped a perfect ball across the face of the goal to Campos, and the Brazilian provided the game-winner with a diving header past a helpless Felipe Quintero for his fifth tally of the year.

Atlanta threatened to draw even, but Knighton was able to make a key save in a crowd and Willie Hunt’s header went over the Carolina crossbar. The RailHawks nailed the door shut on Atlanta’s comeback attempt, though, as Barbara again played provider. In stoppage time, the Maltese attacker fed Alan Russell with another perfect pass across Atlanta’s goal that hit Russell in stride and the Scotsman netted for the final 2-0 score.

Another disappointing result for a hungry Atlanta side who couldn’t quite hold forth for an entire 90 minutes. It’s a tune getting too much play for Silverbacks’ fans. Perhaps illustrating the difference between the two teams is that Carolina Coach Martin Rennie could bring on D2 veterans like Elenio, Russell and Brian Farber in the latter stages of the match to help turn the tide, whereas Coach Jose Manuel Abundis had mainly inexperienced players to use as substitutes. Individually, Atlanta players such as Lucas Paulini continue to show that they belong but perhaps the acquisition of a veteran striker to help with finishing would get Atlanta on the winning side of the scoreboard.

Rennie acknowledged the problems that Carolina had with Atlanta. “It was a difficult night,” Rennie said. “We weren’t quite at our best for a while, but in the end, we did play well at the last, most important part. It was a bit frustrating in terms of some of our play and we were a bit flat in the first half, but ultimately that’s a record five wins in a row and we’ve got to be pleased with that. It also shows us every team is going to be hard for us to play against and we’ve got to be at our best every week.”  Carolina leads the league in goals with 20, 8 ahead of runner-up NSC Minnesota who’ve netted 12 times.  The RailHawks were without injured defender Devon McKenney; veteran Floyd Franks slid to the backline for the game and played well.

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Fort Lauderdale Strikers 0-0 Montreal Impact

With both the Strikers and Impact coming into Saturday’s game with only one victory each, both teams were looking for a win to get their season going.  Unfortunately for both Montreal Coach Marc Dos Santos and the Strikers’ Daryl Shore, the game ended as a scoreless draw.  The draw puts the Strikers’ season record at 1-5-2 while the Impact are now 1-4-2 but broke a two-game losing streak.

“Both teams were respecting each other too much during the first half. Both clubs were scared to make mistakes and to take risks,” noted Dos Santos. “The play was more open in the second half. We had our best scoring opportunity when we hit the post. A point on the road is never a bad thing, but you need to get the win in your next home game. It will be important to win against Edmonton.”

Fort Lauderdale outshot Montreal 10-4 on an evening when Montreal were without their most potent finisher, Ali Gerba, who has been called up to the Canadian National Gold Cup squad.  The Impact’s best chance of the game came early in the second half, when French midfielder Idriss Ech Chergui shook the goalpost with a point-blank shot.  Ech Chergui had an earlier chance denied by Strikers’ goalkeeper Matt Glaeser, and Anthony LeGall was also denied by the 2nd year pro en route to his second consecutive clean sheet of 2011.

Montreal’s veteran keeper Bill Gaudette earned his third shutout of the season as Montreal was also without injured veterans Nevio Pizzolitto and Luke Kreamalmeyer, while midfielder Leonardo di Lorenzo was absent due to suspension.  Despite a relatively thin squad,  Gaudette was not called on to make a save and D2 veteran Zurab Tsiskaridze keyed the club’s defense. David Testo showed his skill, making a sliding interception of a dangerous Eduardo Coudet pass to Martin Nunez late in the match. Coudet was probably the most threatening Striker of the evening, creating several chances for teammates and coming close on a couple of shots.

