CARY - The kids who had been invited onto the field for the opening ceremonies had barely found their seats when Kupono Low fired a shot into the net from 20 yards out, officially the greatest moment in Carolina RailHawks franchise history, a history only eight minutes old.

Low ran all the way to midfield, sliding into a pile of his teammates at the bench, a feel-good moment on a night full of them as opening night went swimmingly for the RailHawks two weeks ago.

The stands at SAS Soccer Park held more than 6,000 fans in a stadium built to hold 7,000. There were lines at the merchandise tent and at the concession stands, even to get into the parking lots.

On a beautiful warm spring evening, the RailHawks' prospects for success appeared promising. For their second of 14 home games last week, they announced an attendance of 5,082 fans, and they host the Puerto Rico Islanders tonight.

Seven of the USL's 12 teams, one level below MLS, have hosted home games so far; only Portland, Ore., has averaged more fans than the RailHawks. Despite two draws on the field, that's a solid start in the stands as they fight the Triangle's reputation as the place where minor league teams go to die.

"You can't say that because there are 30,000 kids playing soccer in the market that will translate into people coming to games," said Chris Economides, the RailHawks' president and general manager. "That's not the case. We're competing with high school sports, movies, a lot of other things in the area.

"We have to make it fun for our fans and winning will help, to a certain degree. We've got to keep working hard and doing the little things it takes to keep fans happy."

Though the Durham Bulls and Carolina Mudcats baseball teams have carved out their respective niches, the playing fields of the Triangle are a wasteland of half-baked and all-but-ignored fringe teams that were often as good at losing games as losing money.

Two previous incarnations of soccer, one at the level of the RailHawks. Minor league basketball (three times). Pro softball. Team tennis.

That dismal minor league history makes for a great punchline, particularly when it's someone else's money on the line. But some of those teams were off to promising futures, only to fizzle down the road under circumstances beyond their control.

The RailHawks' immediate forerunner was the Carolina Courage. The women's pro soccer team often filled the stands at SAS but folded, along with the undercapitalized and overextended league, after three seasons.

While the Courage was near the bottom of the WUSA in attendance, it was considered one of the league's model franchises when the league collapsed, dragging the Courage down with it.

The Carolina Cobras brought arena football to the RBC Center in the spring of 2000, averaging more than 13,000 fans a game. It's easy to forget now, but for two summers, before the novelty wore off, the Cobras were cool.

When the Carolina Hurricanes made the NHL playoffs in 2001 and 2002, crowds to see the Cobras became skimpier than the costumes worn by their dance team -- even before the AFL moved to a spring schedule that would have put the Cobras head-to-head with the Hurricanes and N.C. State basketball.

Faced with inevitable defeat, the Cobras surrendered in 2003 and fled for Charlotte and their eventual demise.

The Raleigh IceCaps, two levels below the NHL, once averaged more than 5,000 fans at Dorton Arena in the early '90s but were in trouble even before the Hurricanes arrived. They lasted seven seasons, a valedictory reign by Triangle standards.

This is the legacy the RailHawks face. In this market, there are no guarantees.

"Just because we've had a couple of decent crowds, I stress upon my staff every day that you're only as good as your last match, on and off the field," Economides said. "It's going to take hard work and we're still fine-tuning. We have to find that right mix of not only players but employees."

The latest chapter of the Triangle's sports history hit a high note when it was only eight minutes old. Only time will tell how tough that will be to top.