Mark Anderson scores twice as Fort Lauderdale snaps Carolina's Four Game win streak
By: Pedro Heizer
The Fort Lauderdale Strikers defeated the Carolina RailHawks 2-1 at Lockhart Stadium in front of 3,586 striker likers on Saturday night. Strikers midfielder Mark Anderson extended his team lead in goals by scoring twice in the match. With the win, Fort Lauderdale passes the RailHawks and move into fifth place in the NASL standings with 19 points.
“Mark is a special player,” said Strikers head coach Daryl Shore. “He has a knack for the goal and a knack for setting guys up. To be fair, tonight the guys did a good job finding him as well.”
In seven starts, Anderson has seven goals and is one goal behind league-leader Paulo Campos of San Antonio as the top goal scorer in the league. “It was good to score two goals as I’ve been scoring one and one and one,” Anderson said. “It’s nice to get a break and get the win.”
Anderson’s first goal came in the 5th minute, which is the fastest goal scored by any Strikers player this season, Anderson took a shot at the goal and the ball was deflected by a Carolina defender and the ball bounced past Carolina goalkeeper Ray Burse.
“The ball took a deflection but they all count the same,” said midfielder Mark Anderson “it doesn’t matter how you score.”
“I thought getting the goal early and just before the half really gave our guys a lot of belief they could come out of halftime and close the game out,” said Strikers head coach Daryl Shore.
In the second goal, Scott Lorenz beat a Carolina defender deep in the box, centering the ball just off the back line. Anderson, streaking toward the goal, redirected the pass to the far post for a two goal lead at the 45th minute.
Former Fort Lauderdale Striker, Mike Palacio scored the lone goal for the Carolina Railhawks in the 82nd minute who had their four game winning streak snapped here in Fort Lauderdale.
For the Strikers, they move to 5-5-4 in the season and have a three-game home winning streak at Lockhart Stadium.
Up Next: The Strikers will play in-state rivals Tampa bay Rowdies on their annual Fourth of July game.
