North Carolina FC U23

{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2025}} {{Infobox football club | clubname = North Carolina FC U23 | image = North carolina fc u23 logo.png | image_size = 150 | fullname = North Carolina Football Club U23 | nickname = | founded = {{start date and age|2002}} | dissolved = | stadium = [[WakeMed Soccer Park]]<br />[[Cary, North Carolina]] | capacity = 1,000<ref>{{Cite web | title=Homepage - North Carolina FC | url=http://www.northcarolinafc.com/ | access-date=2025-05-26 | website=www.northcarolinafc.com}}</ref> | owntitle = Owner | owner = [[Steve Malik]] | chrtitle = | mgrtitle = Head Coach | manager = Christopher Harrington | league = [[USL League Two]] | season = [[2024 USL League Two season|2024]] | position = 3rd, South Atlantic Division<br />Playoffs: DNQ | American = true | website = {{url|https://www.northcarolinafc.com/ncfcu23/| northcarolinafc.com/u23}}  | pattern_la1 = | pattern_b1 = _collarnavy | pattern_ra1 = | pattern_sh1 = | pattern_so1 = _navytop | leftarm1 = 0000cc | body1 = 0000cc | rightarm1 = 0000cc | shorts1 = 000066 | socks1 = 0000cc  | pattern_la2 = _claretborder | pattern_b2 = _vneckred | pattern_ra2 = _claretborder | pattern_sh2 = | pattern_so2 = | leftarm2 = F51349 | body2 = F51349 | rightarm2 = F51349 | shorts2 = AD0037 | socks2 = F51349 }}

'''North Carolina Football Club U23''' is an American [[association football|soccer]] team based in [[Cary, North Carolina]]. It was founded in 2002 as the Raleigh Elite, and the current affiliate of [[North Carolina FC]], a third division club in the [[United Soccer League]]. The team plays in [[USL League Two]] (the fourth tier of the [[American Soccer Pyramid]]), and previously in the [[National Premier Soccer League]] (NPSL).

North Carolina FC was known as the ''Cary Clarets'' in 2008 and 2009; and went dormant for a year in 2010. As a member of the [[United States Adult Soccer Association|USASA]] League, the then-Carolina RailHawks U23's took the Men's Region III Championship in 2011, 2012, and 2013 and won the U-23's National Championship in 2011 and 2013. The team's colors are navy blue, gold, and cardinal red.

== History == The "Raleigh CASL Elite" entered the [[USL League Two]] (then named "Premier Development League", PDL) for the first time in 2002, and was run by the [[Raleigh, North Carolina|Raleigh]]–based [[Capital Area Soccer League]] (CASL). They finished their first competitive campaign second in the Mid-Atlantic Division (behind [[Williamsburg Legacy]]) with an 11–7–0 record; and made the playoffs. They overcame Northeast Division champions [[Vermont Voltage]] 1–0 in the Conference Semi-finals before falling to the Cape Cod Crusaders in the Eastern Conference final. Raleigh enjoyed a brief foray into the [[US Open Cup]] thanks to their positive early season form, knocking out [[USL Second Division|D3 Pro League]] side [[Carolina Dynamo]] 5–2 in the first round before losing 3–0 to [[USL First Division|A-League]] stalwarts [[Richmond Kickers]] in the second.

Raleigh Elite finished third in the Mid Atlantic Division in 2003, with an 8–8–2 record, 17 points behind divisional champions [[Richmond Kickers Future]]. Chris Norbet was Elite's top scorer, with seven goals; while John Izzo contributed three assists for the season. Elite finished in fourth place behind divisional champs [[Carolina Dynamo]] with a 7–9–2 record in 2004.

[[File:Raleigh elite fc logo.jpg|thumb|left|100px|Logo of the "Raleigh Elite", introduced in 2006]] In 2005 Elite enjoyed a productive season, losing just four games. The Elite were high-scoring entertainers throughout the year. They finished in third place in the Mid Atlantic Division, one point behind the Carolina Dynamo. That year, [[Aaron King]] was Raleigh's top scorer, with ten goals, while Spencer Wadsworth contributed an impressive eight assists.

