CARY - Colin Clarke stood near midfield, gazing at the southeast corner of WakeMed Soccer Park at the postgame fireworks show. After watching until the final one went off, the Carolina RailHawks coach walked over for interviews and said, “That looked like our defending tonight. All over the place.”

That was one way to look at it, and there are many ways to look at a game in which the RailHawks went from down two goals to a tie in the game’s last three minutes, earning a 3-3 home tie with the Fort Lauderdale in stoppage time.

Super-sub Ty Shipalane received a long cross from Mike Palacio at the right post before sending in his 94th-minute goal, the final peak in a game of valleys for Carolina.

The RailHawks went on top first in the 13th minute, when Palacio sent in a rebound that had hit the post on a shot by Breiner Ortiz.

The next 15 minutes were dominated by Carolina, but one-on-ones with Fort Lauderdale’s goalkeeper were missed by Nick Zimmerman (a kick save) and Brian Shriver (a shot that went into the parking lot). Two other chances – a header pushed wide by Zack Schilawski in the 6th minute and a sitter by Amir Lowery in the 12th minute that was also shot well over the stands behind the goal.

“I thought everyone did very well in the first 25 minutes of the game and the last five. In between? I don’t think anyone can look at themselves, because they all had a hand in what was wrong and that was good,” Clarke said. “We’ve got to work defensively. We’ve got to read the game and understand what’s going on during the game and react to it better. You can’t run and sprint and go forward for 90 minutes at the pace we do. There are times when you’ve just got to sit and be compact and get your breather, get your rest and then go again.”

Fort Lauderdale, which seemed winded at the game’s outset, found counterattack opportunities to swing the momentum.

The Strikers started a counterattack off a RailHawks giveaway on a corner kick to score in the 31st, with Abe Thompson assisting Darnell King. One minute and 25 seconds later, Fort Lauderdale found the net again, working a give-and-go on the right side with Thompson assisting Walter Restrepo.

Carolina (5-5-6) had 14 first-half shots to Fort Lauderdale’s five but trailed 2-1 at halftime.

In the 69th minute, another counterattack left just two RailHawks to play catch-up with Restrepo, who scored on an assist from King.

Carolina, which settled for a 3-3 tie earlier this year at home to Fort Lauderdale despite leading 3-1, exacted revenge in the last five minutes of regulation and the four minutes of stoppage time.

Two RailHawks chances in stoppage time were covered up by Strikers goalkeeper Matt Glaeser, but one more was left when Palacio collected the ball on the left side of the field as the final whistle neared. Reserve forward Brian Ackley made a run through the box, taking a Strikers defender with him and leaving Shipalane open at the back post.