Sunday May 11, 2008
CARY, NORTH CAROLINA—The Atlanta Silverbacks came back from a goal down in the final five minutes to draw the Carolina RailHawks 2-2 at WakeMed Soccer Park Saturday night. Jason McLaughlin and David Hayes scored for the Silverbacks.

(Photo Caption: Tony McManus closes in on former Silverback Dan Antoniuk (22) in Saturday night's 2-2 draw at WakeMed Soccer Park. Photo provided by the Carolina RailHawks)

“Overall, I'm happy to come out with a point on the road,” said head coach Jason Smith. “We were missing some players because of injuries, and I feel we handled it pretty well. The guys we called on to step in did a pretty good job.”

Nathan Knox and Scott Buete both featured for the first time this season, and Blake Camp made his debut coming on as a second half substitute.

The Silverbacks jumped out to an early lead off a cracking shot by McLaughlin in the 17th minute. Ansu Toure did much of the work that led to the goal, beating two defenders on the right flank before finding McLaughlin unmarked inside the penalty area. McLaughlin first-timed the floating cross just inside the far post to put the Silverbacks in the lead.

Former Silverback Dan Antoniuk leveled the score in the 29th minute, taking advantage of a defensive miscue, which gave Silverback goalkeeper Ryan McIntosh little chance on the close-range blast.

The RailHawks doubled their lead in the 84th minute of the emotional—if not chippy—match when Jamil Walker found his way onto the end of a Kupono Low free kick.

“I'm a little disappointed with the goals we gave up,” Smith said. “We could have done better defensively.”

The RailHawks lead only lasted three minutes. Hayes got in behind the RailHawks back line and slammed home the equalizer with five minutes to play to salvage a well deserved point for the Silverbacks.

The draw moves the Silverbacks to 1-1-2 (five points) on the season.

Notes

Top Man
Defender David Hayes leads all Silverback scorers on the year with two. He also tallied in the Silverbacks' 3-2 win over Montreal.

And Away We Go
Saturday's match was the first for the Silverbacks away from Silverbacks Park.

Debut
Blake Camp made his Silverbacks debut coming on for Rodrigo Rios in the 81st minute.

Derby Draw
The 2-2 draw gave the Silverbacks one point in the Southern Derby standings. The match was the first of six in the three-team competition. Carolina currently holds the supporter-sponsored cup.

All Tied Up
Silverbacks teams have yet to beat a RailHawk team this season: the men's team has drawn both games against this season, 1-1 at Silverbacks Park and 2-2 at WakeMed. The Under-23s rallied to draw the RailHawks Under-23s 3-3 Friday at Silverbacks park. The women face the RailHawks May 16.

Next Up
The Silverbacks return Silverbacks Park Friday to face the Minnesota Thunder on national television. Kickoff is set for 7:55.

Box

Carolina RailHawks:
Chris McClellan, Chris Lemons, David Stokes, Mauricio Segovia, Frankie Sanfilippo, Phillip Long, Kupono Low, Matthew Watson, Steven Curfman, Connally Edozien (Jamil Walker 67), Dan Antoniuk.

Atlanta Silverbacks:
Ryan McIntosh, Justin Moore (Josh Bolton 86), David Hayes, Matt Bobo, Martyn Lancaster (Zach Kirby 74), Scott Buete, Rodrigo Rios (Blake Camp 81) , Tony McManus, Jason McLaughlin, Nathan Knox (Jerson Monteiro 64), Ansu Toure (Greg Chevalier 90).

Goals:
ATL—McLaughlin (Toure) 17
CRH—Antoniuk (Curfman) 29
CRH—Walker (Low) 84
ATL—Hayes 85

Misconduct:
ATL— McManus (caution) 41
ATL—Toure (caution) 62
CRH—Stokes (caution) 70
ATL—Kirby (caution) 83

Attendance:
4,552