2007 Carolina RailHawks FC season

The Carolina RailHawks launched their inaugural season on April 21, 2007, in front of a crowd of 6,327 at SAS Soccer Park in Cary, North Carolina when they drew 1–1 with the Minnesota Thunder in their first official regular season match. Midfielder Kupono Low scored the first goal in franchise history when he blasted a 24-yard left-footed shot past Thunder keeper Joe Warren in the 8th minute of the inaugural match. On May 8, 2007, the RailHawks earned their first franchise victory 2–0 against Chivas USA in an exhibition match.

On August 14, 2007, with a 3–0 victory over the Charleston Battery, the Carolina RailHawks secured their first piece of silverware, the 2007 Southern Derby Cup, with one match remaining in the contest. The RailHawks finished their first USL-1 season in 8th place in the league table, securing the league's final playoff spot on the last day of the regular season with a 2–0 victory away over fellow expansion franchise the California Victory. The RailHawks were eliminated from the playoff quarterfinals by the eventual league champion Seattle Sounders.

2007 Competitions

Competition	Record	Result	Home Matches	Home Attendance	Avg. Home Attendance
USL First Division Regular Season	8-12-8	8th Place	14	71,735	5,124
USL First Division Playoffs	0-2	Quarterfinals	1	923	923
U.S. Open Cup	4-1	Semifinals	4	13,447	3,362
Southern Derby	3-0-1	Champion	2	9,587	4,794
Exhibitions	1-1-0	N/A	2	13,705	6,853
All Competitions	13-16-8	N/A	21	99,810	4,753

2007 squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
0	GK	USA	Chris McClellan
1	GK	EIR	John O'Hara
2	DF	USA	David Stokes
3	MF	USA	Kupono Low
4	DF	USA	Demetrius Donald
5	MF	GHA	Philip Kutsu
6	MF	TRI	Joel John Bailey
7	MF	BRA	Marcio Leite
8	FW	NGA	Connally Edozien
9	FW	LBR	McColm Cephas
10	FW	TRI	Kevin Jeffrey
11	MF	USA	Chris Carrieri
12	FW	USA	Anthony Maher
13	DF	USA	Matthew Maher


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
14	DF	USA	Caleb Norkus
15	DF	USA	Frank Sanfilippo
16	DF	USA	Cooper Friend
17	MF	USA	Eric Kaufman
18	DF	ENG	Stuart Brightwell
19	MF	USA	David Sartorio
20	MF	USA	Mark Jonas
21	MF	ARG	Santiago Fusilier
22	MF	NIR	Jonny Steele
23	DF	USA	Chad Dombrowski
24	MF	USA	Joey Worthen
25	MF	USA	Phillip Long
26	MF	USA	Jon Caldwell
27	MF	USA	Dario Brose

Transfers: OUT - Sola Abolaji to Vancouver Whitecaps (7/27/2007); IN - Joel John Bailey from Vancouver Whitecaps (7/27/2007)

2007 Staff

Coach - Scott Schweitzer
Assistant Coach - Damon Nahas
Assistant Coach - Mark Girard Oldest coach in the usa Goalkeeping Coach - David Noyes
Equipment Manager - Steven Economides
Trainer - Elise Caceres

