The RailHawks head down to Tampa Bay one week after hosting the Rowdies in the NASL Semifinals. The second leg of the NASL Semifinal Series is set to kick off at 7:30p.m. on Saturday, October 13th. RailHawks fans are invited to join the RailHawks Watch Party at Mellow Mushroom in Cary. The party starts at 7:00p.m. with RailHawks giveaways and prizes and RailHawks players will be in attendance. RailHawks Head Coach Colin Clarke speaks about what it means to the team to have the fans gathered in one place here.

After the first leg of the Semifinals, the RailHawks go into this upcoming game down a goal in the aggregate score. The team must win the match in order to keep the semifinal series alive. A victory by two or more goals means the RailHawks will win the series outright. If the RailHawks win by one goal, an overtime of two 15-minute halves will be played out, followed by penalty kicks if the aggregate score is still tied.

The RailHawks fell to the Rowdies 2-1 in the first semifinal last Saturday (highlights). Despite dominating the shot count 9-2 in the first half, the RailHawks could not find the back of the net and went into halftime scoreless (photos).

The Rowdies were the first to score coming out of the break, with a goal from Mike Ambersley in the 64th minute. In the 77th minute, the RailHawks tied the game when Brian Shriver converted a penalty kick awarded for a foul against Floyd Franks in the box. Although the momentum seemed to be going in the RailHawks favor, the Rowdies ended the game with a goal from Daniel Antoniuk in the 85th minute.

In the other NASL Semifinal Series, Minnesota now travels down to Heroes Stadium in San Antonio equal on aggregate score.

The match in Minnesota ended on a 0-0 tie, so the winner will be solely determined by the second leg results (highlights). It was a physical game with few chances for either side, with Minnesota taking the edge in shots 12-8.

The two teams will now matchup in San Antonio, hoping to win outright in the regulation 90 minutes.

The NASL Weekly Rewind covered the two Semifinals, as did Soccer By Ives and MLSsoccer.com.

In other news, the NASL Best XI was named this week, with three players receiving unanimous selections: RailHawks’ Nick Zimmerman, Scorpions’ Pablo Campos and Strikers’ Walter Restrepo.

Also big news in Carolina as RailHawks President Curt Johnson was named to North Carolina Soccer Hall of Fame Class of 2013. Eddie Robinson and the late Barry Howard will be the other two inductees at the annual Hall of Fame dinner on January 26, 2013.

In league news, Ottawa is making big steps towards beginning play in 2014 as the Ottawa City Council gave final approval for Lansdowne Park, the future home of the NASL’s second Canadian team.

 There is also more talk of expansion, as former Chicago Fire executive, Peter Wilt, says he thinks Indianapolis could be the next NASL city and Milwaukee an option for USL Pro.

An in case you need some inspiration for the weekend, check out this story of an amputee soccer player taking the Internet by storm and defying all expectations.