WILMINGTON, NC – The Carolina RailHawks defeated the USL Second Division’s Wilmington Hammerheads 2-0 on Tuesday night at Legion Stadium. Midfielder Matt Watson, who joined the team earlier in the day, scored the game’s first goal in the 78th minute, and forward John Cunliffe tacked on one more in the 82nd. After a mostly stagnant second half, Watson, who checked into the match in the 63rd minute, took a clever back pass from Gavin Glinton, then crushed an 18-yard blast by Wilmington’s Kyle Polak. Four minutes later, Glinton played a long ball across the field to Cunliffe who hit a worm-burner from a tough angle about 12 yards from goal, and the shot split Polak’s legs and gave Carolina a 2-0 lead. Caleb Patterson manned the net for much of the evening before giving way to Brian Levey. While the Hammerheads didn’t put too much pressure on Patterson, he answered when challenged. In the 5th minute, he stopped a 30-yard rocket on a free kick by Calum Angus, then he turned away Jyler Noviello on a point-blank header in the 24th minute. The RailHawks (1-0-0) return to USL First Division play on Saturday at WakeMed Soccer Park, when they will face the Rochester Rhinos. Kickoff is at 7 p.m.
