By KEITH TOLBERT Special to the News & Record

GREENSBORO — The Greensboro Dynamo had a slow start this season, but if the final eight games are any indication, next season should be as exciting as ever.

The Dynamo ended its the season with a 2-1 win over Bermuda, to finish 7-5-4. That wasn’t good enough to make the playoffs, but it gives reason for optimism for next season.

Pictures by AltaSky

“If we don’t let a goal in at Ocean City last Friday, we would have been unbeaten in our last eight games” said Dynamo coach Joe Brown. “If we could have won a couple of those ties, we would have been in the playoffs. We are a very young team and lot of these players will be back next season and they got some really good experience this season.”

Brown pointed to the fact that they played from behind in most of those ties and had to scramble to make it back. On Saturday   night, the Dynamo scored first and controlled the action most of the night.”

“That first goal is always the most important,” Brown said. “We got that tonight and you saw what a difference that made. I thought we could have done better in the first half in putting the game away, but we deserved to win.”

After a 1-1 tie at halftime, the Dynamo took the lead in the 74th minute. Greensboro’s Matt Rose converted a free kick into a score when he curved the ball over the defenders and into the upper left corner. The goalie was so fooled by the kick he didn’t attempt to make the save.

“He thought the right-footed player was going to take the kick,” said Rose, who will be a redshirt freshman at North Carolina in the fall. “I saw how the ball was lined up and knew I was going for the post. I kept telling the other guys ‘I can get this. I can get this.’ I think it nicked one their players and that put even more spin on it.”

The Dynamo played the Hogges for the first time this season. Bermuda formerly had a professional team, but is now mostly made up of players from the country’s national team. Some of the players will represent Bermuda in the next Olympics and possibly the FIFA World Cup qualifying round. The team is funded by the Bermudan Soccer Federation.

“He’s (Rose) is a young player,” Brown said. “For him to get the winning goal against an essentially international team is great for him and something he can point to in his career.”

There were few scoring chances for the Hogges the rest of the game and that was partially due to the aggressiveness of the Dynamo offense.

“I thought we possessed the ball well in the first half, but we couldn’t get around them,” Brown said. “We did a much better job of getting behind them in the second half.”

Both teams had some opportunities early, with Dynamo goalie Brock Duckworth making a diving stop on a Bermuda shot in the 5th minute. But it was the Dynamo which scored first.

A long pass was settled by Tanner Wolfe and he sent a pass ahead to Luciano Delbono. Delbono split two defenders and beat the goalie with a bullet into the lower left corner for a 1-0 lead. But the Hogges scored the tying goal just before halftime. With several players surrounding him, Shane Hollis made a spin move about 10 yards from the mouth of the goal, and scooted a shot just past a diving Duckworth in the 44th minute.

“We haven’t been able to be consistent in our back four due to injuries,” Brown said. “When you don’t have those same four on the field at the same time there are sometimes miscommunications.”

Goals: Bermuda — Shane Hollis (44th); Carolina — Luciano Delbono, Matt Rose (74th). Assists: Bermuda — Rakeem Deshields; Carolina — Tanner Wolfe. Shots: Bermuda 8; Carolina 12. Saves: Bermuda 0; Carolina (Brock Duckworth) 1. Corner kicks: Bermuda 1; Carolina 5.

Records: Bermuda 4-10-1; Carolina 7-5-4.

SEASON SCHEDULE

May 15 Central Jersey T, 1-1

May 22 Reading L, 4-0

May 19 at Northern Va. W, 6-1

May 30 at Hampton Roads W, 4-1

June 5 at Reading L, 4-1

June 6 at Ironbound (N.J.) W, 4-2

June 12 Hampton Roads L, 2-1

June 19 Ocean City T, 2-2

June 25 Northern Va.-a L, 2-1

June 26 West Virginia-a W, 2-1

July 8 at West Virginia T, 1-1

July 10 New Jersey W, 1-0

July 14 at Hampton Roads T, 0-0

July 17 at Ocean City (N.J.) L, 2-1

July 18 at Central Jersey W, 3-0

July 24 Bermuda W, 2-1

Bermuda Hogges 1-0-1

Carolina Dynamo 1-1-2

Former Dynamo Star, Bermudian International and current New England Revolution forward/midfielder Khano Smith will make a special guest appearance at the Dynamo season Finale against the Bermuda Hogges. Khano started his pro career with the Dynamo back in 2003, leading the Dynamo to a regular season National Championship. In the 12 games Khano appeared in for the Dynamo he recorded four goals including a game winner against arch rival Wilmington. Khano will be on hand Saturday night to sign autographs and take in this historic match the first ever between the Carolina Dynamo & Bermuda Hogges. The Bermuda Football Association is providing the Dynamo with a Khano Smith National Team jersey that will go to one lucky fan in attendance Saturday Night.

The Bermuda Hogges & NE Revolution have also been kind enough to donate Khano Smith Jersey as well that will be raffled off on Saturday Night. Kick-off is 7:30PM at Macpherson Stadium at the Bryan Park Soccer Complex. Tickets start at just $5 for kids 18 and under and $7 for adults. For more information call the Dynamo at 336-316-1266 or visit www.carolinadynamo.com

The Carolina Dynamo are back at home for the 210 season final match this Saturday Night (July 24th) vs. the Bermuda Hogges. Saturday is the 1st time Bermuda ever has visited the gate city and will double as team photo night. All fans in attendance will receive a 2010 Carolina Dynamo Team photo courtesy of Parks Chevrolet, Adidas and Systel Printing. The Dynamo were on the road this past week for three matches in 5 days and finished the trip with a 1-1-1 record to remain in third place of the Mid-Atlantic Conference. This past week the Dynamo tied Hampton Roads 0-0 Wednesday night, before making a trip to New Jersey for two matches. On Saturday night the Dynamo dropped a tough match to Ocean City 2-1 giving up a goal in the 86th minute.

The Dynamo then turned around and beat Central Jersey 3-0 Sunday afternoon before traveling home.