Fort Lauderdale’s Mark Anderson scored both Strikers goals in the first half.

Carolina tried to bounce back in the second half, getting a goal from Nick Zimmerman in the 83rd minute to halve the lead.

But ultimately, the RailHawks’ poor play through the first 45 minutes doomed the team.

“In the first half we weren’t very good,” said RailHawks Head Coach Colin Clarke.

“We decided to show up in the second half and had a chance to get a result. The second goal in first-half stoppage time hurt.”

Anderson’s first goal came in the fifth minute, after his shot from 20 yards away deflected off defender Gale Agbossoumonde and rolled across the goal line.

In first-half stoppage time, Anderson collected a blocked cross at the top of the 6-yard box and easily netted his second goal.

RailHawks midfielder Chris Nurse appeared to have scored his first goal of the season in the second half but was whistled for offside on the set piece.

Zimmerman’s goal came up after he found a rebound and sent his strike in past Fort Lauderdale goalkeeper Matt Glaeser.

The RailHawks were without regular starters Brian Shriver and Cory Elenio due to injury.

Elenio strained his hamstring in the June 23 game against FC Edmonton, while it was Shriver’s third missed game.

Nurse started in place of Amir Lowery, who had picked up two yellow cards in the Edmonton game and was serving his suspension.

It was just the RailHawks’ second road game in their last nine contests – the U.S. Open Cup schedule was responsible for three extra home games in addition to the NASL slate.

Zimmerman’s seventh goal of the year ties him with Anderson for second-most in the NASL.

San Antonio Scorpions forward Pablo Campos, a RailHawks player a year ago, leads the league with eight.

The RailHawks are one of three teams to have a positive goal differential (one) on the season. The other two are San Antonio (nine) and Puerto Rico (11).