Etienne Barbara tallied his third goal in as many games in the 19th minute, making him only the second player in team history to score in three consecutive games and making him the early North American Soccer League leader in that department.

Carolina improved to 2-1-0 on the young season by shutting out FC Edmonton, an expansion club, 2-0 Wednesday night.

"I'm here to score goals," Barbara said. "I'm a striker and I'm always hungry for goals."

Barbara's goal came off a rebound after the initial shot by teammate Kupono Low was saved by Edmonton goalkeeper Rein Baart.

Unlike last season, when Rennie changed up the starting forward and midfielders with regularity, this year's starting XI has been kept almost entirely intact from one game to the next.

That's allowed the attacking 4-2-4 formation to gel, which is paying dividends for RailHawks' No. 10.

"When we keep the first team, going the same and playing together, it helps keeping the game always going each time we play with each other," Barbara said.

The formation has also made Carolina a threat to counterattack at any time.

"We want to attack teams and I think you can see we created real good chances," Rennie said. "We've got great pace going forward."

The RailHawks saw three first-half breakaways either just miss the net or get denied by Baart.

But Baart's gambled on what he thought might be a breakaway in the second half -- and it cost his team a second goal.

Baart came out nearly 25 yards from the goal to challenge a ball sent in reserve Allan Russell, who removed Barbara in the 74th minute.

Baart's header landed at the feet of Nik Zimmerman, who calmly took another touch before lobbing in his goal from 35 yards out with Baart unable to make up the ground necessary to defend the shot.

"Coach had given us a great scouting report that sometimes the keeper came out so if you got a chance, look up," Zimmerman said.

Rennie credited Edmonton as one of the best possession teams he's seen since coaching in the United States. But rarely did those possessions lead to a shot on goal.

RailHawks goalkeeper Brad Knighton didn't have to make a single save in the team's first shutout of the season -- even though there were tense moments as Edmonton searched for shots inside the Carolina box.

"They combined pretty well and they got behind us a few times but I thought overall we dealt with it pretty well," Carolina defender John Krause said. "There were some scary moments."

After three consecutive home games to start the season, the RailHawks will play the next two on the road starting April 30 at NSC Minnesota.