A season-opening homestand that began with excitement and promise for Miami FC ended Saturday with frustration and uncertainty.

Miami FC dropped its third consecutive home game in acrimonious fashion, falling to Carolina 2-0. In the process, the Blues lost leading scorer Diego Serna to a red card for the second time in four matches.

Midfielder Luke Kreamalmeyer scored twice for the Railhawks (4-2-1), who snapped a two-game losing streak in front of 1,875 at Lockhart Stadium.

''[On Saturday,] we had no excuses,'' Miami FC coach Zinho said. ``We trained, prepared and played badly.''

Any momentum the Blues gained from winning their first two matches has long vanished. Miami FC (2-3-0) now finds itself in an unenviable spot: the bottom third of the standings, with six of its next seven games on the road.

The Blues seemed to spend more of the evening attacking each other more than the opposing team.

One goal in the past six halves has that effect.

In the 20th minute Saturday, offensive frustrations finally boiled over. Serna started barking at Zinho, who gave it right back to him.

Then, when Carolina forged ahead in the 40th minute, emotions escalated again.

The Railhawks got on the board when Kreamalmeyer slipped past the defense, received a pass from Gavin Glinton and flicked a shot over goalkeeper Pat Hannigan's head and into the net.

The Blues' backline, shorthanded with Walter Ramirez serving a red card suspension, struggled with communication. Tim Merritt started in his place, and got an earful from fellow defender Zach Kirby not long after the goal.

Miami FC was fortunate only to go to the half down 1-0.

In the game's 25th minute, Daniel Paladini slipped free in the box and fired in a shot, which hit the post but didn't cross the line. Kreamalmeyer couldn't hunt down the free ball, and Miami FC cleared the zone.

Zinho didn't sit on his hands at the intermission. Before the second half began, he went with offense, subbing in forward Connaly Edozien for Kirby. Zinho also pulled Zourab Tsiskaridze in favor of Jack Traynor.

The move opened up the offense a bit. In the 53rd minute, Traynor sent in a feathery cross to Edozien, but Edozien didn't make a play on the offering. It sailed harmlessly out of bounds.

That was the Blues' last serious chance at a goal.

Five minutes later, Kreamalmeyer scored again, but this time, it was more luck than skill. He sent a cross into the box that bent sharply, fooling Hannigan.

The keeper couldn't get his footing, and the ball slipped into the net.

Not long after, Serna earned his early exit when he tackled Mark Schulte from behind. The red card will keep him out of Wednesday's game at Charleston.

''We expected to come out in the second half and attack, and then we got that red card, and it really hurt us,'' said midfielder Leo Inacio Nunes. ``But we're still calm. We still have things to work on, but it's a long season.''

Before the match, there was a moment of silence for the father of Cuban defector and Blues player Pedro Faife -- Oreste Faife -- who died last week after a long battle with liver cancer.

Join the discussion

The Miami Herald is pleased to provide this opportunity to share information, experiences and observations about what's in the news. Some of the comments may be reprinted elsewhere in the site or in the newspaper. We encourage lively, open debate on the issues of the day, and ask that you refrain from profanity, hate speech, personal comments and remarks that are off point. In order to post comments, you must be a registered user of MiamiHerald.com. Your username will show along with the comments you post. Thank you for taking the time to offer your thoughts.

     Showing: Oldest first Newest first Most-recommended first Least-recommended first

@Nyx.AuthorDisplayName@ wrote on @Nyx.PostedAtTime@:

@Nyx.repliedToText@

@Nyx.replyAnswerText@

Reply to this Comment @Nyx.Recommender@ @Nyx.AbuseReporter@