CARY — The Carolina RailHawks picked up their second in as many games on Saturday night as they downed the Rochester Rhinos 1-0 at WakeMed Soccer Park.

Possession was the strong suit from start to finish for the RailHawks, as they possessed the ball in Rochester half for nearly the entire night.

Rochester miscues were few and far between as the Rhinos used a five-defender lineup that kept the RailHawks' attacking offense at bay throughout the first.

But in the 53rd minute, midfielder Josh Gardener struck a ball from the left endline into the box where forward Sallieu Bundu needed just one touch to score the eventual game-winner.

It was the first time the RailHawks (2-0-0) had ever beaten Rochester (0-1-0).

"When Josh is on the ball I always try to put myself in good position because he's a great passer," Bundu said.

Bundu said it didn't take but about 10 minutes into the game for him to sustain a hit to his right shin that caused him to bleed.

Frustrated with the injury and his team's inability to score through the first period despite six shots on goal and eight corner kicks, Bundu said he came out determined to net his first goal.

"That's what I've been waiting for," Bundu said. "I talked to myself and was like 'I need that first goal to start the season.'"

RailHawks coach Martin Rennie said his team, which had a goal negated when Brian Plotkin was called for offsides in the 37th minute, just needed to be patient with what they were doing in the second period.

The result was six second-period shots on goal — the same number as the first period.

In addition to Bundu's goal, the RailHawks had another prime chance to score when a Daniel Palandini shot bounced off the right post and was covered up by Rhinos goalie Scott Vallow.

Vallow had 11 saves on the night, including a 19th minute rolling, head-over-heels kick-save that Cam Ward could appreciate.

"When you're on top of it like that, you just want to emphasize the same things so that you keep doing the same things and we did that," Rennie said. "What I said at halftime is that the goals would come and I felt more goals will come, but one is all we needed."

The physicality of the match was evident in more ways than just Bundu's bloody shin as nine cards were issued on just 20 fouls, setting the series-record in this USL-1 rivalry.

Rochester sent off two guys on the night, the first coming in the 57th minute on Danny Earls' take-down of Luke Kreamalmeyer. In the 90th minute, John Ball was sent off after picking up a second card for something said to the referee.

Joining them in the list of ejections was RailHawk defender Devon McKenney, who earned his second yellow card in the 84th minute.

Rennie said he thought there were cards called on both teams that shouldn't have been handed out.

"There's been four red cards in two games here and there's hardly been any bad tackles," Rennie said.

Last year in Cleveland, Rennie employed a goalkeeper platoon throughout the season and appears to be doing it again this season.

Caleb Patterson played the full 90 after sitting last game for Eric Reed and notched eight saves including the game-sealer in stoppage time.