CARY -- Carolina midfielder Daniel Paladini helped the RailHawks make history Saturday against the Minnesota Stars in the opening round of the USSF D-2 playoffs at WakeMed Soccer Park.
Paladini came off the bench and scored the RailHawks' first-ever playoff goal in the 64th minute and then followed that with two assists as Carolina won a game and a series in the postseason for the first time, 4-0.
The RailHawks, who had tied Minnesota 0-0 on Wednesday and had not scored against them all season, will play the winner of the Austin-Montreal series in the second round. If Montreal wins, the RailHawks will decide where the two games will be played Wednesday and Saturday.
"I'm overwhelmed," said Paladini, who replaced Floyd Franks in the 54th minute and 10 minutes later made club history. "I'm just glad we stuck to Martin's plan," he said of coach Martin Rennie. "The game plan was to get the ball out wide and then to push it in and take our chances."
Rennie decided to bring Paladini, normally a starter, off the bench on Saturday, hoping to wear down the stingy Stars defense in the first half and then exploit them with Paladini's quickness after halftime. Rennie said the disciplined Stars defense is difficult to break down.
Also helping the RailHawks was that the Stars played the second half a man down after Andres Arango was given a red card and ejected for violent conduct late in the first half.
"We were nervous to start tonight with the history of not scoring a goal or winning a playoff game as a franchise," Rennie said. "We kept our patience, and then in the second half we performed especially well."
Minnesota goalkeeper Joe Warren finished with five saves, but he was unable to stop the flood once Carolina experienced its groundbreaking goal.
Eight minutes after his goal, Paladini passed to Josh Gardner, who found the net for the RailHawks' second goal. Gardner had been close to scoring Carolina's first goal a couple times in the first half.
At the 84-minute mark Amir Lowery scored his first goal of the season with an assist from Paladini. Carolina's final score was an own goal as the RailHawks outshot the Stars 16-11.
"We're just excited to be advancing to the second round," Rennie said.
