The team, until recently, has been in the USL First Division playoff picture. The RailHawks are 4-7-7 and sit six points out of the final playoff spot. They've reached the quarterfinals of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. Attendance at SAS Soccer Park is right about the league average, too.

For all their early successes, there have been some missteps, none perhaps bigger than adequately marketing the team to the Triangle's burgeoning Hispanic population.

In an effort to reach out to the nearly 60,000 Hispanics in Wake County, Carolina secured an exhibition match against one of Mexico's top club teams: Cruz Azul. The RailHawks will play Cruz Azul in an exhibition tonight at SAS Soccer Park.

"My first and biggest goal was to hit that market and hit it hard," said Brian Wellman, Carolina's assistant general manager, who finalized the negotiations to secure the match against Cruz Azul. "Not just for face value, but to really get into their community, like we're getting into the local Anglo community. That is why we picked up El Salvador-Honduras, Chivas and why we worked so hard to get Cruz Azul. The sky is the limit."

In March, the Carolina organization hosted an international friendly between the El Salvador and Honduras national teams. In May, the RailHawks played Chivas USA, a Major League Soccer team that is owned by Mexico's Jorge Vergara. Vergara also owns Chivas de Guadalajara, one of the most popular and successful teams in Mexico.

Now with Cruz Azul, the organization again is trying to appeal to the area's Hispanics and show them their importance to the club's success. The idea, Wellman said, is to attract them to watch the visitor and convert them into RailHawks fans by the end of the night.

Wellman said Hispanics were nearly nonexistent at SAS Soccer Park early in the season. He saw a change after the Chivas match, which drew a near sellout crowd, most of which was there to see Chivas. The RailHawks played well and won 2-0.

"That's when it really turned," Wellman said. "We really gained the respect of the [Hispanic] community."

Cruz Azul plays in the 18-team Primera Divisi-n, Mexico's top domestic league. It has won eight Primera Divisi-n titles -- trailing only Club America (10) and Chivas de Guadalajara (11) -- and five CONCACAF Champions Cup titles.

Wellman expects games such as the one against Cruz Azul to be a part of every summer for the RailHawks. Because this time of year is the preseason for most of Central America's leagues, those teams are looking for strong competition that will help them prepare for their upcoming seasons.

In the years to come, though, the organization is hoping the area's Hispanics will come out to support the RailHawks, regardless of the opponent.