Amir Lowery made his return to WakeMed Stadium on Saturday night with Montreal Impact after spending the last two seasons with the Carolina RailHawks.
With the RailHawks going through changes in the offseason with their roster, Lowery, a midfielder, was one of the players who decided to make the move to play in Montreal, a team that will play next season in the MLS.
Lowery knew the questions about his move were going to come to after the RailHawks 2-1 win.
“I’m just trying to take a step forward in my career,” Lowery said. “The Montreal opportunity came about pretty late, but it’s just one of those things where they are going to the MLS and not that the RailHawks are any less of a team, it’s just a step I wanted to take.”
This was the first time Lowery had played against the RailHawks and he said he did get emotional in playing in Cary again.
“Everything hit me when we started to pull into the park,” he said. “It brought back a lot of memories, and it’s a special place for me.”
Lowery was a key member last year in the midfield in leading the RailHawks to the league final and the NASL conference championship. In two seasons with Carolina, Lowery played in 54 matches.
He also played in college at Wake Forest from 2001 to 2004.
Although Lowery didn’t make a big impact in Saturday’s match, he does understand the rivalry between the two teams as his teammate in forward Ali Gerba found himself in a pushing match with RailHawk defender Brad Rusin on the field.
“It definitely looked familiar, even though I was on the other side,” Lowery said. “When I first started playing just looking at all the orange jerseys looked so familiar, I had to tell myself, ‘Ok, I’m on the opposite side now.’”
Early into this season, Lowery said he didn’t expect to be in the starting lineup, but injuries have put him on the field. Lowery will make his home debut in Montreal next Saturday as the Impact face FC Tampa Bay.
Lowery in his career has also played for the Kansas City Wizards and the San Jose Earthquakes.
Nate Taylor joins the News & Observer as a sports reporter and sports editor for the North Raleigh News and the Midtown Raleigh News. He has written for the Boston Globe, the Minneapolis Star Tribune and his hometown newspaper, the Kansas City Star. He graduated from the University of Central Missouri in 2010. He can be reached at 829-4538 or at 
