— The moniker “RoadHawks” has been well-earned by the Carolina RailHawks. Entering Saturday evening’s match at NASL expansion side Rayo OKC, the RailHawks hadn’t won an away game since a 4-0 victory over the Jacksonville Armada on May 30, 2015, a 10-road match skid.

This evening was headed in the same direction, as Carolina surrendered an early lead to trail Rayo OKC 2-1 in the second half. But a 74th minute equalizer by Aly Hassan, followed by a game-winner at the death from Austin da Luz gave the RailHawks a 3-2 victory in Oklahoma City.

Carolina kicked off the scoring in the 23th minute, when a pinpoint ball over the top from the backfield by James Marcelin found Nazmi Albadawi in the area. Albadawi drove starboard, then calmly played the ball over to a charging da Luz for the easy right-footed putaway and a 1-0 lead.

Rayo OKC evened the match in the 33rd minute when a botched RailHawks clearance ended up at the feet of midfielder Marvin Chavez. Chavez centered to a sliding Ryan Johnson for a goal, tying the score at 1-1 entering halftime.

The home side powered ahead in the 52nd minute when left back Michel penetrated the area at an acute angle, then roofed his blast by Carolina keeper Akira Fitzgerald to give Rayo OKC a 2-1 advantage, and the RailHawks the sinking feeling of inevitability.

Carolina squandered its apparent chance to equalize in the 60th minute, when a terrific cross by Tiyi Shipalane found da Luz positioned far post, but da Luz skied his sitter over goal.

But in the 74th minute, a long ball over the top from Albadawi found Hassan, who had entered the match just three minutes earlier, charging towards goal. Rayo OKC defender Rauwshan McKenzie, who was shadowing Hassan, tripped and fell to ground, but with no whistle from referee, Hassan continued play and buried his blast past Rayo OKC goalkeeper Daniel Fernandes to knot the score at 2-2.

The RailHawks appeared satisfied to cling to a draw and a road point. But in the waning moments of four-plus minutes of added time, a RailHawks corner kick by second-half sub Kupono Low found a leaping da Luz, whose header was true for his brace and a 3-2 comeback road victory for Carolina.

The RailHawks (2-0-0, 6 points) open their 2016 campaign with two victories, while Rayo OKC (0-1-1, 1 point) suffers a squandered result. Carolina returns to the confines of WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary next Saturday, April 16 to host the Ottawa Fury.

BOX SCORE

LINEUP

CAR: Fitzgerald, Black (Low, 80’), Tobin, Marcelin, Beckie, Pérez (Hassan, 71’), Watson, Shipalane (Ceballos, 90’), Albadawi, da Luz, Shriver

OKC: Fernandes, McKenzie, Michel, Kimura, Danso, Pecka (Menjivar, 29’), Forbes, Boateng (Yuma, 63’), Chavez (Samaras, 51’), Findley, Johnson

GOALS

CAR: da Luz, 23’(Albadawi), Hassan, 74’ (Albadawi), da Luz, 96’ (Low)

OKC: Johnson, 33’ (Chavez), Michel, 52’ (Forbes)

CAUTIONS

CAR: Beckie, 84’

OKC: Kimura, 90’

EJECTIONS

CAR: ---

OKC: ---

ATTENDANCE: 5,851