CARY, N.C. -- The Carolina RailHawks visit Puerto Rico for the first time in 2011 this weekend, pitting the NASL’s first- and second-place teams head to head at Estadio Juan Ramon Loubriel on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.

The first-place RailHawks (14-2-3) enter the weekend nine points clear of second-place Puerto Rico (10-5-5), with a game in hand. Saturday’s match kicks off a stretch that will see the RailHawks play three matches in eight days. They return home next week to face Minnesota on Wednesday and Ft. Lauderdale on Aug. 20.

The RailHawks have been the NASL’s top team offensively and defensively, all season. They’ve scored a league-leading 40 goals and their goal differential sits at plus-24. They’ve scored multiple goals in 11 of 19 games this season, including three or more on six occasions, and they’ve been shut out just once. The forward pairing of Etienne Barbara (16 goals, eight assists) and Pablo Campos (eight goals, one assist) lead the RailHawks attack, and Nick Zimmerman has added five goals. Midfielders Jonny Steele and Floyd Franks have pitched in six and four assists, respectively.

Defensively, the RailHawks’ 16 goals allowed are fewest in the league, as is their 0.842 goals against average. They are the only team in the NASL with a GAA under 1.00, and only three times this season have the RailHawks allowed more than one goal. Brad Knighton has played all 1,670 minutes of the season in goal, and he leads the league in goals against average, is tied for the league lead in shutouts (six) and is second in saves (80).

While the RailHawks are kicking off a busy week, Saturday’s match brings to a close one for the Islanders. It will be their third match in eight days. They defeated Edmonton 1-0 at Foote Field last Saturday, then downed Atlanta 2-0 on Wednesday in Bayamon. The Islanders come into this weekend winners of four of their last five, a stretch where they’ve outscored the opposition 7-2 and posted three shutouts. Forward Jonathan Faña leads the Islanders’ attack with eight goals, and Nicholas Addlery and David Foley have scored five goals apiece. Foley has also added a team-leading five assists.

The Islanders are unbeaten at home this season, with a 5-3-0 home record. However, the RailHawks have been superb one the road this year, posting a 5-2-2 mark away from WakeMed Soccer Park. Though the RailHawks suffered a 2-1 defeat in Ft. Lauderdale last week, they have not lost back-to-back games this season, and they have fared well in Puerto Rico recently. Last year, they won two of three matches on the island.

LAST TIME OUT
The RailHawks were moments away from escaping with a point in Ft. Lauderdale last Saturday, but Strikers substitute Martin Nuñez scored on a brilliant strike in the second minute of added time to deal the RailHawks a 2-1 defeat at Lockhart Stadium.

The RailHawks, unbeaten over its previous three matches, went down 1-0 in the 38th minute but clawed their way back to equalize in the 72nd minute thanks to John Krause, who poked the ball into the net on a corner kick.

The RailHawks finished the night with just six shots attempted, tied for the second lowest total this season, and put on two shots on target, which was the lowest total for the season.

The loss ended a seven-match unbeaten streak over the Strikers for Carolina.

SERIES HISTORY
Saturday’s match will be the third of four meetings between the RailHawks and Islanders in 2011. They will close out the season series on Sept. 17 in Puerto Rico.

The teams have split the season’s first two matches, which were both played at WakeMed Soccer Park.

In the NASL season opener – and re-match of the 2010 league finals – Puerto Rico dealt the RailHawks a 2-1 defeat in Cary. The match began amid threatening skies and was halted for two-hours after 10 minutes had been played due to severe weather. Once play resumed, Puerto Rico’s Josh Hansen scored in the 32nd minute. Etienne Barbara seemed to have rescued a point for the RailHawks when he drew a penalty kick in the 85th-minute and converted the spot kick to even the match at 1-1. But Puerto Rico’s Jay Needham got his head on a corner kick in the fourth minute of stoppage time for the winner.

In the second match, on May 21, the RailHawks dispatched Puerto Rico 3-0. Barbara scored goals in the 26th and 53rd minutes and assisted on Pablo Campos’ 67th-minute tally for their biggest win ever over Puerto Rico.

Saturday’s match will be the 14th regular-season meeting between Carolina and Puerto Rico. The RailHawks are 5-7-1 all-time against the Islanders. After going winless (0-6-1) in the series’ first seven meetings, Carolina got its first win on Sept. 12, 2009, when the RailHawks defeated Puerto Rico 2-0 at WakeMed Soccer Park. That win touched off a three-match winning streak against the Islanders, including a 2-0 win in Bayomon, Puerto Rico last May – the RailHawks’ first-ever win at Juan Roman Loubriel Stadium.

3 FORMER ISLANDERS RETURN TO PUERTO RICO
Three former Islanders are returning to Puerto Rico this weekend as members of the RailHawks.

RailHawks defender John Krause and midfielder Chris Nurse are making their first return to Bayamon since they departed the Islanders after the 2009 and 2010 seasons respectively, and midfielder Jonny Steele is going back to the site of one of his best seasons for the third time, but first with the RailHawks.

