CARY, N.C. – Carolina RailHawks forward Etienne Barbara and goalkeeper Brad Knighton have been named the NASL Week 5 Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week, the league announced Monday.

Barbara scored two goals and had one assist in Saturday’s 3-1 win over FC Tampa Bay, while Knighton made 11 saves to allow the RailHawks to extend their unbeaten streak to four games (3-1-0).

This marks the fourth time this season a RailHawk has been recognized as a Player of the Week. It is the second time Barbara has been honored, and it comes on the heels of his Player of the Month selection last week.

Barbara’s two goals give him a league-leading six for the season. He scored the game’s first goal in the 20th minute, assisted on Brian Farber’s go-ahead goal in the 52nd minute and scored his second goal of the night in the 76th. His second goal also gave him the RailHawks career scoring record, which now stands at 14, and extended his goal-scoring streak to five straight games.

“Etienne is on good form at the moment and playing with lots of confidence,” said RailHawks coach Martin Rennie. “When strikers score goals like Etienne has been, they expect to score more and that gives the whole team more confidence.”

As strong as Etienne was at the top of the RailHawks’ formation Saturday, Knighton was equally solid on the back end. Knighton made 11 saves to preserve the result for the RailHawks, and tied the club record for most saves in a game in the process. He made two key saves that kept the game even at 1-1. In the 37th-minute, he turned away Mike Ambersley on a breakaway, and in the 49th minute, he made a sprawling save on David Hayes’ 23-yard free kick.

“When you go away from home, you need your goalkeeper to do well,” Rennie said. “Brad made some excellent saves, helped keep the defense organized and distributed the ball well. He’s a very good goalkeeper and gives us a tremendous presence in the back. This is a well-deserved honor.”

Barbara and Knighton will look to keep the RailHawks (3-1-1, 10 points) at the top of the NASL table and extend their unbeaten streak to five matches on Wednesday, when they welcome the Ft. Lauderdale Strikers to WakeMed Soccer Park at 7 p.m.