Stars and RailHawks face each other in another high-stakes game
In their two seasons, the Minnesota Stars have gotten used to meeting the Carolina RailHawks in high-stakes matches. It figures the teams would meet again.
The Stars and RailHawks kick off their North American Soccer League semifinal series Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. at NSC Stadium in Blaine. Having won the season series against Carolina with two wins and two ties, the Stars are confident heading into the two-legged, total goals series, but after beating FC Tampa Bay for the first time in 2011 in last weekend’s opening playoff round, the Stars know firsthand that regular season results count for little in the playoffs.
“It’s a two-game series where the regular season doesn’t count except for helping us get to where we are,” Stars head coach Manny Lagos said Friday. “Those games don’t give us goals in this series.”
If the history between these two teams is any indication, goals will be hard to come by, despite Carolina’s offense featuring the NASL’s two leading goalscorers. In eight games all-time, the teams have combined for just 14 goals. Four of those came in a disastrous 26-minute period for the Stars in last season’s USSF D2 Pro League quarterfinals. Down to 10 men after a first half red card in the second leg, Minnesota couldn’t hold off Carolina on the road.
To date, that’s the Stars’ only loss to Carolina, and the team gained a measure of revenge this season with three streak-stopping wins against the RailHawks. The first came July 9 at NSC Stadium, where a 1-0 Minnesota win halted Carolina’s 10-game winning streak. The Stars also stopped Carolina’s nine-game home winning streak with a 1-1 tie on August 17 in Cary, N.C. Minnesota then ended Carolina’s 12-game home unbeaten streak on the last day of the season with a 2-1 win at WakeMed Soccer Park.
Carolina won a club-record 17 games this season, but finished the year with a four-game losing streak. The RailHawks built an insurmountable lead over the rest of the league in the first half of the season building up a 12-1-1 record by July 4 en route to a 17-8-3 regular season and the NASL’s regular season championship. In Etienne Barbara and Pablo Campos, the RailHawks boast the league’s two leading goalscorers. The duo combined for 32 goals–more than the Stars’ entire offensive output this season. Somewhat forgotten among the offensive fireworks was Carolina’s league-leading defense, which allowed only 26 goals in 28 regular season games.
The Minnesota defense was nothing to scoff at, either, allowing 32 goals on the season and posting eight shutouts. Following the mid-August departure of center back Jack Stewart on a loan to FC Dallas, the Kyle Altman and Cristiano Dias have jelled and formed a solid partnership. Rookie left back Justin Davis has made 23 consecutive starts, and Brian Kallman has recently made the right back spot his own, earning NASL Defensive Player of the Week honors for his role in the Stars’ season-ending win in Carolina.
Offensively, the Stars have shown depth at season’s end, and Lagos has a healthy roster to choose from. Brian Cvilikas’ three recent goals have seen him start the past six matches, leaving the Stars with Simone Bracalello and Devin Del Do’s combined 11 goals to enter off the bench if needed.
But again, regular season results count for little with a season on the line.
“The way I look at it, they got the better of us last year, and we approach these games against Carolina with the goal of finding the consistency that they have in this league,” Lagos said.
