GREENSBORO — The Carolina Dynamo closed out its season with a 4-2 loss to the Atlanta Silverbacks on Saturday night in front of 1,941 fans at Macpherson Stadium.

Coming off a 4-0 victory over Nashville on Friday night, the Dynamo came out flat. Just 30 seconds into the game, the Silverbacks had a golden scoring opportunity and they went on top just 12 minutes into the match.

Carolina had numerous scoring chances in the opening half but was unable to score even once. Meanwhile, Atlanta did not have nearly as many chances but seemingly converted on each of them to take a 3-0 lead into intermission.

“The first half was disappointing, but it was really the tale of how our season went,” Carolina coach Joe Brown said. “We’ve not been able to put teams away when we should have, and defensively we’ve not been a very good football team this year.

“We just didn’t come out with a great attitude and it hurt us. They got easy goals off us and put us behind the eight-ball a little bit, and we chased the game the whole second half. Even though we outplayed them in the second half, Atlanta did what they had to do to win the match.”

Nearly all of the action in the second half happened in front of the Silverbacks’ goal. But it looked like Atlanta was going to post its second shutout victory of the season over the Dynamo as the hosts simply could not buy a goal, no matter how good the scoring opportunity.

“Watching tonight’s game — how we missed the goals — was incredible,” Brown said. “That’s really what we’ve been dealing with all year long.”

Finally Cody Arnoux got Carolina on the board at the 82-minute mark. Two minutes later, Ryan Adeleye added a highlight-reel goal and suddenly it looked like the Dynamo could salvage its unbeaten season at home.

But five minutes later Ryan Roushandel scored his third goal of the game to clinch the victory for the visitors.

“Good teams create their own breaks, and we just haven’t been able to do that and get out of our own way,” Brown said. “A disappointing season from the standards this team has, but we’ll recover.”

The Dynamo finished the year at .500 and in the bottom half of the Southeast Division. One of the main reasons for the disappointing season was a 1-3 record versus the Silverbacks. But five of the Dynamo’s seven wins this season came at home.

“Good season for our home fans,” said Brown, who had established a goal of going unbeaten at Macpherson Stadium. “We weren’t a good team on the road. We just didn’t get a rhythm with the injuries we had. At the end of the day there’s no excuses. We just have to get back to basics and get our recruiting better and with coaching, and that comes back to me, do a better job.”

Atlanta

3 1 – 4 Carolina 0 2 – 2 Goals: Atlanta — Ryan Roushandel 3, Sam Arthur; Carolina — Cody Arnoux, Ryan Adeleye. Assists: Atlanta — Jeff Scannella, Sam Arthur; Carolina — Kirk Urso. Shots: Atlanta 7, Carolina 10. Saves: Atlanta (Jimmy Maurer) 7; Carolina (Clint Irwin) 2. Corner kicks: Atlanta 4, Carolina 9.

Records: Atlanta 9-6-1; Carolina 7-7-2.

CARY — The Carolina Dynamo failed to hold a one-goal lead in the waning minutes of Tuesday night’s game and fell to the Cary Railhawks 3-2 in PDL soccer.
The Dynamo got goals from Eddie Ababio and Jamie Franks, and an assist from Sam Cronin. The Railhawks’ goals were scored by Billy Schuler (unassisted), Michael Callahan (penalty kick), and Brian Shriver (assist by Alan Sanchez).
The Dynamo’s next match is Friday at Atlanta.

GREENSBORO — Goalie Aaron Johnson came up with an outstanding sequence on a penalty kick and Michael Lahoud scored two goals to lead the Carolina Dynamo to a 2-1 win over the Atlanta Silverbacks in a Premier Development League game Friday night at Macpherson Stadium.

With the score tied 1-1 in the second half, a disputed call in front of the net gave the Silverbacks a penalty kick and a golden chance to take the lead at the 53-minute mark. But Johnson stopped the initial shot, turned back the rebound attempt and a third Atlanta shot went wide of the goal.

“I think Aaron did a great job,” Carolina coach Joe Brown said. “I was a little disappointed with the soft goal at the beginning of the second half. But there’s times that change seasons. And that penalty stop could be a season-changer for us. If we don’t walk out of here with three points tonight it’s a difficult run with Central Florida tomorrow. It was a tremendous time for him to make the saves that he made.”

Johnson came up with two more big saves before Lahoud scored the game winner on a header at the 85-minute mark.

“Mike just kind of nipped it over the goalkeeper and found the spot,” Brown said. “He found a way to get the ball in the back of the net. It was a good service, we had the numbers in the box to get it done and Mike’s second effort got it done. He had both goals tonight and he was certainly our player of the match. Not just because he scored goals but what he did on both sides of the ball tonight.”

As is its custom in home games, the Dynamo was on the attack early. This time it was finally able to get on the scoreboard early, as Lahoud scored at the 15-minute mark. Even at that early stage, it was the fourth good scoring opportunity for Carolina.

“We got the goal that we needed but the next step is we need to put teams away,” Brown said. “We had so many opportunities to put them away early. When you keep teams in games for so long, this is what happens. They sneak a goal in on us and they get a penalty on us and the next thing you know it’s 2-1. We’re fortunate tonight.”

Tonight the Dynamo takes on division-leading Central Florida and can move within two points of first place with a win.

Atlanta 0 1 — 1

Carolina 1 1 — 2

Goals: Atlanta: Sam Arthur; Carolina: Michael Lahoud 2. Assists: Carolina: Cody Arnoux, Sheanon Williams. Shots: Atlanta 6; Carolina 6. Saves: Atlanta (Ryan GermJames Maurer) 2; Carolina (Aaron Johnson) 5. Corner kicks: Atlanta 2; Carolina 5.

Records: Atlanta 6-3-1; Carolina 6-3-1.

DYNAMO WOMEN 3, ILLUSION 1: In the opening game, the Dynamo women emerged with an easy 3-1 victory over the West Virginia Illusion. Katie Andreski scored Carolina’s first goal and Hailey Beame contributed her fifth goal of the season. Ashley Church closed the scoring with her first goal of the year.