[USL-1] The defending champion Vancouver Whitecaps had to settle for a 0-0 tie with the Charleston Battery at home Saturday on the opening of the 2009 USL-1 season. In the weekend's only other game, revamped Carolina edged Minnesota, 2-1, thanks to former MLS striker Gavin Glinton's goal only four minutes after coming on in his RailHawks' debut.

The shutout took Vancouver's run of not conceding a goal in a home opener to eight matches, but the Caps could not score.

Three newcomers were in the Vancouver lineup: Vancouver native Marcus Haber made his USL-1 debut up front, while center back Marco Reda and winger Ansu Toure have come over from Charleston and Miami, respectively.

The win over Minnesota in Martin Rennie's debut as Carolina coach marked the first time the RailHawks have taken three points in their season opener.

"If you look at the game overall, our team played well," Rennie said. "The one thing you want as a coach is to create chances. ... If you're not creating chances, then you're in trouble. We created a ton of chances. People can't come and expect to see us win 10-1, but it should have been at least three or four tonight." 

Glinton was one of 10 former MLS players to make their debuts for the revamped RailHawks.

"Nobody's running on all cylinders yet," Glinton said. "So the more you can get points early, the better it is in the long run. It's good for us to get the home opener, get the three points and hopefully we keep moving on."

Results:
April 11 in Cary, N.C.
Carolina 2 Minnesota 1. Goals: Schulte 12, Glinton 56; Tarley (Dyachenko) 27
Minnesota -- Platter, Bass, Dyachenko, Kirk (Olum, 44), Weiler (O'Brien, 65), Arango, Friedland (Cvilikas, 80), Kallman, Peterson, Kante (Costanzo, 80), Tarley.
Carolina -- Reed, Gilkerson, McKenney, Schulte, Stewart, Gardner,  Kabwe (Glinton, 52), Lowery, Paladini (Plotkin, 84), Bundu (Diallo, 69), Kreamalmeyer.
Red card: Minnesota -- Kallman 22.      
Att.: 2,927.

April 11 in Burnaby, B.C.
Vancouver 0 Charleston 0.
Vancouver -- Nolly, Bellisomo, Hirano, Reda, Thompson, Arze, Nash, Toure (Burgess, 79), Trafford, Gbeke, Haber.
Charleston -- Hudock, Akwari, Bobo, Sanfilippo, Wilson, Hemming (Antoniuk, 65), Spicer, Treschuk (Watson, 78), Williams (Patterson, 78), Fuller, Heinemann.
Att.: 5,037.

Standings:
TEAM W L T GF GA P
Carolina 1 0 0 2 1 3
Charleston 0 0 1 0 0 1
Vancouver 0 0 1 0 0 1
Minnesota 0 1 0 1 2 0
Austin 0 0 0 0 0 0
Montreal 0 0 0 0 0 0
Portland 0 0 0 0 0 0
Rochester 0 0 0 0 0 0
Puerto Rico 0 0 0 0 0 0
Miami FC 0 0 0 0 0 0
Cleveland 0 0 0 0 0 0