— The Carolina RailHawks turned their Memorial Day weekend trip to Fort Lauderdale, Fla. and the semi-sandy surface of Lockhart Stadium, into just another day at the beach.

A 45th minute game-winning goal by Ty Shipalane combined with a man-of-the-match performance from returning prodigal goalkeeper Akira Fitzgerald gave the RailHawks a 1-0 win over the Fort Lauderdale Strikers.

Carolina rolled out nearly the same starting XI as last week’s 2-2 draw against the New York Cosmos. The lone, but notable, exception was Fitzgerald, who arrived in Cary this week on loan from New York City FC. Fitzgerald spent the previous four years with the RailHawks before signing with Major League Soccer over the offseason.

The Strikers started out the steadier side, keeping possession and building up offensive opportunities. However, sure-handed keeping by Fitzgerald and timely defending by center back Connor Tobin kept the home team at bay. In the 35th minute, a botched clearance in the box by Futty Danso gave the Strikers’ Stefano Pinho a snapshot in the box. However, Fitzgerald was well-positioned to snag the save.

Just when a scoreless first half appeared inevitable, the RailHawks unfurled some nifty team play to take the 1-0 halftime lead. In the 45th minute, a chip cross off the left flank by midfielder Wells Thompson was chested down inside the box Shipalane. The Volt orb landed at the feet of Nacho Novo, who back-heeled the ball back to a cutting Shipalane, whose ensuing left-footer deflected off Strikers’ goalkeeper Lionel Brown before bounding into the back of the net.

A first half without any cautions became a booking-fest after intermission, compliments of referee Marcos De Oliveira. Five yellow cards were shown in the second stanza, all over a 16-minute period.

Although Fort Lauderdale outshot Carolina 17-7 for the match, 12 of their attempts were off target. Those Strikers shots that did find the frame were snared by Fitzgerald, who finished the game with six saves and countless stymied set pieces to earn a clean sheet, Carolina’s first this year in eight matches.

Saturday’s win before an announced attendance of 4,801 is Carolina’s first ever win over the Strikers at Lockhart Stadium. It’s the RailHawks’ first victory this season since the week one result over the Ottawa Fury.

The RailHawks (2-4-2, 10 pts.) are currently tied for fourth in the NASL spring season standings. Carolina’s next match is Wednesday, May 27 when it hosts the Charlotte Independence of USL in the third round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup at WakeMed Soccer Park. The RailHawks then travel to face the Jacksonville Armada next Saturday.

Box Score

Scoring Summary

Shipalane (assisted by Novo), 44th minute

Starting Lineups

Fort Lauderdale Strikers (4-2-3-1): Brown; Sanfilippo, Adeleye (Angulo 79’), Kling, PC; Marcelin, Gonzalez; Frimpong (Chin 64’), Léo Moura (C), Ramirez (Sanchez 64’); Stefano

Substitutes not used: Meves, Guerrero, Gonzalez, Navarro

Carolina RailHawks (4-5-1): Fitzgerald; Knight, Danso, Tobin, Low; Thompson, Shipalane, Hlavaty (Osaki 87’), Albadawi, Anderson (Wagner 77’); Novo (Catic 82’)

Substitutes not used: Gilstrap, Scott

Cautions

FTL: PC (yellow) 59’ ; Adeleye (yellow) 67’

CAR: Anderson (yeloow) 54’ ; Fitzgerald (yellow) 62’; Novo (yellow) 70’