NASL Week 22 Recap: RailHawks Rolling Again, Atlanta Halts Islanders’ Streak

Week 22 of the NASL season saw a full slate of Saturday games as the Carolina RailHawks extended their lead over second place Puerto Rico to nine points by defeating FC Tampa Bay 2-0, while the Islanders’ unbeaten streak ended with a 2-0 loss to the Atlanta Silverbacks. The Fort Lauderdale Strikers got back on the winning trail with a 1-0 win over the Montreal Impact while FC Edmonton took advantage of a slumping NSC Minnesota Stars side by winning 3-1.

Carolina RailHawks 2-0 FC Tampa Bay

Photo by Rob Kinnan – www.robkinnanphotography.com

Martin Rennie’s RailHawks lifted their season record to an incredible 17-3-4 mark with their 2-0 victory over FC Tampa Bay Saturday at WakeMed Soccer Park.  Both sides played most of the second half shorthanded as Carolina’s Etienne Barbara and Tampa Bay’s Andres Arango were sent off after a tussle in which Barbara received a straight red card while Arango received a yellow, his second of the match.

Pablo Campos gave the RailHawks a lead they wouldn’t surrender at the 19th minute mark when he headed in a Kupono Low corner kick. The goal was Campos’ 10th of the season. Campos added another goal in the 38th minute when he converted a pass from Brian Farber. The Brazilian Campos, a former MLSer, has been overshadowed by the season that teammate Barbara is having, but also has contributed much to the success of this year’s RailHawks, and is now tied for second behind Barbara for the NASL lead in goal-scoring with FC Tampa Bay’s Mike Ambersley. RailHawks goalkeeper Brad Knighton notched another clean sheet and continues to lead NASL goalkeepers in minutes played.

NASL August Player of the Month Ambersley was absent from the FC Tampa Bay lineup, as he had to sit out the match because of yellow-card accumulation.  Also missing were Haitian playmaker Pascal Millien and defender JP Rodrigues, both out with injury. FC Tampa Bay remains in the NASL third spot with 34 points, only one ahead of FC Edmonton.

“I was disappointed in the manner in which we conceded their first goal,” said FC Tampa Bay head coach Ricky Hill. “We failed to fulfill our assignments on the play and that changed the dynamics of the game at that point.”

Meanwhile, Coach Rennie has his team focused on winning the regular season title. “We’re really close,” said RailHawks coach Rennie. “The thing is, you’ve got to play the next game and get the results. Our focus is doing as well as we possibly can in the regular season. Since the start of the season, we’ve tried to win every game that we play, and we have won a lot of games. That’s a record for the franchise, and we want to make it a record that’s going to be really hard for any team to ever catch. We just have to focus on winning.”

New acquisition Tyler Lassiter started for the RailHawks, pairing up with newcomer Gareth Evans at the back in the RailHawks lineup before the 3,000 plus fans in attendance.

Atlanta Silverbacks 2-0 Puerto Rico Islanders

The Atlanta Silverbacks notched their fourth win of the season in impressive fashion at home by shutting out the short-handed Puerto Rico Islanders 2-0 Saturday.

Islanders Noah Delgado, Richard Martinez, Scott Jones and Petter Villegas were in the starting lineup for the Puerto Rico National Team’s scoreless draw with St. Kitts and Nevis Friday night, with Islanders rookie Tyler Wilson on the bench. (The RailHawks’ John Krause and the Strikers’ Cristian Arrieta also started for Puerto Rico.) Also, the Islanders are in the midst of a busy schedule currently, so Atlanta had some big advantages going into their home match.  But as always, it is one thing to have advantages, and another to use them to gain three points.

And Coach Jose Manuel Abundis’ Silverbacks squad did. Forward Matt Horth was the hero of the game for the Atlantans, scoring both goals. The NASL’s leading rookie scorer netted his first goal in the 28th minute from a Shane Moroney throw-in, and quickly added his 8th of the season when he took a pass from Raphael Cox and beat Islanders’ keeper Ray Burse.

The Islanders’ attack wasn’t lifeless despite the missing players, but the Silverbacks’ Jimmy Maurer was up to the challenges provided by Yaikel Perez, Matt Bouraee and former teammate Junior Sandoval, who returned to La Tropa Naranja from his loan deal with the Silverbacks. Maurer earned his clean sheet by making diving to push away Bouraee’s second half chance.

Although already eliminated from playoff contention, the win gives the young Silverbacks their 15th point of the season. The loss eliminates any real chance of the valiant Islanders catching NASL top dogs Carolina, but they remain comfortably in second place, eleven points ahead of FC Tampa Bay.

FC Edmonton 3-1 NSC Minnesota

After a strong first half performance, the NSC Minnesota Stars melted down and allowed three FC Edmonton goals to lose 3-1 at Foote Field Saturday night. The Stars have now lost five of their last six games, dropping to the last NASL playoff spot.  They still, however, lead the outside-looking-in Montreal Impact by four points.

The Stars’ outstanding first half performance only gained them a 1-0 lead at halftime courtesy of Brian Cvilikas’ header. Kyle Yamada began the road-weary Eddies’ second half comeback with a header from a Kyle Porter cross. Shaun Saiko scored the game-winner and D2 veteran Daniel Antoniuk scoring the Eddies’ insurance goal. The Eddies are now 9-6-10, one point behind third place FC Tampa Bay, while the Stars fall to a 7-8-9 mark.

For more on the match, click here.

Fort Lauderdale Strikers 1-0 Montreal Impact

Strikers’ loanee Gerson Mayen scored the game’s only goal in the 71st minute to give the Strikers a much needed three points before a smallish crowd of 2,477 at Lockhart Stadium Saturday night. The defeat ended the Impacts’ four game unbeaten streak that had launched them towards a playoff spot from their dismal 2011 start. Goalkeeper Matt Glaeser recorded the clean sheet for the Strikers.

For more on the match, click here.

NASL News

With the NASL playoffs only a month away, there will be a great deal of action this coming week. On Tuesday, NSC Minnesota hosts FC Tampa Bay, with the Florida side looking to clinch a playoff berth with a result in Minnesota. On Wednesday, the Islanders host the Montreal Impact, while the RailHawks travel to Lockhart Stadium to take on the Fort Lauderdale Strikers and FC Edmonton welcome the Atlanta Silverbacks.

Next weekend,  the Islanders and Stars are again at home as the Islanders host FC Tampa Bay and NSC Minnesota take on Atlanta Saturday. On Sunday, Montreal plays an afternoon match at Saputo Stadium featuring the Carolina RailHawks while FC Edmonton host the Fort Lauderdale Strikers at Foote Field.