“We had our second shutout tonight and that’s definitely a positive,” said Head Coach Daryl Shore. “Defensively we’re playing well and now we have to keep going. Now the expectations are three home games to try and get nine points. At the end of the day we need points and we have to figure out a way to get them.”  For Striker Likers, another positive in the match was the appearance of Abe Thompson, the prolific scorer who’s been sidelined with injury. Thompson is a bona fide goal scorer, and his entrance into the game in the 75th minute had to be a boost to fans who are well aware that the Strikers have been held back this season in the standings by a lack of finishing. An in-form Thompson could well provide the remedy.

NSC Minnesota 0-0 FC Tampa Bay

Photo by Jeremy Olson - www.digitalgopher.net

Saturday night’s other scoreless draw left NSC Minnesota undefeated at home after the first two months of the 2011 season, and saw the Stars take back second place past the idle FC Edmonton team. For Ricky Hill’s FC Tampa Bay squad, the tie extended the club’s undefeated streak to three matches and kept them in fourth place in the NASL table, two points ahead of Fort Lauderdale.

Although the crowd of over 2,000 in Minnesota were denied the opportunity to see goals, they were treated to outstanding goalkeeping by hometown hero Joe Warren and his Tampa Bay counterpart, rookie Jeff Attinella, who made seven saves.  Both ‘keepers have won NASL Defensive Player of the Week honors this season, and again they proved their quality. Attinella denied Simone Bracalello several times throughout the game, and the Italian attacker also had an opportunity on a bicycle kick that went wide of goal. Attinella had help, too, as forward Aaron King swept away a headed ball from an onrushing Devin Del Do at the hour mark that had beaten Attinella and was headed into the net.

The Stars’ Warren also earned his shutout, with six saves over the evening.  His first save came on a Chad Burt long-distance free kick, which Warren knocked away for a corner kick.  The second half saw the Stars more dominant, but Warren still had to make saves on former Star Warren Ukah, Mike Ambersley and midfielder Tsuyoshi Yoshitake. Warren, too, had help as Amani Walker cleared Yoshitake’s shot out of danger after Warren had initially stopped it from the back of the net.

Coach Ricky Hill was conflicted about the result. “I have mixed emotions about tonight’s result,” said the FC Tampa Bay head coach. “We had opportunities again to get ourselves ahead in the match but we were not able to convert.”  The Stars, who unveiled their new alternative light-blue shirt/orange shorts kit Saturday night that are a tribute to the Minnesota Kicks of the old NASL, outshot FC Tampa Bay 20-11 and led in corner kicks accrued, 7-3.

NASL News

There’s no rest for the weary, as FC Tampa Bay heads from Minnesota to Edmonton for a Tuesday night tilt with the hot FC Edmonton side. Meanwhile, the NSC Minnesota Stars head in the opposite direction for a Wednesday night match at Juan Ramon Loubriel Stadium against the Puerto Rico Islanders.

Next Saturday sees a full slate of NASL matches. Montreal hosts FC Edmonton in an afternoon Canadian clash, while FC Tampa Bay return home to derail the RailHawks. NSC Minnesota continues its road trip with a game against the Atlanta Silverbacks, while Strikers Likers will get to see their favorite club host the Caribbean Football Union champion Puerto Rico Islanders.

Islanders Retain Caribbean Crown

Yes, the Islanders added another trophy to their crowded case.  The Islanders retained the CFU title with Friday night’s 3-1 win over Tempete FC of Haiti in Guyana.  An early goal by the Islanders’ Jay Needham wasn’t enough to give the Islanders the victory in regulation time as the teams played another half hour of extra time to settle the score.  Two goals by Dominican Jonathan Fana in the 99th and 112th minutes, though, secured the Islanders’ second consecutive CFU title.  The Islanders had already earned a berth in the CONCACAF tournament this summer with a win over Guyana’s Alpha United.

Assuming the Islanders can get past the preliminary stage’s two-legged series against El Salvador’s Isidro Metapán (first leg in mid-July, 2nd leg in early August), the Islanders will be again drawn into a tough CONCACAF group that includes the Colorado Rapids, Honduras’ Real España and the winner of the series between Mexico’s Santos Laguna and CD Olimpia of Honduras.