LD Update: NASL/USL Game Night

The trend of minimal offense continued Saturday night in the NASL with one exception. Last week two games went scoreless and the other two were 1-0 decisions; on Saturday there was one more of each and a 4-4 thriller between a pair of clubs that involved in the scoreless stalemates the week before.

In USL action, road teams continue to perform well. Through seven games, home clubs have posted only one victory and a single draw.

NORTH AMERICAN SOCCER LEAGUE

Carolina RailHawks 4:4 Atlanta Silverbacks – The host RailHawks built a two-goal lead with strikes from Michael Palacio and Nick Zimmerman in the 2nd and 38th minutes of the match only to see Atlanta rally for the lead with the consecutive strikes. Reinaldo Navia cut the lead in half a minute later and Raphael Cox leveled the score three minutes before the break. Willie Hunt gave Atlanta the lead in the 67th with Zimmerman netting his second in the 74th. Atlanta would lose Willie Hunt to a second yellow in the 77th, but Navia would give the visitors the lead once more in the 80th. Brian Shriver came to the rescue for Carolina in the 90th with the equalizer, and shortly after in stoppage time a fracas broke out between the two sides resulting in send-offs for Carolina’s Brian Ackley and Atlanta’s Nico Colaluca. – More

Fort Lauderdale Strikers 0:0 Minnesota Stars – It was a case of dueling goalkeepers in Florida Saturday in a rematch of the championship series. Matt Glaeser made several good stops for the Strikers while the defending champs saw Matt Van Oekel make a number of great saves for his second consecutive shutout to give the club another draw while it searches for offense. – More

Tampa Bay Rowdies 1:0 FC Edmonton – Last week the Rowdies were on the other side of the one-goal decision, this week it was a loose ball on a 20th minute corner that made Takuya Yamada the hero on the night. The visitors would make adjustments to the lineup to create more offense and put the Rowdies on the defensive for the latter stages of the game, but were unable to find the equalizer against Jeff Attinella, who made eight stops in the game. While it was a reversal for Tampa Bay, the loss marked the second consecutive for Edmonton. – More

USL PRO

Charleston Battery 1:2 Richmond Kickers – The Kickers ended a lengthy drought, posting their first victory in Charleston since August 6, 2004 in which current Kickers Ronnie Pascale and Matthew Delicate helped lead Richmond to a 2-1 overtime win. Charleston’s 5-0-1 run came to an end in the final moments of the match courtesy of Sascha Gorres, who sent a shot from distance deflecting off a defender and leaving Andrew Dykstra out of position. Nicki Paterson gave Charleston the lead, but a penalty allowed Stanley Nyazamba to tally his second of the year in the 65th to level terms. – More

LA Blues 0:1 Rochester Rhinos – The season opener for Rochester and Los Angeles was decided in the 22nd minute by former Colorado Rapids and Scottish Premier League striker Tam McManus, who headed it past the keeper from close range. – More

ELSEWHERE TODAY

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