ATLANTA – On the strength of Etienne Barbara’s hat trick, the Carolina RailHawks matched the club record for wins a season Saturday night after defeating the Atlanta Silverbacks 4-2 at Silverbacks Park.

Saturday’s win was the RailHawks’ league-leading 16th of the season, matching the club record set in 2009. The four goals give the RailHawks a league-leading 47 on the year, also a new club record. With the victory, the RailHawks clinched a first round bye in the NASL playoffs.

“We scored four goals away from home, which is great, and we showed a lot of character when it was 2-2 with 15 minutes to go,” said RailHawks coach Martin Rennie. “That was our sixth away win of the season, so we’re proud of that as well. It’s tough to come here. They attack well and they’ve got good players going forward, so in the end it was a good win and an important win.”

The win keeps the RailHawks (16-3-4) seven points clear of Puerto Rico at the top of the NASL table with five games to play, and it guarantees the RailHawks a bye into the NASL semifinals.

Barbara’s hat trick – the fifth in RailHawks history and first since July 2009 – upped his season goal tally to 20. He scored on a brilliant individual run in the 28th minute, then scored on penalty kicks in the 79th and 90th minutes.

Like their last trip to Atlanta, the RailHawks fell behind 1-0. In the 26th minute, defender Willie Hunt headed in a corner kick from Ciaran O’Brien.

But the RailHawks proved their resiliency once again and went on to claim their fifth come-from-behind victory of the season.

Two minutes after Hunt’s goal, Barbara snuck behind the Silverbacks defense. One on one against Atlanta’s Felipe Quintero, Barbara pulled the Silverbacks goalkeeper off his line, nutmegged him, then placed the ball through the legs of defender Mattias Schnorf, who’d retreated to cover the open goal, to tie the match at 1-1.

Three minutes later, Tony McManus opened his RailHawks account. Following a corner kick, the ball popped out to him near the top of the penalty area, and he struck a shot that found its way through the clogged box and into the net.

As the second half progressed, the Silverbacks had much of the play, and that finally paid off in the 76th minute. Raphael Cox collected a rebound near the edge of the six-yard box, cleverly touched the ball by a defender, then buried a shot at the far post, tying the match at 2-2.

But similar to the first half, the RailHawks responded quickly.

In the 79th minute, Barbara broke into the penalty area and was taken down, leading to a penalty kick. As he’d done on four previous spot kicks this season, Barbara buried it to put the RailHawks back ahead, 3-2.

Barbara bagged his third goal of the night – and 20th of the season – as the match neared full time. Trying to run down a long ball, Barbara and Quintero harmlessly bumped into one another as the Atlanta goalkeeper collected the ball at the edge of the penalty area. After distributing it, Quintero approached Barbara as he lay on the turf and taunted him. This unsporting behavior drew a red card for Quintero and another penalty kick for Barbara. Barbara once again stepped to the spot and converted the chance.

The RailHawks will try for the third straight win and 17th of the season next Saturday, when they face Tampa Bay at WakeMed Soccer Park at 7 p.m.

CAROLINA RAILHAWKS 4, ATLANTA SILVERBACKS 2

LINEUPS
CAR: GK Brad Knighton, D Kupono Low, D Cory Miller, D Gareth Evans, D Cory Elenio, M Tony McManus (Chris Nurse, 78), M Matt Watson, M Jonny Steele, F Brian Farber (Nick Zimmerman, 66), F Pablo Campos (Allan Russell, 82), F Etienne Barbara
ATL: GK Felipe Quintero, D Shane Moroney, D Mattias Schnorf, D Willie Hunt, D Kohei Matsushita, M Jordan Davis, M Lucas Paulini, M Raphael Cox, M Nico Colaluca (Grant Kerr, 73), M Ciaran O’Brien (Conor Chin, 74), F Matt Horth

SCORING SUMMARY

ATL: Willie Hunt (Ciaran O’Brien), 26
CAR: Etienne Barbara, 28
CAR: Tony McManus, 31
ATL: Raphael Cox, 76
CAR: Etienne Barbara (PK), 79
CAR: Etienne Barbara (PK), 90

CAUTIONS
CAR: Pablo Campos, 18; Etienne Barbara 39; Cory Miller 44
ATL: Raphael Cox, 83

EJECTIONS
ATL: Felipe Quintero, 87

SHOTS
CAR: 10
ATL: 12

FOULS
CAR: 9
ATL: 13

Attendance: 3,313