2007 Schedule

Date	Opponent	Location	Time (ET)	Result
Sat, Mar 24	Wake Forest University (exhibition)	SAS Soccer Park, Field #2	7:00 PM	1-3 L
Sat, Mar 31	North Carolina Tar Heels (exhibition)	SAS Soccer Park, Field #2	7:00 PM	0-1 L
Wed, Apr 4	Charlotte Eagles (exhibition)	SAS Soccer Park, Field #2	7:00 PM	1-3 L
Sat, Apr 7	Richmond Kickers (exhibition)	University of Richmond Stadium	7:00 PM	1-3 L
Fri, Apr 13	Duke University (exhibition)	Koskinen Stadium, Durham, NC	7:00 PM	1-3 L
Sat, Apr 21	Minnesota Thunder	SAS Soccer Park, Cary, NC	7:30 PM	1-1 D
Sat, Apr 28	Atlanta Silverbacks	SAS Soccer Park, Cary, NC	7:30 PM	0-0 D
Fri, May 4	Puerto Rico Islanders	SAS Soccer Park, Cary, NC	7:30 PM	0-0 D
Sat, May 5	Atlanta Silverbacks	Silverbacks Park, Atlanta, GA	7:55 PM	0-2 L
Tue, May 8	Chivas USA (exhibition)	SAS Soccer Park, Cary, NC	7:30 PM	2-0 W
Sat, May 12	Atlanta Silverbacks^^	Silverbacks Park, Atlanta, GA	7:55 PM	1-2 W
Sat, May 19	Charleston Battery	SAS Soccer Park, Cary, NC	7:30 PM	1-0 W
Wed, May 23	Seattle Sounders	Qwest Field, Seattle, WA	10:00 PM	0-1 L
Fri, May 25	Vancouver Whitecaps	Swangard Stadium Burnaby, BC	10:00 PM	0-1 W
Sun, May 27	Portland Timbers	PGE Park, Portland, OR	9:00 PM	0-0 D
Fri, Jun 8	Rochester Raging Rhinos	SAS Soccer Park, Cary, NC	7:30 PM	2-2 D
Tue, Jun 12	RWB Adria^^^	SAS Soccer Park, Cary, NC	7:30 PM	4-1 W
Fri, Jun 15	Seattle Sounders^	SAS Soccer Park, Cary, NC	8:00 PM	0-1 L
Sat, Jun 23	Charleston Battery^^	SAS Soccer Park, Cary, NC	7:30 PM	2-0 W
Tue, Jun 26	Bavarian SC^^^	SAS Soccer Park, Cary, NC	7:30 PM	4-0 W
Tue, Jul 3	Vancouver Whitecaps	SAS Soccer Park, Cary, NC	8:00 PM	0-0 D
Fri, Jul 6	Rochester Raging Rhinos^	PAETEC Park, Rochester, NY	8:00 PM	1-2 L
Sun, Jul 8	Montreal Impact	Sherbrooke University Stadium, Sherbrooke, QC	4:00 PM	2-2 D
Fri, Jul 13	Montreal Impact	SAS Soccer Park, Cary, NC	7:30 PM	0-1 L
Sun, Jul 15	Chicago Fire^^^	SAS Soccer Park, Cary, NC	7:30 PM	1-0 W
Fri, Jul 20	Miami FC	Tropical Park Stadium, Miami, FL	7:30 PM	1-2 L
Sun, Jul 22	Puerto Rico Islanders	Estadio Juan Ramón Loubriel, Bayamon, PR	5:00 PM	1-3 L
Wed, Jul 25	Cruz Azul (exhibition)	SAS Soccer Park, Cary, NC	8:00 PM	0-2 L
Sat, Jul 28	Miami FC	SAS Soccer Park, Cary, NC	7:30 PM	1-4 L
Wed, Aug 1	Montreal Impact	Complexe sportif Claude-Robillard, Montreal, QC	7:30 PM	1-4 L
Fri, Aug 3	California Victory^	SAS Soccer Park, Cary, NC	8:00 PM	2-0 W
Tue, Aug 7	Richmond Kickers^^^	SAS Soccer Park, Cary, NC	7:30 PM	1-0 W
Fri, Aug 10	Rochester Raging Rhinos	PAETEC Park, Rochester, NY	7:35 PM	0-2 L
Tue, Aug 14	Charleston Battery^^	Blackbaud Stadium, Charleston, SC	7:30 PM	3-0 W
Fri, Aug 17	Atlanta Silverbacks^^	SAS Soccer Park, Cary, NC	7:30 PM	0-0 D
Sun, Aug 26	Montreal Impact	SAS Soccer Park, Cary, NC	6:00 PM	1-0 W
Sat, Sep 1	Portland Timbers	SAS Soccer Park, Cary, NC	7:30 PM	0-1 L
Tue, Sept 4	New England Revolution^^^	Veteran's Stadium, New Britain, CN	7:30 PM	2-1(aet) L Archived 2007-09-28 at the Wayback Machine
Thu, Sep 6	Minnesota Thunder	James Griffin Stadium, St. Paul, MN	8:05 PM	0-5 L
Sat, Sep 8	California Victory	Kezar Stadium, San Francisco, CA	10:00 PM	0-2 W
Fri, Sep 14	Seattle Sounders^^^^	SAS Soccer Park, Cary, NC	7:30 PM	0-2 L
Sun, Sep 16	Seattle Sounders^^^^	Qwest Field, Seattle, WA	6:00 PM	0-1 L