Will Host First Round Game
Going into the final game of a three-game road trip, the Carolina RailHawks had one of the six North American Soccer League playoff spots locked up.
They secured home field advantage in the first round of play with a 1-1 draw against the Tampa Bay Rowdies. Ty Shipalane scored the equalizer for the RailHawks midway through the second half after Andres Arango had given the Rowdies the lead in the 13th minute.
“After a slow start, we finished strong, creating dangerous chances. Unfortunately we were only able to finish the one,” said head coach Colin Clarke. “We were still able to come away with an important point and secure home field advantage for the quarterfinal match.”
The RailHawks have one final regular season game left to close out the regular season. That again will be against the Rowdies. As is tradition, the final regular season match will be Fan Appreciation Night and team awards will be handed out pregame and postgame.
The RailHawks will open the playoffs on Sept. 29. The top six teams earned playoff berths, with the top two receiving first round byes. The quarterfinal opponent for the RailHawks will be either the Fort Lauderdale Strikers or Minnesota Stars FC, depending on the outsome of those teams’ final regular season games.
Carolina moved into fourth place in the NASL standings, four points ahead of fifth place Fort Lauderdale. The draw with Tampa Bay followed a 2-2 draw against Edmonton on the recent road trip as well as a 2-1 win over top-seeded San Antonio.
Shipalane was named the NASL Offensive Player of the Week after leading the RailHawks on that road trip. He had the game-winner against the Scorpions.
Carolina received a boost earlier this month with the signings of defenders Henry Kalungi, and Jordan Graye, as well as forward Matt Luzunaris for the rest of the season.
Kalungi joins the RailHawks on loan from USL’s Richmond Kickers, where he has spent the last four seasons. The Ugandan defender appeared in 17 games this season for Richmond, logging in 1,526 minutes.
Graye spent two seasons in MLS after a successful career at the University of North Carolina. The former Tar Heel player played 20 games for DC United in 2010 before spending the 2011 season with the Houston Dynamo. He comes to the RailHawks as a free agent.
Luzunaris comes to the RailHawks on loan from Orlando City of the USL. The forward, just 23 years old, played in 18 matches scoring nine goals in the 2012 season. He spent three seasons playing in Europe before joining the San Jose Earthquakes of Major League Soccer in 2011 and was subsequently loaned to the Orlando City in 2011 before signing with the team permanently.
Earlier the RailHawks acquired midfielder Luke Sassano from Major League Soccer on a loan for the rest of the season. Sassano, 26, spent the last two years of his career with Sporting Kansas City after being drafted by New York Red Bulls in 2008.
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