[[File:Raleigh Elite vs Nashville Metros 1.jpg|thumb|Raleigh Elite (grey and black kit) v Nashville Metros in 2006]] Prior to the beginning of the 2006 season, the CASL organization severed ties with them, and the team was taken over by the [[Morrisville, North Carolina]]–based Next Level Academy, who renamed it the "Raleigh Elite". The new Elite took a step backwards in 2006, which saw them win just four games all season. Willy Guadarrama was Raleigh's top scorer, with nine goals; Guadarrama and [[Michael Harrington (soccer)|Michael Harrington]] contributed four assists each.

===Cary RailHawks U23=== In March 2007, the Next Level Academy formed a partnership with the then new [[USL First Division]] team, the [[Carolina RailHawks]], who subsequently became the team's parent professional club, and the team was renamed the ''Cary RailHawks U23s''. The RailHawks, endured yet another disappointing season not notching their first win until the fourth game of the season. Schilawski and Sassano were the RailHawks' top scorers, with four and five goals respectively, while [[Joe Germanese]] contributed four assists.

The RailHawks made a push for the playoffs in 2008. They ended the year third in the Southeast Division, just five points behind second place [[Bradenton Academics]]. [[Brian Shriver]] and Ronnie Bouemboue were Cary's top scorers, with six and five goals respectively, while [[Corben Bone]] contributed four assists.

===Renamings=== In November 2008, Next Level Academy announced a partnership with [[Burnley Football Club]], then a member of the [[English Championship]], in order to jointly develop professional players. As part of the agreement, the team was renamed the ''Cary Clarets''<ref>[http://pdl.uslsoccer.com/home/290422.html Cary Clarinets 2008] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120217083531/http://pdl.uslsoccer.com/home/290422.html |date=February 17, 2012 }}; USL Soccer website; accessed .</ref> in USL PD League before withdrawing at the end of the 2009 season. The team was dormant in 2010.

In 2011, the once again re-christened Carolina RailHawks U-23s made it to the [[United States Adult Soccer Association|USASA]] Men's U-23 Region III Championship and National Championship.

The Carolina RailHawks U-23's won the 2011, 2012, and 2013 USASA U-23's Region III Championship. In 2011 and 2013 the team also won the USASA U-23's National Championship. In January 2014, the team announced they would enter the NPSL for the upcoming season<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.carolinarailhawks.com/index.php?id=111&newsid=6142| title=U-23s JOIN NPSL IN 2014| work=Carolina RailHawks| access-date=21 January 2014| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140116075037/http://www.carolinarailhawks.com/index.php?id=111&newsid=6142| archive-date=16 January 2014| url-status=dead}}</ref> competing in the Mid-Atlantic Conference of the South Region.

The team was renamed to "Carolina RailHawks NPSL" on April 7, 2016. This was to allow players 23 and older to play.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.carolinarailhawks.com/news/2016/04/07/the-carolina-railhawks-announce-the-re-branding-of-their-npsl-team/|title=The Carolina RailHawks Announce The Re-Branding of Their NPSL Team|publisher=Carolina RailHawks|date=April 7, 2016|access-date=April 7, 2016|archive-date=April 10, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160410103027/http://www.carolinarailhawks.com/news/2016/04/07/the-carolina-railhawks-announce-the-re-branding-of-their-npsl-team|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Stadium== * [[WakeMed Soccer Park]]; [[Cary, North Carolina]] (2003–2008, 2011–present) * Middle Creek Park; [[Cary, North Carolina]] (2009)

==Honors== * '''[[USL League Two]] Eastern Conference (1)''': 2009 * '''[[United States Adult Soccer Association|USASA]]''' ** '''U-23 National Champions (2)''': 2011, 2013 ** '''Region III U23 (3)''': 2011, 2012, 2013

