CARY -- Heading into the third game of a long-delayed homestand, the Carolina RailHawks are hungering for a win at WakeMed Soccer Park.
The RailHawks (6-4-7, 25 points) lost to the Rochester Rhinos 1-0 on July 27 and tied the first-place Vancouver Whitecaps 2-2 last Saturday. It's not the quick jump on the second half of the season that Carolina was anticipating, but today's 7 p.m. home match against the Montreal Impact (6-8-6, 24 points) offers a chance to spark some momentum.
"It's going to be a tough match, and it's always difficult playing them, but it's a fair competition," said Carolina midfielder Josh Gardner, who scored last week against Vancouver. "It's difficult when you're not playing as well at home, and I think it's one of those things where the team's traveling, and we're pretty much just focused on the match, but at home, there are other responsibilities. We've been unlucky in some of the calls we've had, but it's a mixture of things. It's nothing that can't be fixed."
No team had more road games in the first half of the season than Carolina, but the RailHawks managed to finish those first 15 games in second place in the NASL Conference.
However, coach Martin Rennie said his players need to improve on those performances if they want to advance to the division championship.
"We've had a couple of games where we didn't perform well and a couple of unfortunate mistakes," Rennie said. "At home, it's a different type of rhythm, and I'm confident going into the game that we found that this week, especially in the first half of the last game. I'm expecting a good performance, the same kind we had on the road."
Tonight's match marks the fifth meeting between Carolina and Montreal, with each club netting one win (and two ties) in the four previous games. Montreal has played three more games this season than Carolina but has one less point overall, good for third currently in the NASL Conference.
"They're always hard-working and skillful, so it's always a good challenge," captain Mark Schulte said. "Frankly, our performance at home has been really disappointing. Our rotation's better, but we're just not concentrated, and that's something we need to be more aware of, especially going into [tonight's] game."
