Saturday, April 21, 2012
WILMINGTON, N.C. – The Wilmington Hammerheads and Harrisburg City Islanders battled to a 0-0 draw in the Hammerheads' 2012 home opener on Saturday night at Legion Stadium. Both teams held the other scoreless in a rugged battle that had its kickoff delayed for half-an-hour by lightning.
The Hammerheads (0-1-1) controlled the tempo in the early going, but were unable to find the back of the net. Despite numerous advances on goal, a threatening Hammerheads' offense couldn’t connect early on in the final third to test City Islanders goalkeeper Nick Noble.
Harrisburg (1-0-1) took longer to come into the game, but had more energy in the second half, forcing the Hammerheads to increase their intensity to match their opponent. The City Islanders tallied five shots in the second half, with Chandler Hoffman forcing a good save from Hammerheads goalkeeper Alex Horwath with 15 minutes to play. Wilmington had four, three of them being in the last fifteen minutes of the game as the Hammerheads tried to push for a late winner in front of a crowd of 3,682.
The Hammerheads' best opportunity to break the deadlock came in the 67th minute when forward Chukwudi Chijindu sent a through ball towards the left side of the penalty area for a racing Paul Nicholson. The midfielder’s initial touch took the ball away from him, however, and he was unable to test Noble as the Hammerheads came up empty once again.
Harrisburg mounted a late charge midway through the second half. The Hammerheads' defense came up big as Horwath made a couple nice saves to down a threatening Harrisburg late in the game. Horwath turned away a pair of back-to-back shots from the Islanders allowing the Hammerheads to regroup.
The game’s intensity grew as the Hammerheads finished the game with heavy pressure in the box. Wilmington had one last chance in the final five minutes to find the back of the net as the ball was juggled from side to side but Harrisburg’s defense proved too much for the Hammerheads who were unable to register a shot on goal.
The Hammerheads have a week to rest up before they return to action against the Pittsburgh Riverhounds at Legion Stadium next Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. The City Islanders will next host their home opener against the Charlotte Eagles on Saturday, May 4 at 7 p.m. at Skyline Sports Complex.