==Year-by-year== {| class="wikitable" !Year !Division !League !Regular season !Playoffs !Open Cup |- !colspan="6"|Raleigh CASL Elite |- |2002 |4 |[[USL League Two|USL PDL]] |2nd, Mid Atlantic |Conference Finals |2nd round |- |2003 |4 |USL PDL |3rd, Mid Atlantic |''did not qualify'' |2nd round |- |2004 |4 |USL PDL |4th, Mid Atlantic |''did not qualify'' |''did not qualify'' |- |2005 |4 |USL PDL |3rd, Mid Atlantic |''did not qualify'' |''did not qualify'' |- |2006 |4 |USL PDL |4th, South Atlantic |''did not qualify'' |''did not qualify'' |- !colspan="6"|Carolina RailHawks U23s |- |2007 |4 |USL PDL |5th, Southeast |''did not qualify'' |''did not qualify'' |- !colspan="6"|Cary Clarets |- |2008 |4 |USL PDL |3rd, Southeast |''did not qualify'' |''did not qualify'' |- |2009 |4 |USL PDL |3rd, Mid Atlantic |National Semi-finals |''did not qualify'' |- |2010 |colspan=5 align=center|'''''On Hiatus''''' |- !colspan="6"|Carolina RailHawks U23s |- |2011 |USASA |Region III U-23's Championship |bgcolor="B3B7FF"|National Championship |bgcolor="FFEBAD"|National Champions |''did not qualify'' |- |2012 |USASA |Region III U-23's Championship |bgcolor="B3B7FF"|National Championship | |''did not qualify'' |- |2013 |USASA |Region III U-23's Championship |bgcolor="B3B7FF"|National Championship |bgcolor="FFEBAD"|National Champions |''did not qualify'' |- |2014 |4 |NPSL |3rd, South Atlantic |''did not qualify'' |''did not qualify'' |- |2015 |4 |NPSL |3rd, South Atlantic |''did not qualify'' |''did not qualify'' |- !colspan="6"|Carolina RailHawks NPSL |- |2016 |4 |NPSL |3rd, South Atlantic |South Atlantic Conference Semi-final |''did not qualify'' |- !colspan="6"|North Carolina FC U23 |- |2017 |4 |USL PDL |7th, South Atlantic |''did not qualify'' |''did not qualify'' |- |2018 |4 |USL PDL |2nd, South Atlantic |''did not qualify'' |''did not qualify'' |- |2019 |4 |USL League Two |2nd, South Atlantic |''did not qualify'' |''did not qualify'' |- |2020 |4 |USL League Two |colspan=3|Season cancelled due to [[COVID-19 pandemic]] |- |2021 |4 |USL League Two |6th, South Atlantic |''did not qualify'' |''did not qualify'' |- |2022 |4 |USL League Two |5th, South Atlantic |''did not qualify'' |''did not qualify'' |- |2023 |4 |USL League Two |7th, South Atlantic |''did not qualify'' |''did not qualify'' |- |2024 |4 |USL League Two |3es, South Atlantic |''did not qualify'' |''did not qualify'' |}

==Head coaches== * {{flagicon|USA}} [[Damon Nahas]] (2005–2006) * {{flagicon|USA}} [[Sean Nahas]] (2007) * {{flagicon|USA}} [[Dewan Bader]] (2008–2014) * {{flagicon|FRA}} [[Luis Satorra]] (2015) * {{flagicon|USA}} [[Dewan Bader]] (2016–2018)

== See also == * [[North Carolina FC]] * [[North Carolina Courage]] * [[North Carolina Courage U23]] * [[North Carolina FC Youth]]

==References== {{reflist|2}}

==External links== {{ccat}} *{{official website}}

[[Category:Association football clubs established in 2002]] [[Category:Sports in Cary, North Carolina]] [[Category:Soccer clubs in North Carolina]] [[Category:North Carolina FC]] [[Category:Reserve team soccer in the United States]] [[Category:National Premier Soccer League teams]] [[Category:2002 establishments in North Carolina]]