CARY, N.C. – Nearly 700 minutes over eight games passed before RailHawks forward Pablo Campos scored another goal.

After snapping that dryspell in the 37th minute on Saturday night at WakeMed Soccer Park, Campos found another one 30 minutes later and then had a hand in a third goal to lead the RailHawks to a 4-1 win over Edmonton.

“This past week, I’d been training on finishing,” said Campos, who has eight goals on the season. “Coach had been in my head to step up. When the team needs me, I have to be there. So that’s what happened. The team needed me tonight, and I showed up.”

As Campos regained his scoring touch, the RailHawks rediscovered their form that saw them overrun the league during the first half of the season. They entered Saturday’s match winless in their last two, including a 1-1 draw at Edmonton 10 days earlier.

But with the 10-day break, the RailHawks had several days away from the training ground in order to recharge their batteries, and when they returned to practice Tuesday, they did so with a focus on winning. Saturday’s result gave the RailHawks their eighth straight win at WakeMed Soccer Park, a new club record.

“After winning 10 straight games and then going on the road, we tied and lost a game and people were questioning us a little bit,” said RailHawks coach Martin Rennie. “We used that as motivation to bounce back. A lot of people were looking to see how we’d do tonight, and I’m glad we gave a good answer.”

The RailHawks had the run of play for much of the evening and looked to take the game to Edmonton from the outset. Etienne Barbara created a chance in the fourth minute, only to see his shot go wide. In the sixth minute, Barbara worked with Matt Watson to create another scoring chance, but Watson’s blast curled over the crossbar.

Campos finally solved the Edmonton defense in the 37th minute. 

Defender Cory Miller played a seemingly harmless ball up the right flank to Campos, who shielded his man off the ball. That deft display of skill allowed Campos to go in on the Edmonton goal 1-v-1 with Rein Baart, and Campos slipped the ball in for his seventh of the season.

Once the match passed the hour mark, the RailHawks’ familiarity with the Triangle’s suffocating humidity took over, and they scored three goals in 19 minutes.

In the 67th minute, Nick Zimmerman started a counterattack from the RailHawks’ side of the field. His pass to Barbara beat the offside trap, allowing  Barbara and Campos to go in 2-v-1. Barbara sucked his defender outside then played the ball into Campos. Campos chipped it over Baart as he charged off his line, then punched it into the open net for his second of the evening. It also gave Barbara his league-leading eighth assist of the season.

In the 81st minute, Campos and Barbara switched roles from their previous connection, but when Campos played a low cross into the area for Barbara, Edmonton defender Paul Hamilton tried to clear the ball away but knocked it into his own goal.

Edmonton drew a goal back in the 84th minute from Shaun Saiko, but the RailHawks took it right back two minutes later.

Brian Farber chipped a ball over the top, Barbara went in 1-v-1 with Baart and crushed a shot by the Edmonton goalkeeper for his league-leading 15th goal of the season.

Now rested and their taste for wins renewed, the only the RailHawks have to do now is keep it up, Barbara said.

“I think we are back to it and we have to keep it going again now." 

The RailHawks will try to keep it going next weekend, when they meet Atlanta on Saturday at WakeMed Soccer Park. Kick off will be at 7 p.m.

CAROLINA 4, EDMONTON 1

LINEUPS

EDM: GK Rein Baart, M Dominic Oppong, D Alex Surprenant, F Kyle Porter (Chris Lemire, 68th), D Antonio Rago, M Shaun Saiko, M Kyle Yamada (Alex Semenets, 68th), D Paul Hamilton, M Chris Kooy, M Ilja Van Leerdam (Conrad Smith, 74th), F Daniel Antoniuk
CAR: GK Brad Knighton, D Kupono Low, D Devon McKenney, D Cory Miller, M Floyd Franks, M Chris Nurse (Nick Thompson, 87th), M Matt Watson, M Jonny Steele, F Pablo Campos (Allan Russell, 85th), F Etienne Barbara, F Nick Zimmerman (Brian Farber, 83rd)

SCORING SUMMARY

CAR: Pablo Campos (Cory Miller), 37th
CAR: Pablo Campos (Etienne Barbara), 67th
CAR: Paul Hamilton (Own goal), 81st
EDM: Shaun Saiko (Daniel Antoniuk), 84th
CAR: Etienne Barbara (Brian Farber), 86th 

CAUTIONS

EDM: Dominic Oppong, 61st; Chris Kooy, 75th
CAR: Chris Nurse, 18th; Etienne Barbara, 45th; Floyd Franks, 49th

SHOTS

EDM: 10
CAR: 13

FOULS

EDM: 11
CAR: 10