Steele was the 2008 USL-1 MVP while starring for the Islanders, and he visited twice in 2010 while playing for Vancouver and Tampa Bay. Krause and Steele were at the heart of the Islanders 2008 squad that won the USL-1 Commisioner’s Cup, and they put the Islanders on the CONCACAF map with their stirring run to the Champions League semifinals.

Nurse was a stalwart for the Islanders in 2010, when they won the USSF D-2 championship after an unspectacular regular season.

RENNIE TO VANCOUVER
Martin Rennie sent four players from 2010’s RailHawks squad to Major League Soccer, and now he’s set to join them in America’s top flight in 2012.

Rennie was unveiled as the new manager of Vancouver Whitecaps FC on Tuesday, but he will remain with the RailHawks, whom he’s coached since 2009, for the remainder of the 2011 season.

Under Rennie, the RailHawks have finished in the top two in the table in his two complete seasons, and that looks to hold true in his third season with the RailHawks leading the table by 9 points. Sixteen points separate the RailHawks and third-place Minnesota.

In two-plus seasons with the Railhawks, Rennie has complied a league record of 43-19-17 in league play and 52-26-22 in all competitions since taking over the team in 2009.

RAILHAWKS ADD MCMANUS
The RailHawks announced this week the signing of midfielder Tony McManus for the remainder of the 2011 season.

McManus, 30, spent the last two seasons with the Portland Timbers, before their move to Major League Soccer this season. He appeared in 51 matches and scored one goal in his two seasons at PGE Park, and he helped the Timbers win the 2009 USL First Division Commissioner’s Cup.

He played the bulk of his professional career with the Atlanta Silverbacks from 2005-08, where he appeared in 156 matches and scored seven goals. In 2007, he led the Silverbacks to the USL-1 Championship Final.

NASL LEADERS
Not only are the RailHawks at the top of the NASL table, several players are among the league leaders in a handful of statistical categories.

Forward Etienne Barbara leads the league with 16 goals, eight assists and 40 points.

Forward Pablo Campos is tied for third in the league with eight goals, and Nick Zimmerman is tied for sixth with five goals.

Midfielder Jonny Steele is second in the league with six assists, and midfielder Floyd Franks is tied for fourth with four assists, and midfielder Chris Nurse is tied for fifth with three assists.

Goalkeeper Brad Knighton leads the league in goals against average (0.842), is tied for the league lead in shutouts (6) and is second in the league in saves (80).

MISC. NOTES
• Defender John Krause scored his first goal of the season Saturday in the 72nd minute, making him the ninth different RailHawk to score a goal this year, and the 48th player in club history to do so.
• With 40 goals scored this season, the RailHawks are just four goals shy of matching the club’s single-season record, which has been broken in each of the last two seasons.

2011 STAT LEADERS
Appearances: Etienne Barbara, Brad Knighton (19)
Starts: Brad Knighton (19)
Minutes: Brad Knighton (1,670)
Goals: Etienne Barbara (16)
Assists: Etienne Barbara (8)
Shots: Etienne Barbara (55)
Yellow cards: Kupono Low (6)
Red cards: Pablo Campos, Jonny Steele, Chris Nurse, John Krause (1)
Saves: Brad Knighton (80)

NASL TABLE

NASL SCHEDULE – WEEK 19

Wednesday, Aug. 10
Tampa Bay 3, Montreal 3
Stade Saputo, Montreal, Que.

Puerto Rico 2, Atlanta 0
Estadio Juan Ramon Loubriel, Bayamon, PR

Ft. Lauderdale 1, Minnesota 0
National Sports Center, Blaine, Minn.

Saturday, Aug. 13
Minnesota vs Tampa Bay, 7 p.m.
Al Lang Stadium, St. Petersburg, Fla.

Carolina vs Puerto Rico, 7:30 p.m.
Estadio Juan Ramon Loubriel, Bayamon, PR

Sunday, Aug. 14
Ft. Lauderdale vs Edmonton
Foote Field, Edmonton, Alb.

Atlanta vs Montreal, 6 p.m.
Stade Saputo, Montreal, Que.

NASL RESULTS – WEEK 18

Saturday, Aug. 6
Tampa Bay 4, Atlanta 0
Atlanta Silverbacks Stadium, Atlanta, Ga.

Ft. Lauderdale 2, Carolina 1
Lockhart Stadium, Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.

Minnesota 3, Montreal 1
Stade Saputo, Montreal, Que.

Puerto Rico 1, Edmonton 0
Foote Field, Edmonton, Alb.

NEXT UP
The RailHawks return to WakeMed Soccer Park for two games in four days next week. They will meet Minnesota on Wednesday, and then welcome Ft. Lauderdale on Saturday. Both matches kick off at 7 p.m. at WakeMed Soccer Park.

2011 NASL STATISTICS