The RailHawks hit the road for the first time in 2011 on Saturday, when they will face NSC Minnesota in Blaine, Minn.

The attack has found its rhythm quickly. The RailHawks’ five goals lead the league, and Etienne Barbara has scored in three straight games to lead the NASL as well.

And after a shaky start, the defense has come together, too.

After surrendering three goals over the season’s first two matches, the RailHawks picked up their first shutout of the season – and 26th in their last 63 league matches – last Wednesday against Edmonton.

Aside from the zero in the goals allowed column, what also sticks out is the dearth of chances the RailHawks have allowed since Montreal’s Kevin Hatchi scored in the 11th minute on April 16. The RailHawks have allowed just one shot on goal, including zero against Edmonton, during the last 169 minutes.

Furthermore, the RailHawks have yet to allow a goal from the run of play. Puerto Rico’s first goal on Aug. 9 resulted from a restart on a throw-in deep in the RailHawks’ end, and the other two goals both came on corner kicks, including one when the RailHawks had only 10 men on the field.

The marked improvement from match-to-match seems mostly to be a function of time. That the backline was talented and experienced was without question. But it needed time in order to come together. Captain Brad Rusin missed the first match on a red card suspension from 2010, so he, Kupono Low, John Krause and Devon McKenney didn’t play together until the April 16 match against Montreal.

“It was definitely good for us to get a few games under our belts, get to know each other’s tendencies, and that’s evident in the shutout we had last game,” said McKenney, who has played all 270 minutes of the season so far.

Against Puerto Rico in the season opener, the RailHawks allowed 16 shots, nine on target, and two goals. In the two matches since, they’ve allowed 23 shots, but only two have been on target and one has gotten by goalkeeper Brad Knighton.

“The first two games we played well defensively,” Krause said after the game against Edmonton. “The only goals we allowed were on set plays. We said we’d be better on set plays, and we really wanted to keep a clean sheet. So we’re happy with that.”

The only set pieces that have proved troublesome are corner kicks, which the RailHawks have faced 12 and allowed two goals. They are not giving away free kicks around the area. In fact, less than one-third of the fouls the RailHawks have been called for (25), have been called on Low, Rusin, Krause or McKenney (8)

“We talked about that after the game,” McKenney said. “The second the ball goes down for a free kick, everybody’s trying to get marked. Krause and Knighton, Brad and Kupono are organizing everybody.”

At 169 minutes since they were last scored on, this group has a ways to go before it approaches the club’s benchmark for holding opponents scoreless. The club’s longest shutout streak stands at 566 minutes.

However, Martin Rennie’s teams have a tendency to stay on a roll once it gets started. In the first half of 2009, the RailHawks, with an entirely new defense, had separate shutout streaks of 338 and 499 minutes.

But as has been stated several times previously, if this group is to approach those lofty standards, they’ll need assistance from every other position on the field.

Said McKenney, “It’s a defensive effort all the way from the forwards to the goalkeeper.”