CARY -- While the world sits entranced with World Cup action in South Africa, two North Carolina professional soccer teams squared off in the first round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup on Tuesday night.
The Carolina RailHawks got the best of their in-state foe from USL-2, a lower division league, as they had little trouble defeating the Charlotte Eagles 1-0.
The RailHawks, still undefeated (4-0) as a franchise in the opening round of U.S. Open Cup play, will hit the road in their next contest to play the Charleston Battery, also of the USL-2.
The match's start time was delayed for more than a half-hour when a lightning strike was spotted minutes before the scheduled kickoff.
It was eerily similar to last year's U.S. Open Cup home match with Wilmington - a hot, sultry start delayed by severe weather that turned cooler with intense rain - that ended in a 4-3 loss on penalty kicks. And just like with Wilmington, the match was played on Field 2 at WakeMed Soccer Park, as the main stadium's new sod is still not ready for play.
"In my mind, at least subconsciously, I couldn't get the Wilmington game from last year out of my head," RailHawks coach Martin Rennie said. "It felt really, really like that, but luckily, it didn't end up like that."
The RailHawks dominated possession in the first half with several runs on the goal. Carolina was more successful attacking right side of the field with midfielders Floyd Franks and Matt Watson taking turns blowing by Charlotte defender Luke Williams.
Those attacks were rewarded in the 24th minute, when Watson linked a pass to Franks, who then ran into the corner before playing it into the box where Sallieu Bundu put it home.
The RailHawks nearly scored a few other goals, but saw the aggressiveness shift to the Eagles in the middle of the second half. Charlotte got its first corner kick of the game in the 62nd minute, and it put repeated pressure on RailHawks goalkeeper Eric Reed until the game's final minutes.
"[Charlotte] was really able to turn the pressure up a notch," Reed said. "I wonder if that was part of their game plan. In the heat, that first half was pretty brutal, so [maybe] they sat back and let us play. That second half they put a lot more pressure and made it difficult in the middle."
The Battery was a 4-2 winner over the CASL Elite adult amateur team. Had the CASL team advanced, the RailHawks would have faced off against their former coach Scott Schwietzer, who plays with CASL.
