Photo by Rob Kinnan/Carolina RailHawks

  By EVAN REAM It wasn’t the result they wanted, but the Carolina RailHawks kept their playoff hopes alive with a 1-1 draw against the visiting Fort Lauderdale Strikers Saturday night. The Strikers came in two points ahead of Carolina, and nearly left with a five-point stranglehold on the final NASL playoff spot, but Nacho Novo’s back heel goal eight minutes from time made sure that both sides split the points. Mark Anderson put Fort Lauderdale ahead in the 67th minute of the match with a clean finish, but the Strikers were unable to hold on for the victory which would have all-but guaranteed them a postseason spot. With two matches left to play Fort Lauderdale remain in the fourth and final playoff position while Carolina and FC Edmonton each sit two points behind. Here’s a look at the rest of the weekend’s action in the NASL: INDY ELEVEN SECURE FIRST HOME WINNING STREAK Indy Eleven may have embarked on one of the more disastrous expansion seasons in recent memory, but the popular Midwestern side is at least finishing strong. Thanks to back-to-back wins in front of sellout crowds of over 10,000, the Eleven garnered their first-ever home winning streak, knocking off the top two sides in the NASL in consecutive weeks. This weekend’s victory came against the second place San Antonio Scorpions, with just a single goal was needed to separate the two sides. On-loan LA Galaxy striker Charlie Rugg, who was instrumental in the strong inaugural season for LA Galaxy II, scored his first NASL goal with a powerful shot near the penalty area to give the home side all three points for just the second time in its short history. FC EDMONTON GET VITAL POINTS IN CANADIAN DERBY FC Edmonton traveled East to Ottawa knowing that they had to come back with all three points or risk another season without postseason play. The Eddies, powered by first half goals from Chad Burt and Lance Laing, did just that Saturday to move within two points of fourth place Fort Lauderdale, and ahead of Carolina due to the goal differential tiebreaker. PLAYOFF-BOUND MINNESOTA UNITED, COSMOS PLAY TO SCORELESS DRAW The match may have been bland off the field, but the consequences of it were anything but. Thanks to the 0-0 draw between United and the Cosmos, as well as a host of other results throughout the league, Minnesota clinched the No. 1 seed in the NASL playoffs, while the Cosmos secured a spot in the postseason for the second consecutive year since entering the NASL. STRUGGLING SILVERBACKS DRAW WITH ROWDIES The battle between the two least in-form sides in the NASL didn’t prove to have a winner as the Rowdies were officially eliminated from postseason contention in a 1-1 draw in Atlanta. Former NASL MVP Georgi Hristov opened the scoring for visiting Tampa Bay with an easy finish after a fortuitous deflection, but Jaime Chavez scored nine minutes after halftime to leave the sides fit to be tied.