USL News Release
Thursday, May 21, 2009
TAMPA, FL – Carolina coach Martin Rennie and several RailHawks players will be the center of attention Friday on Fox Soccer Channel as they make a return to Cleveland, where they helped lead the City Stars to a USL Second Division title before switching teams. Kick off is set for 8:00 pm ET.
When the City Stars were launched two-plus years ago as an expansion team in the USL Second Division, the expectations were not high. But they blew by them en route to a 10-1-9 inaugural season in 2007 and a league championship in 2008 with Rennie at the helm.
Then Rennie took the open USL First Division RailHawks coaching position. Shortly thereafter, Cleveland took their opportunity for promotion and joined their former coach in USL’s top flight. The offseason competition to line up the champions’ top players began.
Rennie lured Sallieu Bundu, Eric Reed, Mark Schulte and Jeremy Tolleson – arguably four of the City Stars top talent – to the orange of the RailHawks as former Portland Timbers assistant coach Rod Underwood built his side in Cleveland.
Mirroring his successful debut in USL-2, Rennie has the RailHawks, who finished 9-11-10 last year, off to a good start with a mark of 4-2-1 this season. Bundu and Schulte each have a goal on the young campaign and Reed has started four games with a 0.75 goals against average and two shutouts in his three wins. They come into the contest off a 2-0 victory in Miami Saturday in which Luke Kreamalmeyer scored twice.
Cleveland, on the other hand, got off to a rough start in their first season in USL-1, going winless through their first four games (0-3-1) with only one goal scored to nine conceded. After opening with three defeats, the club began a turnaround with a scoreless draw against Portland and posted their first victory last weekend in Minnesota. The 1-0 victory on a goal from Joshua Boateng moved them ahead of the winless Thunder at the bottom of the table.
Next Week: The same two clubs square off again in Carolina the following Friday, May 29 at 8:00 pm.
USL Breakaway Re-Airs on Fox Soccer Channel
If you missed Saturday’s running of the first USL Breakaway episode of 2009, you can catch it again on Fox Soccer Channel. The 30-minute show features stories about the Ventura County Fusion’s Anton Peterlin, who will be signing with Everton; the Chicago Red Eleven and their affiliation with the WPS Red Stars; the USL-1 expansion Austin Aztex and their owner Phil Rawlins role with the EPL’s Stoke City; and a CONCACAF Champions League recap of Montreal and Puerto Rico’s tournament runs. The show re-airs…
Saturday, 5/23 – Midnight ET
Friday, 5/29 – 11:00 pm ET
Saturday, 6/6 – 1:30 am ET
Sunday, 6/7 – 10:30 am ET
Wednesday, 6/10 – 5:30 pm ET
