2007 Carolina RailHawks FC season

The Carolina RailHawks launched their inaugural season on April 21, 2007, in front of a crowd of 6,327 at SAS Soccer Park in Cary, North Carolina when they drew 1–1 with the Minnesota Thunder in their first official regular season match. Midfielder Kupono Low scored the first goal in franchise history when he blasted a 24-yard left-footed shot past Thunder keeper Joe Warren in the 8th minute of the inaugural match.[1] On May 8, 2007, the RailHawks earned their first franchise victory 2–0 against Chivas USA in an exhibition match.

On August 14, 2007, with a 3–0 victory over the Charleston Battery, the Carolina RailHawks secured their first piece of silverware, the 2007 Southern Derby Cup, with one match remaining in the contest. The RailHawks finished their first USL-1 season in 8th place in the league table, securing the league's final playoff spot on the last day of the regular season with a 2–0 victory away over fellow expansion franchise the California Victory. The RailHawks were eliminated from the playoff quarterfinals by the eventual league champion Seattle Sounders.

2007 Competitions

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Competition Record Result Home Matches Home Attendance Avg. Home Attendance
USL First Division Regular Season 8-12-8 8th Place 14 71,735 5,124
USL First Division Playoffs 0-2 Quarterfinals 1 923 923
U.S. Open Cup 4-1 Semifinals 4 13,447 3,362
Southern Derby 3-0-1 Champion 2 9,587 4,794
Exhibitions 1-1-0 N/A 2 13,705 6,853
All Competitions 13-16-8 N/A 21 99,810 4,753

2007 squad

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Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
0 GK   USA Chris McClellan
1 GK   EIR John O'Hara
2 DF   USA David Stokes
3 MF   USA Kupono Low
4 DF   USA Demetrius Donald
5 MF   GHA Philip Kutsu
6 MF   TRI Joel John Bailey
7 MF   BRA Marcio Leite
8 FW   NGA Connally Edozien
9 FW   LBR McColm Cephas
10 FW   TRI Kevin Jeffrey
11 MF   USA Chris Carrieri
12 FW   USA Anthony Maher
13 DF   USA Matthew Maher
No. Pos. Nation Player
14 DF   USA Caleb Norkus
15 DF   USA Frank Sanfilippo
16 DF   USA Cooper Friend
17 MF   USA Eric Kaufman
18 DF   ENG Stuart Brightwell
19 MF   USA David Sartorio
20 MF   USA Mark Jonas
21 MF   ARG Santiago Fusilier
22 MF   NIR Jonny Steele
23 DF   USA Chad Dombrowski
24 MF   USA Joey Worthen
25 MF   USA Phillip Long
26 MF   USA Jon Caldwell
27 MF   USA Dario Brose

Transfers: OUT - Sola Abolaji to Vancouver Whitecaps (7/27/2007); IN - Joel John Bailey from Vancouver Whitecaps (7/27/2007)

2007 Staff

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Coach -   Scott Schweitzer
Assistant Coach -   Damon Nahas
Assistant Coach -   Mark Girard Oldest coach in the usa Goalkeeping Coach -   David Noyes
Equipment Manager -   Steven Economides
Trainer -   Elise Caceres

2007 Schedule

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Date Opponent Location Time (ET) Result
Sat, Mar 24 Wake Forest University (exhibition) SAS Soccer Park, Field #2 7:00 PM 1-3 L
Sat, Mar 31 North Carolina Tar Heels (exhibition) SAS Soccer Park, Field #2 7:00 PM 0-1 L
Wed, Apr 4 Charlotte Eagles (exhibition) SAS Soccer Park, Field #2 7:00 PM 1-3 L
Sat, Apr 7 Richmond Kickers (exhibition) University of Richmond Stadium 7:00 PM 1-3 L
Fri, Apr 13 Duke University (exhibition) Koskinen Stadium, Durham, NC 7:00 PM 1-3 L
Sat, Apr 21 Minnesota Thunder SAS Soccer Park, Cary, NC 7:30 PM 1-1 D
Sat, Apr 28 Atlanta Silverbacks SAS Soccer Park, Cary, NC 7:30 PM 0-0 D
Fri, May 4 Puerto Rico Islanders SAS Soccer Park, Cary, NC 7:30 PM 0-0 D
Sat, May 5 Atlanta Silverbacks Silverbacks Park, Atlanta, GA 7:55 PM 0-2 L
Tue, May 8 Chivas USA (exhibition) SAS Soccer Park, Cary, NC 7:30 PM 2-0 W
Sat, May 12 Atlanta Silverbacks^^ Silverbacks Park, Atlanta, GA 7:55 PM 1-2 W
Sat, May 19 Charleston Battery SAS Soccer Park, Cary, NC 7:30 PM 1-0 W
Wed, May 23 Seattle Sounders Qwest Field, Seattle, WA 10:00 PM 0-1 L
Fri, May 25 Vancouver Whitecaps Swangard Stadium Burnaby, BC 10:00 PM 0-1 W
Sun, May 27 Portland Timbers PGE Park, Portland, OR 9:00 PM 0-0 D
Fri, Jun 8 Rochester Raging Rhinos SAS Soccer Park, Cary, NC 7:30 PM 2-2 D
Tue, Jun 12 RWB Adria^^^ SAS Soccer Park, Cary, NC 7:30 PM 4-1 W
Fri, Jun 15 Seattle Sounders^ SAS Soccer Park, Cary, NC 8:00 PM 0-1 L
Sat, Jun 23 Charleston Battery^^ SAS Soccer Park, Cary, NC 7:30 PM

