The Carolina RailHawks added a second proven goal scorer to their roster on Monday.

Jacob Coggins, a 6-foot-4-inch, 190-pound forward, joins the second-year USL First Division club after having spent the last eight years playing for the Charlotte Eagles of the USL Second Division. Coggins is a two-time USL-2 MVP, and he led the league in goals and points in three of the last four years.

“I spent eight years in Charlotte and loved every year,” said Coggins, who led USL-2 with 12 goals and 31 points in 20 games last season. “I’ve done well in the Second Division. I’m ready for a new challenge and want to see what I can do in the First Division. I feel like I can have just as big an impact.”

Coggins, 29, will play his 10th professional season next year. Upon graduating from Charlotte’s Independence High, he went to an open tryout for USL-2’s Wilmington Hammerheads and made the team. After one season in Wilmington, he returned to Charlotte and joined the Eagles.

He led the Eagles to the 2005 USL-2 title and the 2006 league championship game.

Coggins said he has eyed a move to the First Division for several years, but he did not want to move too far from Charlotte.

He does not anticipate needing any time to adjust to playing in the First Division. While the Eagles have been in USL-2 for the last three years, they played in the First Division from 2001-03, when it was known as the A-League, and finished in the top half of its division in each of those seasons.

“I don’t know that there’s a whole lot [of difference between the leagues],” Coggins said. “The higher level USL-2 teams can stay with any USL-1 team. USL-1 is a little faster, a little more physical. We played in the A-League for several years and did all right.”

While fans in the Triangle might be unfamiliar with Coggins’ work, he offered a glimpse of what could come when the Eagles played the RailHawks during the preseason last spring. Coggins scored two goals in the Eagles’ 3-1 win.

“Jacob’s accolades speak for themselves,” Carolina coach Scott Schweitzer said in a statement. “You always look for a quality player when you bring somebody new into a team, but he’s also a great person off the field and he will fit in very well as another piece of the puzzle that will take us to the championship.”

Coggins joins the team a month after the RailHawks landed free agent forward Daniel Antoniuk, the 2007 USL-1 MVP runner-up and scoring leader (seven goals, nine assists).

With those two signings, Carolina added almost as many goals (19) this offseason as the rest of the team scored during its inaugural campaign (24).

“I’m pretty excited,” Coggins said. “When I heard they signed [Antoniuk], I thought it would be awesome to play with him. We played Atlanta [Antoniuk’s former team] twice this season. I know he’s a great player. … I think our attacking, on paper, is the most dangerous thing I’ve seen in a while. I think we’ll score a lot.”

Other USL news

Last week, the league announced the structure for the 2008 season.

Upon the collapse of the California Victory, a San Francisco-based expansion team that could return in 2009 under new ownership, USL-1 will feature 11 teams and a 30-game schedule. The season will begin by April 11 and end Sept. 21, making the season two weeks and two matches longer than in 2007. Each team will play each other three times during the regular season.

The top seven teams in the standings will advance to the postseason. The Commissioner’s Cup winner will receive a first-round bye, while the 2-7 seeds will meet in two-leg, home-and-home, aggregate score series. The three winners will advance to the semifinals, with the No. 1 seed facing the lowest remaining seed.

There was also the possibility that the Seattle Sounders would not return to the league since the Emerald City was awarded a Major League Soccer franchise that will debut in 2009. Initially, it was believed the Sounders would sit out the 2008 season and be promoted in 2009. But they will return to USL-1 next summer to defend the 2007 championship.