The Carolina Railhawks will play host to the New York Cosmos this Saturday at Wake Med Soccer Park, where they will look to not only bounce back from a trough road stretch last week, but also to seek revenge from a controversial match versus the Cosmos last Spring. The two NASL teams are coming into Saturday’s clash with very different levels of momentum. The New York Cosmos, who are first in the combined standings and fifth in the fall standings, bring a five-game undefeated streak into Cary, North Carolina, having outscored their opponents ten to six over that stretch. The Carolina Railhawks, who are sixth in the combined standings and eighth in the fall standings, are carrying the weight of a four-game winless streak on their backs, having been outscored nine to two, and searching for answers on all ends of the pitch. The beacon of hope for the Railhawks is that they have history on their side, with favorable home results, as well as the Cosmos mediocre road performances this season.
The Railhawks have been a Jekyll and Hyde team this year between home and away performances. At home this year, they only have one loss, which stretches back to April 18th verses San Antonio, and they have not allowed more than two goals to any team they have hosted this season. The Cosmos, despite being NASL’s strongest team overall this year, have shown away games to be their humanizing kryptonite. The Cosmos have only won one matchup on the road this season, and have an even goal differential at nine goals scored and allowed. Throughout the season, the Cosmos seem to either play up or down to their road hosts’ talent level, which is one of the keys to the game for Carolina to exploit.
The last time these two teams went head-to-head, it was a perfect soccer weather night in the Spring season, where everything was going the Railhawks way the entire 90-minute match, having built a two-nil lead heading in to stoppage time. The ref, having indicated five minutes of stoppage time, gave the Railhawks an idea for how long they would need to stave off a final Cosmos push in front of the largest Wake Med crowd of the young Spring season. Prophetically, the two-nil lead lived up to its reputation as being the most dangerous lead in soccer, since a couple minutes into stoppage time, a valiant defensive effort by Futty Danso accidently lead to an own-goal, cutting the fragile lead down to one. As the clock continued to tick past the 95-minute mark, the fans were too tense to celebrate until the final whistle official blew. Unfortunately for the Railhawks and fans alike, the ref appeared to have lost his whistle for a few minutes, allowing the match to play on for a few minutes longer, and was capped off with a 97-minute heartbreaking goal by the Cosmos’s Mejia. The two-two draw felt like a one-two punch to the gut for every Railhawks fan, as they had to stomach losing a two-goal lead in a controversially long stoppage time. This Saturday, expect the Railhawks fans to be fueled by these memories to help cheer on their home Railhawks to a better outcome.
With a Railhawks win, and a few other favorable results around the league, they can jump back up to fifth place in the combined season standings, and just a few points away from a coveted top-four playoff position. The game will kick off at 7:30pm ET, and can be caught locally on WRAL-2, as well as nationally on ESPN3. Keep an eye out for any developing story lines this game, since the next time the Railhawks take the pitch, it will be away at the New York Cosmos for a Sunday match on August 30th.
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