For most of Carolina’s first nine games at SAS Soccer Park this season, the RailHawks outplayed their opponents. That more often translated into a tie than a win, but at least they got a point in the table for their efforts.

On Friday, the former remained true, but the latter did not.

The RailHawks offered a valiant fight, but Montreal’s Antonio Ribeiro denied them even the minor satisfaction of a point with his 84th-minute strike that turned what appeared to be another scoreless draw for the home side into a agonizing 1-0 loss.

“It’s definitely frustrating,” said Carolina midfielder Kupono Low. “We can’t figure out how to win. We’re looking for ways to win, and we’re not finding the solution. Everyone’s work rate is there. No one can doubt the guys’ passion on the field. It’s just that final opportunity.”

The RailHawks (4-5-7, 19 points) once again had a handful of chances that didn’t materialize into goals. They failed to find the net for the eighth time this season (fourth time at home). And they haven’t scored at SAS Soccer Park, where their record dipped to 2-2-5, in 203 minutes.

As has been the case all season, it wasn’t a lack of chances that did in the RailHawks Friday. Carolina outshot Montreal (7-3-6, 28 points) 8-7 and had several free kicks inside of 30 yards that could’ve produced more opportunities.

It's finishing that hasn't come around. To RailHawks coach Scott Schweitzer, his side's scoring ineptitude has nothing to do with technique or positioning. The RailHawks simply lack desire in the offensive third.

“When you don’t believe you’re going to score, you’re not going to score,” Schweitzer said. “That’s what it’s coming down to. We don’t believe we can score. … We make excuses why we’re not scoring. It can’t be we’re not getting chances. We’re unbelievable in the air. Our free kicks are horrible. Not that they’re not being put where they need to, we just don’t get on the end of them. That’s the desire, the hunger, the want. Right now, we don’t have anybody who wants to put the ball in the back of the net.”

Friday’s meeting was the second time in five days Carolina and Montreal met. Last Sunday, they combined for 26 fouls and 11 cards in their 2-2 draw. An early-match brouhaha led to a pair of red cards for Anthony Maher and Montreal’s Andres Arango, both of whom served their mandatory one-match suspensions Friday.

Emotions didn’t run nearly as high this time around, save for a tense moment during stoppage time when Carolina’ Jonny Steele got tangled up with Montreal’s Frederico Moojen.

“Sometimes, it’s not the best thing to do, play a team like this back to back,” said Montreal’s Peter Pinizzotto, who guided the Impact in place of head coach Nick De Santis, who was serving the second game of a two-match suspension Friday. “The emotion was so high the last game. It’s kind of difficult to see how both teams were going to approach this. The main thing is our boys stayed disciplined and to our game plan.”

The Impact took few chances on the night but capitalized on the final one.

Ribeiro, the Montreal midfielder, found the ball at his foot just outside the penalty area. He shed his defender, and pushed the ball to his right. His low-flying, curling line drive seemed harmless until it bounced just in front of Carolina goalkeeper Chris McClellan and scooted by his outstretched arms.

“It just took a freak bounce,” McClellan said. “I’ve never had one of those goals scored on me. It’s kind of a weird feeling. I went to make a routine save, and it just bounced up and over.”

While that was the difference on the scoreboard, Schweitzer said the RailHawks lost the match nearly 70 minutes earlier.

In the 10th minute, forward McColm Cephas had a chance from inside of 12 yards. Montreal keeper Andrew Weber made the initial stop, but the ball got away and trickled toward the end line. Just as the ball nestled near the post, Montreal defender Patrick Leduc cleared it away. Two minutes later, Steele had an unobstructed view to the goal, but his 18-yard volley went directly to Weber for the save.

“We score that first goal in the first [10] minutes, we win the game 4-0 because then they have to chase the game and then we open them up,” Schweitzer said. “We walked all over them. For maybe 10 minutes in the beginning of the second half, they walked on us a little bit – not much. And then we got it back.”

But the RailHawks never got what they needed – a goal.

“The hard work is there, but we’re just not executing,” said Carolina midfielder Chris Carrieri. “It’s very frustrating right now. It seems like we’re right there, and then we blow it.”