CARY, N.C. – After running roughshod through the league and facing few, if any, bumps in the road during the first half of the season, the Carolina RailHawks didn’t quite know what to make of their three-match winless streak.

What they did know heading into Saturday’s match against Ft. Lauderdale was that they didn’t want to see that streak reach four matches and see their lead at the top of the NASL table cut into any more.

“We had to find that hunger to win again. To get on the ball, fight to win every ball, to win tackles. Today, we played much better,” said RailHawks forward Etienne Barbara, whose 30th-minute penalty kick sparked the RailHawks to a 2-0 win at WakeMed Soccer Park.

While wins and resulting points were desired, coach Martin Rennie was more focused on his side’s return to a strong performance.

“It was an important win for us tonight,” Rennie said. “After tying our last game, to get back on a winning run at home is important. That’s 10 wins at home this season out of 12, so that’s good. But I thought everybody performed better tonight than we have in the last few games.”

One of the top performers on the night was goalkeeper Brad Knighton, who finished with five saves and earned his seventh shutout of the season. In the 22nd minute, he laid out to deny a header by Mike Palacio, and a minute later, he turned away a point-blank header by Abe Thompson.

Barbara got his first goal since July 30 on Saturday, upping his league-leading total to 17 on the year. He and Pablo Campos worked a brilliant give-and-go, and as Barbara closed in on the Strikers’ goal, he was clipped by defender Toni Stahl. He stepped to the spot and hammered his try into the upper corner of the goal.

Midfielder Matt Watson put the game away just ahead of the hour mark. After forcing a turnover near midfielder, he pulled up of 1-2 with Campos, who sprung Watson free down the middle. Watson ran into the space then touched the ball by Strikers goalkeeper Matt Glaeser for the 2-0 cushion.

“Pablo played a great ball into my path. I couldn’t ask for anything more, and I just slid it in the corner,” said Watson, who has three goals on the year.

The win, coupled with Puerto Rico’s 2-1 win at Tampa Bay on Saturday, allows the RailHawks to stay seven points clear of the Islanders in the NASL table with six games to play. With the burden of their three-match skid behind them, they’ll head to Atlanta next weekend expecting to keep the momentum from Saturday’s performance going. 

“It was huge for us to get a win and get our confidence back,” Watson said. “This going to be big for us going forward, and hopefully we’ll get some more wins.”

CAROLINA 2, FT. LAUDERDALE 0

LINEUPS

FTL: GK Matt Glaeser, D Toni Stahl (Scott Gordon, 71), D Cristian Arrieta, D Martin Lancaster, M Lance Laing, M Mike Palacio (Martin Nunez, 63), M Adam West (Leopoldo Morales, 45), M Bryan Arguez, M Gerson Mayen, F Abe Thompson, F Brian Shriver
CAR: GK Brad Knighton, D Tony McManus, D John Krause, D Cory Miller, D Kupono Low, M Jonny Steele, M Cory Elenio, M Matt Watson, M Brian Farber (Nick Zimmerman, 70), F Etienne Barbara (Allan Russell, 77), F Pablo Campos (Chris Nurse, 84)

SCORING SUMMARY

CAR: Etienne Barbara (PK), 30
CAR: Matt Watson (Pablo Campos), 57 

CAUTIONS

FTL: Toni Stahl, 30
CAR: John Krause, 9

SHOTS

FTL: 16
CAR: 11

FOULS

FTL: 6
CAR: 4

Attendance: 4,629