|
Carolina RailHawks is an American professional soccer team based in Cary, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 2006, the team plays in the North American Soccer League (NASL), the second tier of the American Soccer Pyramid. The team plays its home games at WakeMed Soccer Park, where they have played since 2007. The team's colors are orange, white and blue. The current head coach is Colin Clarke. ==History== The expansion of the USL to Cary, NC was announced on January 26, 2006 at a press conference at SAS Soccer Park (since renamed WakeMed Soccer Park). After a few changes in the 2008 off season the RailHawks ownership group consisted of: Wellman Family Limited partnership (Selby and Brian Wellman), HTCFC. INC (Bob Young former CEO of Red Hat, presently founder and CEO of LULU.com), Singh Holdings (Dr. H. Paul Singh) and Boris Jerkunica. After the 2010 season, Traffic Sports USA took ownership. On October 11, 2006, former Rochester Rhinos defender Scott Schweitzer was named the first head coach of the RailHawks. Schweitzer played collegiately at North Carolina State University and retired from play prior to the 2006 season. On December 5, 2006, the RailHawks named the first players to sign with the franchise. Among the signings were two former UNC Tar Heel players, Chris Carrieri and Caleb Norkus, as well as several other players with Major League Soccer, United Soccer Leagues, and foreign playing experience. The club launched their inaugural season on April 21, 2007, in front of a crowd of 6,327 at SAS Soccer Park 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.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Carolina RailHawks 1:1 Minnesota Thunder (Box Score) )〕 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 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. In November 2009 the RailHawks announced their intent to leave the USL First Division to become the co-founders of a new North American Soccer League, which would begin play in 2010. The league, which had yet to be sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation or the Canadian Soccer Association, also comprised the Atlanta Silverbacks, Crystal Palace Baltimore, Miami FC, Minnesota Thunder, Montreal Impact, Tampa Bay Rowdies, Vancouver Whitecaps and a brand new team led by St. Louis Soccer United. After lawsuits were filed and heated press statements exchanged, the USSF declared they would sanction neither league for the coming year, and ordered both to work together on a plan to temporarily allow their teams to play a 2010 season. The interim solution was announced on January 7, 2010 with the USSF running the new USSF D-2 league comprising clubs from both USL-1 and NASL. The Railhawks reached the final of the USSF D-2 playoffs, but fell to the Puerto Rico Islanders.〔http://www.indyweek.com/triangleoffense/archives/2010/10/31/puerto-rico-islanders-derail-carolina-railhawks-3-1-on-aggregate-win-ussf-d-2-championship〕 After the 2010 season, the NASL and USL split, but the Railhawks faced sale by Selby Wellman on December 31, 2010. The Railhawks name was sold on Ebay and was purchased by Traffic Sports USA, who assumed operations of the club. The NASL received provisional sanctioning in 2011 and full sanctioning in 2012. The Railhawks won the regular season in 2011 but fell to the NSC Minnesota Stars in the semifinals of playoffs.〔http://www.insidemnsoccer.com/2011/10/18/carolina-railhawks-vs-nsc-minnesota-stars-semifinal-video-highlights/〕 The club hired Colin Clarke as coach after Martin Rennie left for the Vancouver Whitecaps.〔http://www.insidemnsoccer.com/2011/12/06/nasl-news-railhawks-officially-announce-signing-of-colin-clarke-lancaster-leaves-strikers-for-silverbacks-scorpions-readying-for-1st-season/〕 In 2012, the Railhawks finished 4th in the regular season and fell to the Tampa Bay Rowdies in the semifinals of the playoffs, while reaching the third round of the US Open Cup.〔http://www.carolinarailhawks.com/page/slug/history#.U7YiW_ldWSo〕 In 2013 the NASL's format changed to a split season, and though the Railhawks finished with the most points in the league, they finished 2nd in both the Spring and Fall seasons and did not make the Soccer Bowl. However, they defeated MLS teams Los Angeles Galaxy and Chivas USA to advance to the quarterfinals of the US Open Cup.〔http://www.carolinarailhawks.com/page/slug/history#.U7YiW_ldWSo〕 In 2014, the RailHawks again defeated Chivas USA and Los Angeles Galaxy to reach quarterfinals of the US Open Cup, but fell just short of reaching the NASL playoffs. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア(Wikipedia)』 ■ウィキペディアで「Carolina RailHawks」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|