The RailHawks advanced into the Semifinals with a commanding 3-1 win over the Fort Lauderdale Strikers. The start of the match was delayed 45 minutes due to a thunderstorm that affected the Triangle area. Tiyi Shipalane scored twice and Amir Lowery scored his first NASL goal of the season to punch the RailHawks ticket into the next round of the NASL Playoffs. Abe Thompson scored for the Strikers. The RailHawks will now host a Semifinal match on Saturday, October 6^th at 7:00 PM at WakeMed Soccer Park.

“Today we played a very good game,” said Head Coach Colin Clarke. “The team definitely played playoff soccer tonight and we got the result we needed. Now we need to focus on our next opponent and hopefully we will have another loud, passionate crowd to get us off to another good start next Saturday.”

The first half got off to a fast start with both teams recording shots on goal in the first 90 seconds of play. The RailHawks quickly began to control the ball and started their attack. After several scoring chances for the team, Jason Garey intercepted a pass in the box by the Strikers and played a ball back to Lowery who placed his shot in the upper 90 to score the first goal of the match. The RailHawks went into the break with a one-goal lead.

The RailHawks started the second half on the offensive and quickly found the second goal of the game. A great play by Brian Shriver down the left side of the field was capped off by a great finish by Tiyi Shipalane to push the lead to 2-0 in the 52^nd minute of play. Thompson cut the lead for the Strikers in the 61^st minute. Shipalane scored his second goal of the game after a great through ball from Shriver left him with a 1-on-1 against the Strikers keeper. Shipalane put the ball on the side netting to make it 3-1.

The RailHawks will now host a Semifinal match on Saturday, October 6^th at 7:00 PM at WakeMed Soccer Park. The opponent will be known at the conclusion of Sunday’s Quarterfinal match between Puerto Rico and Minnesota. Tickets for the Semifinal match are available now and fans can take advantage of $11 premium tickets by entering code “11” when checking out. The special promotion in honor of tonight’s two-goal scorer, Tiyi Shipalane, will be available until Monday at midnight. To purchase tickets visit www.CarolinaRailHawks.com. For more information, contact the Cruizers Box Office at 919-459-8144 or by email at tickets@CarolinaRailHawks.com.  

LINEUPS

CAR: GK Burse, D Graye, D Stockley, D Kalungi, D Low (c), M Zimmerman (Da Luz, 75), M Lowery, M Franks, M Shipalane (Elenio, 84), F Garey (Luzunaris, 90), F Shriver

FTL: GK Glaeser, D Stahl, D Blake (Haassan, 79), D Laing, D Gordon, M Pecka, M Shanosky (King, 71), M Tetteh, M Ramos, F Anderson, F Herron (Thompson, 18)

GOALS

CAR: Lowery (Garey), 34; Shipalane (Zimmerman, 52); Shipalane (Shriver, 67)

FTL: Thompson (Laing), 61;

CAUTIONS

CAR: Lowery, 71; Franks, 86;

FTL: Shanosky, 58; Laing, 90;

SHOTS

CAR: 12

FTL: 14

SAVES

CAR: 6

FTL: 5