NASL Week 14 Recap: Carolina Streak Ends, Atlanta Wins on the Road

NASL Week 14 consisted of two reversals of fortune, as NSC Minnesota beat the Carolina RailHawks 1-0 Saturday to break Carolina’s 13 game unbeaten streak, while the Atlanta Silverbacks got only their second win of the season, holding on for a 3-2 victory in Fort Lauderdale over the Strikers.  Also on Saturday, FC Tampa Bay and the Puerto Rico Islanders split points in a 1-1 draw in Bayamon.  The two Canadian NASL clubs were idle this weekend.

Fort Lauderdale 2-3 Atlanta Silverbacks

Coach Jose Manuel Abundis and his Atlanta Silverbacks earned their first road victory of 2011 with their 3-2 win over Fort Lauderdale Saturday night.  Youth was successfully served by Atlanta, as all three goals were scored by players 23 years old or younger: Matt Horth (22), Lucas Paulini (22) and Ciaran O’Brien (23).  The win was the second of 2011 for the struggling Silverbacks, while Fort Lauderdale lost for the second consecutive time after establishing a six game undefeated streak.

The Strikers got on the board quickly, as setpiece maestro Eduardo Coudet hurriedly launched a free kick that found veteran Abe Thompson in front of goal, and Thompson notched for his second goal of the year in the game’s 7th minute.  The Silverbacks were able to equalize ten minutes later, though, as Islanders’ loanee Junior Sandoval, 20, crossed to rookie Paulini, who netted his second goal of the season.  O’ Brien, who scored twice over the holiday weekend against Puerto Rico, launched a curling free kick that beat Strikers’ June NASL Player of the month, Matt Glaeser, to hoist the Silverbacks to a 2-1 lead in the 32nd minute.

The Silverbacks kept their poise in the second half, and upped their lead to two goals when Horth connected just past the hour mark against the run of play, as the Strikers were pushing for a goal.  The Strikers did get their second goal in the 74th minute as former DC United and Hertha Berlin player Bryan Arguez tallied for his first 2011 goal, which heartened the 2,661 fans on hand at Lockhart Stadium.  But for Strikers’ Likers, it wasn’t enough as the Silverbacks were able to hold onto the lead and come out with a rare victory.

All in all, it was a forgettable night for Fort Lauderdale. Losing to the NASL’s last place club at home before their smallest crowd of the season had to be disheartening, especially coupled with the facts that the loss allowed upstate rivals FC Tampa Bay to slide past them into fifth place and that midfielder Cristian Arrieta will be suspended for their next match due to a red card.  As coach Daryl Shore said afterwards, “We got a good start to the game, got the goal, then gave up defensively.”  Probably the biggest positive for the Strikers was Arguez getting his first goal of the season.

For Atlanta, perhaps the tide is turning a bit?  Forward Matt Horth now has four goals on the season, while O’Brien has three and 20-year-old Junior Sandoval got his second assist after scoring last week.  The defense hung on and didn’t surrender the lead, as has happened too often for the young squad.  At least the team is scoring now, and hopefully for Silverbacks’ fans, brighter days are ahead.

Puerto Rico Islanders 1-1 FC Tampa Bay

The Islanders remain unbeaten at Juan Ramon Loubriel Stadium this season following their 1-1 draw with FC Tampa Bay, extending their current unbeaten streak to five games.  FC Tampa Bay now have a three game unbeaten streak, and are only four points behind fourth-place NSC Minnesota in the NASL standings.

FC Tampa Bay midfielder Pascal Millien again factored heavily in this match, for better and for worse.  Millien, who gained NASL Offensive Player of the Week honors for his performance against Fort Lauderdale on the holiday weekend, gained his fourth assist of the season with a back heel flick to forward Aaron King, who beat Ray Burse to give FC Tampa Bay a 1-0 lead in the 18th minute.  King’s goal was his third of the season, and second in a week.  It looks as if he is regaining the goalscoring form he displayed in 2010 while leading FC Tampa Bay with 12 goals.

