2012 Carolina RailHawks FC season

Carolina RailHawks
2012 season
Owner Traffic Sports USA
Manager Colin Clarke
Stadium WakeMed Soccer Park
NASL 4th
Playoffs semi-finals
U.S. Open Cup TBD
Home colors
Away colors
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2013 →

The 2012 Carolina RailHawks FC season was the sixth season of the club's existence. The RailHawks FC, played in the North American Soccer League, the second tier of the American soccer pyramid. The RailHawks are the defending NASL Regular Season Champions.

Review

April

The Carolina RailHawks opened the 2012 NASL season on the road April 7, playing the Minnesota Stars in the Metrodome. The game ended in a 0-0 draw with both teams earning their first point of the season.[1] They returned home to WakeMed Soccer Park April 14 where they earned a 4-4 draw against the Atlanta Silverbacks.[2] The RailHawks traveled to the Tampa Bay Rowdies on April 18 where they earned another draw, this time 1-1.[3] Carolina ended the month of April with back to back losses beginning with a 3-1 defeat away to the Puerto Rico Islanders.[4] On April 27 the RailHawks signed forward Zack Schilawski. Carolina concluded April with a 0-1 home loss to the San Antonio Scorpions.[5]

May

Carolina opened the month of May with a 3-3 draw at home against the Fort Lauderdale Strikers. This match saw Zack Schilawski make his first appearance for the RailHawks.[6] The RailHawks lost at FC Edmonton 3-0 on May 6 on a hat trick by Edmonton forward Shaun Saiko [7] followed by a 2-1 road loss to the Minnesota Stars on May 12. U.S. international prospect Gale Agbossoumonde made his RailHawks debut during the May 12 game at Minnesota after missing the first month of the regular season with a foot injury.[8] On May 18 the Carolina RailHawks announced the signing of midfielder Nick Millington and defender Jamie Finch. The RailHawks returned home on May 19 and earned a 1-1 draw against the Puerto Rico Islanders.[9]

May 22 marked the beginning of Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup play for the Carolina RailHawks. They earned a 6-0 win in their second round game against USASA team PSA Elite.[10] The following week the RailHawks played host to the Los Angeles Galaxy of Major League Soccer in the third round of the Open Cup in front of a record home attendance of 7,939. After an early Galaxy goal RailHawks forward Ty Shipalane scored an equalizer in the 75th minute and Brian Shriver scored on a pass from Shipalane in the 88th minute to see the RailHawks earn a 2-1 win.[11]

June

Carolina earned their first league win of 2012 on June 2 with a 2-1 home victory over the Puerto Rico Islanders. Ty Shipalane scored in the 88th minute to give the RailHawks the go ahead goal.[12] June 5 saw the end of the RailHawks’ 2012 U.S. Open Cup after a home defeat to MLS team Chivas USA. Juan Pablo Ángel converted a penalty kick in stoppage time to give Chivas the 2-1 win.[13] On June 9 the Railhawks scored a 5-1 victory over then NASL leading Minnesota Stars. Rookie defender Austen King scored his only goal of the 2012 season in the 24th minute.[14] Midfielder Chris Nurse returned to the RailHawks on June 14 after international duty where he captained the Guyana National Team in CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying losses to Mexico and Costa Rica.[15] Carolina earned a 2-0 road win against the Atlanta Silverbacks on June 16.[16] The following week the RailHawks returned home and secured a 2-0 win over FC Edmonton taking their league winning streak to four games. Bréiner Ortiz scored his first career goal for the RailHawks in the 38th minute on an assist from Schilawski.[17] The RailHawks ended the month of June in Fort Lauderdale where they suffered a 2-1 loss to the Fort Lauderdale Strikers.

Club

Roster

No. Position Player Nation
0 Midfielder Franks, FloydFloyd Franks      United States
1 Goalkeeper Fitzgerald, AkiraAkira Fitzgerald      United States
2 Defender Shields, GregGreg Shields      Scotland
3 Defender Low, KuponoKupono Low      United States
4 Midfielder Drake, TommyTommy Drake      United States
5 Midfielder Lowery, AmirAmir Lowery      United States
6 Defender Scott, JamesJames Scott      Costa Rica
6 Midfielder Warzycha, KonradKonrad Warzycha      Poland
7 Midfielder da Luz, AustinAustin da Luz      United States
8 Midfielder Sassano, LukeLuke Sassano      United States
9 Forward Garey, JasonJason Garey      United States
10 Midfielder Palacio, MikeMike Palacio      United States
11 Midfielder Shipalane, TyTy Shipalane      South Africa
12 Goalkeeper Platter, NicolasNicolas Platter      United States
13 Forward Ackley, BrianBrian Ackley      United States
14 Midfielder Millington, NickNick Millington      Guyana
15 Defender King, AustenAusten King      United States
16 Defender Finch, JamieJamie Finch      United States
17 Defender Agbossoumonde, GaleGale Agbossoumonde      Togo
18 Goalkeeper Burse, RayRay Burse      United States
20 Midfielder Ortiz, BréinerBréiner Ortiz      Colombia
21 Forward Shriver, BrianBrian Shriver      United States
22 Forward Schilawski, ZackZack Schilawski      United States
23 Forward Zimmerman, NickNick Zimmerman      United States
24 Defender Kalungi, HenryHenry Kalungi      Uganda
25 Defender Stockley, SamSam Stockley      England
26 Midfielder Elenio, CoryCory Elenio      United States
27 Defender Krause, JohnJohn Krause      United States
28 Defender Graye, JordanJordan Graye      United States
30 Midfielder Nurse, ChrisChris Nurse      Guyana
31 Forward Luzunaris, MattMatt Luzunaris      United States
32 Defender Willis, JustinJustin Willis      United States

Coaching Staff

Competitions

Preseason

North American Soccer League

Standings

Pos
 Team
 Pld
 W
 D
 L
 GF
 GA
 GD
 Pts
Promotion or qualification
1 San Antonio Scorpions (C) 28 13 8 7 46 27+19 47 2012 NASL Playoffs semifinals
2 Tampa Bay Rowdies 28 12 9 7 37 30+7 45
3 Puerto Rico Islanders 28 11 8 9 32 30 +2 41 2012 NASL Playoffs quarterfinals
4 Carolina RailHawks 28 10 10 8 44 46−2 40
5 Fort Lauderdale Strikers 28 9 9 10 40 46−6 36
6 Minnesota United 28 8 11 9 34 33+1 35
7 Atlanta Silverbacks 28 7 9 12 35 46−11 30
8 FC Edmonton 28 5 10 13 26 36−10 25

Updated to games played on 23 September 2012.
Source: NASL Standings
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (E) = Eliminated; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.
Only applicable when the season is not finished:
(Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament indicated; (TQ) = Qualified to tournament, but not yet to the particular phase indicated; (RQ) = Qualified to the relegation tournament indicated; (DQ) = Disqualified from tournament.
 (C) = Commissioner's Cup (regular season champion)

Results summary

OverallHomeAway
PldWDLGFGAGDPtsWDLGFGAGDWDLGFGAGD
28 10 10 8 44 46 −2 40 6 6 2 29 21 +8 4 4 6 15 25 −10

Last updated: September 22, 2012.
Source: Match results

Match results

Playoffs

Tampa Bay advances 5 - 4 on aggregate.

U.S. Open Cup

Further information: 2012 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup

See also

References