— The archipelago of Puerto Rico enjoyed a banner sports day. This afternoon tennis player Monica Puig became the first person to win an Olympic gold medal representing Puerto Rico. And this evening NASL expansion side Puerto Rico FC, owned by U.S. Olympian Carmelo Anthony, earned an unlikely 2-2 draw with the Carolina RailHawks at WakeMed Soccer Park.

“I thought we played some great stuff and controlled the first 45 minutes,” said RailHawks manager Colin Clarke. “We should have scored more and the game should have been over. We started the second half awful, conceded two awful goals and lost two points.”

The RailHawks had the better of the first half, holding 58 percent of possession and surrendering only one shot to Puerto Rico. Meanwhile, Carolina’s knocks on goal were answered in the 40th minute. A clinical buildup culminated with Tiyi Shipalane driving and centering to Omar Bravo in the box, who settled then blasted past Naranjas goalkeeper David Meves for a 1-0 lead. It’s Bravo’s third goal since joining the RailHawks on loan a month ago, and Shipalane’s third assist this year.

But a funny thing happened on the RailHawks’ way to three points. Despite being dominated statistically, the Melos (h/t Alex Schieferdecker) equalized in the 52nd minute. Hector Ramos held up a ball atop the box, then passed it off to an unabated Paulo Mendes racing past the RailHawks’ defenders. Ramos took a touch then buried his shot past goalkeeper Brian Sylvestre to tie the match 1-1.

Puerto Rico surged ahead in the 67th minute. A cross into the box off the right wing by Ramon Del Campo found the head of Ramos, sandwiched between yet rising above defenders Mickey Daly and Steven Miller. Ramos’ deflection bounded past of an off-balanced Sylvestre, off the right post, off a recovering Sylvestre and across the goal line to put the visitors ahead 2-1.

With a shocking home loss looming, it was Carolina’s turn to equalize in the 88th minute. Matt Watson’s cross off the left flank found Matt Fondy cutting center box. His acute angled header found the far netting to knot the final score at 2-2. It is Fondy’s fourth goal since joining the RailHawks in late June.

“The ball went out wide, and I tried to get on it as quick as I could,” Watson said. “They were obviously in a deep shell trying to go home with a win. My plan was to drive inside, but the [defender] cut me off. So I whipped [the ball] in there, and luckily for me Matt got his head on it. It was behind the defender, and [Fondy] made a great little dive in front of it, and it was a great finish by him.”

Once again, the RailHawks’ offense scored enough goals to win a game, but not enough to bail out their porous defense. Carolina is fourth in the 12-team NASL in goals scored (24), but it has surrendered the most goals (29) in the league. Even more telling, the RailHawks have allowed 27 goals off shots in the box this year—no other NASL team had allowed more than 16 entering league play this evening.

Puerto Rico gaffer Adrian Whitbread, who should have been basking in the glow of a road point, actually sounded disheartened after the match over a squandered victory.

“It was a tough evening for us,” Whitbread said. “Tonight we weren’t at our best. I think we had a positive response after halftime. I didn’t really go in and shout and get into them. I just told them some personal truths that it wasn’t good enough. And their response, well, you can see it.

“There’s a naivety we tried to address this week, and here we are talking about conceding two more goals,” Whitbread said. “That’s not the way I like to play away from home, end to end. They’ve got to manage the game. It can’t come from me on the side of the field. They have to take responsibility.”

Once again, Clarke left a match disappointed and frustrated.

“It doesn’t matter how many extra defenders you have on,” Clarke said. “If you can’t defend a cross from 40 yards or let somebody go on a give-and-go past you, it doesn’t matter what the balance is on the field. Those things are not good enough, and until they improve we’re not going find the success we’re looking for this year.”

Matt Watson’s diagnosis was more sanguine, but also unsparing.

“It starts in practice. We’ve all got to be on the same page, and I think sometime we’re not,” Watson said. “Honestly, I don’t think we’re a bad defensive team. We concede too many goals, and sometimes it’s mental lapses as opposed to bad technique.

I also think a little bit is that we’ve recently had a lot of changes with injures. I definitely lack chemistry with some of the guys. It’s about being comfortable with each other on the field and trusting each other. When the defenders are behind me saying ‘right’ or ‘left,” I need to be 100 percent sure I can trust what they’re saying. I will trust them, but it about getting to know them and their technique.”

It’s now a five-match winless streak for the RailHawks (6-5-7, 23 pts.), which conceded 10 goals over that span. Carolina earned just two points against the cellar-dwelling Jacksonville Armada and Puerto Rico in their past two outings.

The RailHawks are back at WakeMed Soccer Park next Saturday, August 20 to host the table-topping Indy Eleven.

BOX SCORE

LINEUPS

CAR: Sylvestre, Miller, Daly, Beckie (Tobin, 42’), Black, Watson, Albadawi, Shriver (Orlando, 78’), Shipalane (Ceballos, 87’), Fondy, Bravo

PRFC: Meves, Dias, Botero (Paulo Mendes, 46’), Dawson, Soria, Del Campo, Marrero (Agnew, 78’), Kafari, Rudy, Ramos, Rivera

GOALS

CAR: Bravo, 40’ (Shipalane); Fondy, 88’ (Watson)

PRFC: Paulo Mendes, 52’ (Ramos); Ramos, 67’ (del Campo)

CAUTIONS

CAR: Bravo, 90 + 2’

PRFC: ---

EJECTIONS

CAR: ---

PRFC: ---

ATTENDANCE: 6,056