With a 2-0-3 start, the Carolina RailHawks are in the midst of their longest unbeaten streak in the team’s brief history.

With nine points, they’re tied for fifth in the USL First Division table.

They’re scoring a goal per game and have been shut out just once, a stark contrast to last season when they were shut out in three of their first four games and had one goal to show for it.

Yet with the season one-sixth over, there is already a sense of urgency in camp.

On their four-match homestand, which continued Saturday against Rochester and concludes tonight (Wednesday) against Seattle, the RailHawks managed just two points in the first two games.

After tonight’s visit from the Sounders, Carolina will play its next five matches away from WakeMed Soccer Park. The end of that swing will see the RailHawks play four games in four cities in 10 days.

“There is an urgency,” said RailHawks forward Dan Antoniuk, who leads the team with two goals. “There is a little bit of urgency for us to win. We go on the road for a while, so we need to win some games. Tying isn’t going to cut it.”

Closing out the homestand with six points would alleviate some of the pressure to pick up more points on what will be an exhausting and challenging stretch. The RailHawks go to Atlanta on Saturday, then to Puerto Rico and Miami on June 12 and 14, then to Rochester and Montreal on June 20 and 22.

Getting points now is so important because Carolina already feels as if it has let several points slip through its grasp. Twice, it has squandered a one-goal lead to Atlanta and had to settle for a draw.

The RailHawks went up 1-0 in Atlanta in the 49th minute, only to have the Silverbacks draw even in the 72nd.

After going down 1-0 to Atlanta in the 17th minute on May 10, the RailHawks drew even thanks to Antoniuk’s goal, then went up 2-1 in the 83rd after Jamil Walker scored. But the Silverbacks answered a minute later.

Had the RailHawks pulled out those two games, they would have 13 points and be in second place. Instead, they have nine and are tied for fifth.

“We all feel we’ve dropped quite a few points,” said midfielder Kupono Low, who has two assists this season. “Six points against Atlanta, we felt we should have beaten those guys twice. These next two home games are very, very big for us because then we’re away.”

Part of the reason for the ties is because the RailHawks aren’t scoring nearly as much as they thought they would. They have five goals in five games.

But no one else around the league is scoring much either.

Sixteen of the First Division’s first 20 games this season have featured fewer than four goals. The highest scoring match to date was Seattle’s 4-2 win over Atlanta on May 18. Fourteen matches have ended with one team being shut out, and there have been four scoreless draws.

Atlanta has 10 goals scored and averages 1.67 goals per game, both best in the league. But the Silverbacks’ goal differential is minus-2 and they’re in seventh place.

Six other teams, including Carolina, score a goal a game or more. And the RailHawks have a goal differential of plus-2, tied with two other teams for third best in the league.

“I’ll take five goals, three against any day,” said RailHawks coach Scott Schweitzer. “But we need to put some more in the back of the net. We’re playing a good brand of soccer. We’re attacking and we’re not giving up a lot of good chances against.”

Another reason for Carolina’s unbeaten start is that they’re not getting down. Through 450 minutes, the RailHawks have trailed for a total of 12. That’s a testament to defenders Mauricio Segovia and David Stokes in the middle, as well as Frankie Sanfilippo and Chris Lemons out wide. Goalkeeper Chris McClellan is averaging a shade over four saves per game and is responsible for a 0.60 goals against average.

If the attack can start finding the net more often, then everything should begin to fall into place, which includes picking up more points at WakeMed Soccer Park.

“The goals are going to come because we are getting chances,” Low said. “They were all close, but we are getting those chances. As long as we keep doing the things we’ve been doing consistently, the goals will come.”

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