The Carolina RailHawks tied the Atlanta Silverbacks 4-4 in their 2012 NASL Home Opener at WakeMed Soccer Park. The exciting 8-goal match ended after saw a number of lead changes. With the RailHawks up 2-0 with goals by Mike Palacio and Nick Zimmerman, Atlanta scored 3 unanswered goals to take the lead in the 67^th minute. The teams then traded goals before Brian Shriver buried the equalizer in the back of the net in the 90^th minute off a cross from Ty Shipalane.

The RailHawks were off to a strong start when Palacio gathered a cross and beat the keeper with a left footed shot in the 2^nd minute.  Zimmerman added his first goal of the night in the 38^th minute to give the RailHawks a 2-0 lead.  Atlanta responded quickly with back-to-back goals in the 39^th and 42^nd minute by Reinaldo Navia and Raphael Cox to tie the match 2-2 heading into halftime. 

In the 74^th minute, Kupono Low played a free kick quickly to find Jason Garey whose quick layoff with Zimmerman ended in Zimmerman’s second goal of the night.  In the 79^th minute Navia captured a rebound in the RailHawks box and scored to give Atlanta the lead before Shriver’s equalizer.

Fans were able to enjoy an exhilarating match. It concluded with 8 goals, 29 shots, 7 yellow cards, and 3 red cards. The officials for the match ended the game after an altercation broke out in added time. The altercation resulted in ejections for Nico Colaluca of the Silverbacks and Brian Ackley of the RailHawks. In the 77^th minute Willie Hunt was shown a red card after receiving his second yellow of the match.

“We played two matches today. Offensively we played a great game, we scored 4 goals and generated a lot of good chances. Defensively, we didn’t clear the danger and didn’t even look like we wanted to get the ball out of the box,” said Head Coach Colin Clarke. “Atlanta was able to score off some chances that we shouldn’t have given them.”

The Carolina RailHawks will travel to Tampa Bay to face the Rowdies on Wednesday April 18^th at 7:30 PM ET and Puerto Rico to face the Islanders on April 21^st at 7:30 ET. Fans can watch the games live at www.CarolinaRailHawks.com. The next home match will be on April 28^th when they face the San Antonio Scorpions at 7:00 PM. Tickets for the match are available at www.CarolinaRailHawks.com.  For more game or ticket information e-mail tickets@carolinarailhawks.comor call the Cruizers Box Office at 919-459-8144.

LINEUPS

CAR: GK Ray Burse, D Greg Shields (Brian Ackley, 85), D John Krause, D Austen King, D Kupono Low (c), M Nick Zimmerman, M Amir Lowery, M Cory Elenio (Ty Shipalane, 81) , M Mike Palacio, M Brian Shriver; F Jason Garey

ATL: GK Daniel Illyes, D Patrick Robertson, D Martin Lancaster (c), D Willie Hunt, D Kohei Matsuchita (Ciaran O’Brien, 48), M Tony McManus, M Lucas Paulini (Jordan Davis, 79), M Raphael Cox, M Shane Moroney, F Nico Colaluca, F Reynaldo Navia (Fernando Gonzalez, 84)

GOALS

CAR: Michael Palacio (unassisted), 2; Nick Zimmerman (unassisted), 38; Nick Zimmerman (Jason Garey), 74; Brian Shriver (Ty Shipalane), 90;

ATL:  Reinaldo Navia (Shane Maroney), 39; Raphael Cox (Tony McManus), 42; Willie Hunt (Ciaran O’Brien), 67; Reinaldo Navia (unassisted), 80;

CAUTIONS

CAR: John Krause, 26; Amir Lowery, 61; Brian Ackley (Red Card) 90

ATL: Kohei Matsuchita, 21; Lucas Paulini, 43; Willie Hunt, 54; Ciaran O’Brien, 70; Willie Hunt (Ejection – Second Yellow) 77; Daniel Illyes, 81; Nico Colaluca (Red Card) 90

SHOTS

CAR: 18

ATL:  11

SAVES

CAR: 3

ATL: 2