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June 21, 2007 - USL First Division (USL-1)
North Carolina FC News Release


The Carolina RailHawks will host the Charleston Battery on Saturday, June 23rd at 7:30 PM at SAS Soccer Park in Cary. This match will also be valid for the Southern Derby Cup standings and the Battery will come out in full force having lost to the RailHawks 1-0 in their first meeting at SAS Soccer Park last May.

The Charleston Battery, who sit alone in 5th place in the USL-1 standings with 15 points, will be playing the Atlanta Silverbacks at home the night before in another match that counts for the Southern Derby Cup.

"Our match against the RailHawks will be a defensive battle but we will fight hard for the win," said Charleston Battery head coach Mike Anheuser. "We didn't play our best last time around and we now have the opportunity earn six precious with a win Friday and one Saturday."

The Carolina RailHawks are in a four way tie for sixth place with 14 points and are looking to bounce back from their 1-0 loss to the Seattle Sounders last week. A victory on Saturday night could potentially put them in 4th place by the end of the weekend and keep them in the lead of the Southern Derby Cup Standings.

"Charleston is a good team," said RailHawks head coach Scott Schweitzer. "We are all very close in the standings and this game is very important for point standings this week. We are going to have to play a lot better than last week and defend our home field advantage."

The Southern Derby Cup is a fan-based competition between USL-1 teams created to promote a friendly competition and rivalry between the clubs involved. The Carolina Railhawks currently lead the Derby Cup standings with 3 points.

This weekend the Carolina RailHawks will honor the armed forces and all members of uniformed services will receive a four dollar discount on premium and spectator seats by showing their identification at the box office on game day. There will also be a moment of silence in honor of the nine fallen firefighters in Charleston this week. The RailHawks continue their partnership with the Boys and Girls club of Raleigh as they invite their fans to drop off art supplies, soccer accessories and small card games at the box office to receive a free game day program.

As always children are encouraged to be a part of the human tunnel that greets the players before the match starts. In order to do so they must be at the North West corner of the field by 7:00 pm. In addition all of the Carolina RailHawks will sign autographs immediately after the game at autograph alley, located on the North side of the stadium.

Next the Carolina RailHawks will host the Milwaukee Bavarians, an amateur team from Wisconsin, in the second round of the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup on Tuesday, June 26th at 7:30 PM at SAS Soccer Park in Cary. Should the RailHawks advance to the third round they will host the current US Open Cup champions, the Chicago Fire of Major League Soccer.

The Carolina RailHawks are a United Soccer Leagues expansion team that entered the USL First Division in April 2007. The squad will play 14 regular season home games and four additional home playoff and exhibition games each year, with all home games played at SAS Soccer Park in Cary, N.C. Under Rochester Rhinos co-owner and USL Hall of Fame inductee Chris Economides, the RailHawks organization was formed in October 2005 and awarded the USL franchise in January 2006.

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