Rookie Jeff Attinella kept FC Tampa Bay in the game as he made eight saves while the Islanders fired 22 shots in the match, 11 of which were on frame.  But Millien turned from hero to goat in the 71st minute as he picked up his second yellow card in ten minutes and was ejected from the contest.  Eleven minutes following the Haitian’s ejection, David Foley netted his third goal of the year and gave Colin Clarke’s Islanders a split of the points.

“I was pleased overall with the commitment and attitude from the players,” said FC Tampa Bay head coach Ricky Hill. “It would have been nice to get the three points, but we certainly earned a point tonight.”  Hill added that “I thought we came out playing well in the second half and I was disappointed with the second yellow card that went against us at that time.  Puerto Rico kept pressing and the ball ended up in the net.”

Clarke was without his fantastic forward Jonathan  Faña, who deservedly was called up for the Dominican Republic national team’s World Cup qualifier.

NSC Minnesota 1-0 Carolina RailHawks

Photo by Jeremy Olson - www.digitalgopher.net

The NSC Minnesota Stars made a statement in stopping the RailHawks streak, which included ten consecutive victories.  (see earlier story)

A few notes:
The 36-year-old veteran Joe Warren, who retired in the offseason only to be lured back, saved the game for the Stars by making a huge penalty kick save against the NASL’s most lethal scorer, Carolina’s Etienne Barbara.

Manny Lagos has been working the young Amani Walker, 21, into the lineup and Walker responded with his first professional goal in stoppage time to hand the Stars the three points. He has been close to scoring nearly every week when he has been inserted into the lineup late in games. This week he did score for the dramatic game winner. Talk about timing.

The Carolina RailHawks and their coach, Martin Rennie, are clearly the class of the league.  The team’s 2011 performance has been dominant, and although their streak was finally ended, don’t be surprised if the RailHawks begin another long undefeated streak starting with their next match.  The club has shown this season what high level of quality can be achieved by a D2 club in North America, and hats off to them.

NASL News

The upcoming week features two NASL midweek matches and three on the weekend.  On Wednesday, the Montreal Impact return to action while hosting the Fort Lauderdale Strikers, while later that evening FC Edmonton hosts league-leading Carolina in what should be a very tasty matchup.  On Sunday, Montreal remain at home to host the Atlanta Silverbacks in a Saputo Stadium afternoon fixture, while later FC Edmonton host FC Tampa Bay and the NSC Minnesota Stars try to capitalize on the momentum of their win over Carolina when hosting the Puerto Rico Islanders.

The Islanders’ Jonathan Faña, second in the NASL in goals, scored in both legs of the Dominican Republic’s wins over Anguilla as the Dominicans now advance, along with the U.S. Virgin Islands and the Bahamas, into the 24-nation CONCACAF World Cup qualifying groups that will be drawn in Rio de Janiero at the end of July.  The 24 nations will be drawn into six groups of four teams, with the six group winners advancing to join Mexico, the U.S., Jamaica, Honduras, Costa Rica and Cuba in the final round of qualifying matches for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

On Thursday, Ricky Hill’s FC Tampa Bay side will host the EPL’s Bolton Wanderers in a friendly in St. Petersburg at 7:30 pm ET.  Bolton have been in the EPL for eleven consecutive seasons and Owen Coyle’s plucky club are led by EPL veterans Kevin Davies, Gary Cahill and goalkeeper Jussi  Jääskeläinen. American standout midfielder Stuart Holden is also part of the Bolton side, but continues to be sidelined as he rehabs for the injury sustained when he took a cleat to his knee in a game against Manchester United late in the season. Holden is expected to be ready for the start of the Premiership season.

This is Bolton’s second consecutive summer tour of the U.S.  The Wanderers, established in 1874, will also play USL PRO side Orlando City SC and the Houston Dynamo of MLS.