CARY -- In soccer circles, it's said that 2-0 is the most dangerous lead to have. Just one goal by the opposition can put you on your heels, quickly leading to a game-tying score that leaves you reeling.
The Carolina RailHawks hope there's some truth to that cliché. Down two goals after the first leg of its home-and-away USSF D2 championship series with the Puerto Rico Islanders, the RailHawks must claw back in tonight's second and final leg (7 p.m., WakeMed Soccer Park).
In a two-game series decided by aggregate goals, the RailHawks have 90 minutes at home to overcome the Islanders' lead and win the franchise's first championship.
"If you look at the last several games at home, we have been in position where we've had to win the game, and a few times we've had to score two goals or more, and we've been consistently doing that," RailHawks coach Martin Rennie said.
"It's the last game of the season, it's the championship game. There's no holding back. Just leave everything out there right from the start, and we'll see where it takes us."
Carolina players like their chances, given their recent home record. The RailHawks are 6-0-1 in their last seven home games, outscoring opponents 17-2 during that stretch (6-0 in the postseason).
"Really we're aiming to just get that one goal, because then they get nervous and rattled because they know they can't let another one in," said Kupono Low, one of two RailHawks remaining from the original 2007 roster. "Then that second one comes a lot easier."
Should the two teams be tied in series total goals after regulation, the two sides will play two 15-minute periods. There is no "golden goal" or sudden-death rule.
If the two sides are still tied the overtimes, then the game will go to penalty kicks.
Midfielder Daniel Paladini, who was named to the league's "Best Eleven," wasn't used in the first leg. Sitting on two yellow cards for the playoffs, Paladini would have had to sit for the final playoff game had he picked up another.
So with a week of rest, Paladini hopes to create the chances his team will need to win.
But the team can't become so enveloped in trying to push the ball forward that it gives up a counterattack goal, which is what happened in the final minutes of the first game as the Islanders notched their second goal in a 2-0 win in the 87th minute.
"I don't think it's going to be an issue for us," Paladini said. "We're not going to just send everyone forward and be stupid about it and give a goal away. We're just going to play the same way we have all year."
