CARY, N.C. (November 23, 2010) - The North American Soccer League announced the Carolina RailHawks and Puerto Rico Islanders will play in a rematch of the 2010 USSF D-2 Final to highlight the NASL’s Opening Day Kickoff.  The RailHawks will host the Islanders on April 9th at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, NC.  Other matches scheduled for the NASL’s Opening Day Kickoff will include FC Edmonton at Miami FC, NSC Minnesota Stars at Atlanta Silverbacks, and Montreal Impact and FC Tampa Bay. 

“This is a very exciting time and it is a privilege to be hosting this match on April 9th,” said RailHawks President Brian Wellman. “The league was so impressed with the championship match on October 30th and the great support we received from our fans that we (NASL) couldn’t think of a better way to kick off the NASL in 2011.  With more time to prepare for our season opener we know we will be opening to a sellout crowd and it will be something special for our fans and the Triangle community.”  

The RailHawks will play a 28 game regular season schedule, consisting of 14 home and 14 away games.  A balanced schedule will have the RailHawks play against other NASL teams twice at home and twice on the road.  Remaining home matches will include participation in the 2011 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup and exhibition matches against MLS, Mexican Primera Division, NASL and USL Pro clubs.  Exhibition matches will be announced on CarolinaRailHawks.com. 

“We are currently talking with numerous big clubs to bring in some exciting exhibition matches for our fans and expect to announce those in the coming months,” said Wellman.  “Sunday, July 3rd we will host a huge league match with a big Independence Day Celebration that we are excited about.  This is the best home schedule since the inception of the RailHawks with almost all home matches being played on Saturday evenings.  Now that we (NASL) have control over the schedule, we can provide a much more consistent and exciting schedule to the fans.”

NASL’s regular season will conclude with the top six teams advancing to the playoffs.  The top two seeds will receive a bye into the semifinal round and the remaining four teams will play in a single game playoff to advance to the semifinals.  Semifinal and finals of the playoffs will consist of the traditional two game home and home series using aggregate goals to determine the winner.  The NASL playoff championship series will take place on the weekends of October 22nd and October 29th.

Season Tickets for the Carolina RailHawks 2011 season are now on sale.  Receive a guaranteed seat to every RailHawks home match with the All-Inclusive season ticket package starting as low as $119.  Six and twelve game mini plans are available starting at just $49.  For more information on tickets call (919)859-8145 or visit www.carolinarailhawks.com.