2-0 W

Tue, Jun 26 Bavarian SC^^^ SAS Soccer Park, Cary, NC 7:30 PM 4-0 W
Tue, Jul 3 Vancouver Whitecaps SAS Soccer Park, Cary, NC 8:00 PM 0-0 D
Fri, Jul 6 Rochester Raging Rhinos^ PAETEC Park, Rochester, NY 8:00 PM 1-2 L
Sun, Jul 8 Montreal Impact Sherbrooke University Stadium, Sherbrooke, QC 4:00 PM 2-2 D
Fri, Jul 13 Montreal Impact SAS Soccer Park, Cary, NC 7:30 PM 0-1 L
Sun, Jul 15 Chicago Fire^^^ SAS Soccer Park, Cary, NC 7:30 PM 1-0 W
Fri, Jul 20 Miami FC Tropical Park Stadium, Miami, FL 7:30 PM 1-2 L
Sun, Jul 22 Puerto Rico Islanders Estadio Juan Ramón Loubriel, Bayamon, PR 5:00 PM 1-3 L
Wed, Jul 25 Cruz Azul (exhibition) SAS Soccer Park, Cary, NC 8:00 PM 0-2 L
Sat, Jul 28 Miami FC SAS Soccer Park, Cary, NC 7:30 PM 1-4 L
Wed, Aug 1 Montreal Impact Complexe sportif Claude-Robillard, Montreal, QC 7:30 PM 1-4 L
Fri, Aug 3 California Victory^ SAS Soccer Park, Cary, NC 8:00 PM 2-0 W
Tue, Aug 7 Richmond Kickers^^^ SAS Soccer Park, Cary, NC 7:30 PM 1-0 W
Fri, Aug 10 Rochester Raging Rhinos PAETEC Park, Rochester, NY 7:35 PM 0-2 L
Tue, Aug 14 Charleston Battery^^ Blackbaud Stadium, Charleston, SC 7:30 PM 3-0 W
Fri, Aug 17 Atlanta Silverbacks^^ SAS Soccer Park, Cary, NC 7:30 PM

0-0 D

Sun, Aug 26 Montreal Impact SAS Soccer Park, Cary, NC 6:00 PM 1-0 W
Sat, Sep 1 Portland Timbers SAS Soccer Park, Cary, NC 7:30 PM 0-1 L
Tue, Sept 4 New England Revolution^^^ Veteran's Stadium, New Britain, CN 7:30 PM 2-1(aet) L Archived 2007-09-28 at the Wayback Machine
Thu, Sep 6 Minnesota Thunder James Griffin Stadium, St. Paul, MN 8:05 PM 0-5 L
Sat, Sep 8 California Victory Kezar Stadium, San Francisco, CA 10:00 PM 0-2 W
Fri, Sep 14 Seattle Sounders^^^^ SAS Soccer Park, Cary, NC 7:30 PM 0-2 L
Sun, Sep 16 Seattle Sounders^^^^ Qwest Field, Seattle, WA 6:00 PM 0-1 L

^ Televised nationally on Fox Soccer Channel

^^ Southern Derby fixtures

^^^ U.S. Open Cup fixtures

^^^^ USL-1 Playoffs fixtures

References

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  1. ^ "Carolina RailHawks 1:1 Minnesota Thunder (Box Score)". Archived from the original on May 14, 2007. Retrieved April 22, 2007.