Tag Archives: 2012 Rochester Rhinos season

Rhinos Players in USL-Pro Team of the Week Throughout the Season

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I kept track of which Rhinos players were named to the Team of the Week on the league’s website.  I then compiled the information and awarded 5 points each time a Rhino was named Player of the Week, 3 points for Team of the Week, and 1 point for an Honorable Mention.

The Rhinos were inactive during Week 1, so no members of the squad were named to the USL-Pro Team of the Week.

Week 2:
GK: Kristian Nicht; “Was sharp in his first game in North America, recording a shutout.”
M: Tyler Rosenlund; “Well-placed header earned Rhinos victory against Los Angeles.”
F: Tam McManus; “Linked up well with midfield, and started move that led to goal.”
Honorable Mention: J.C. Banks (assist), Troy Roberts

Week 3:
F: Andrew Hoxie; “Halftime sub had major impact in Rhinos win against Blues
Honorable Mention: Kristian Nicht (shutout), J.C. Banks (goal)

Week 4:
D: George Kyriazis; “Strong presence at center back as Rhinos took third victory”
F: J.C. Banks ; “Scored only goal, his second of season, to keep Rhinos perfect”
Honorable Mention: Kristian Nicht (shutout)

Week 5:
D: Jack Traynor; “Played both fullback positions dominantly in 1-0 win against Eagles”
M: * Drew Cost; “Played key role in Rhinos’ goal, kept midfield tight throughout”
Honorable Mention: Tam McManus

Week 6:
GK: * Kristian Nicht; “Was outstanding in 10-save shutout to maintain Rhinos’ perfect start”
D: Troy Roberts; “Remarkably consistent, way key player in win against Charlotte”

Week 7:
D: Quavas Kirk; “Goal maintained Rhinos’ undefeated start to the season”
Honorable Mention: J.C. Banks

Week 8:
M: Danny Earls; “Strong work-rate all weekend was rewarded with assist vs. Dayton”
Honorable Mention: Tam McManus

Week 9:
D: George Kyriazis; “Put in strong performance despite Rhinos defeat to Kickers”
M: Danny Earls; “Was consistently threatening, only to be turned away by Pascale”

Week 10:
M: Tyler Rosenlund; “Fine header gave Rhinos lead against Hammerheads in 1-1 draw”
Honorable Mention: Danny Earls

Week 11:
M: Michael Tanke; “Bright spot for Rhinos had goal and assist in two contests”
Honorable Mention: Quavas Kirk

Week 12:
D: Troy Roberts; “Stalwart was consistent as Rhinos took big road victory”
M: J.C. Banks; “Had game-winning goal and assist as Rhinos snapped winless streak
Honorable Mention: Isaac Kissi, Graciano Brito

Week 13:
Honorable Mention: J.C. Banks

Week 14:
D: Danny Earls; “Scored game-winning goal in victory against Dayton.”
F: Kendell McFayden; “Two early goals sparked Rhinos in victory against Antigua”
Honorable Mention: J.C. Banks, Andrew Hoxie

Week 15:
Honorable Mention: Troy Roberts

Week 16:
D: Lucas Fernandez; “Had an assist, and helped set up opener, in Rhinos’ victory”
M: Tyler Rosenlund; “Controlled the midfield as Rhinos regained second place”
Honorable Mention: Andrew Hoxie, J.C. Banks

Week 17:
D: George Kyriazis; “Strong performance as Rhinos shut out Blues in 1-0 win”
M: Danny Earls; “Good possession and distribution in win against Los Angeles”
Honorable Mention: Tam McManus, Chris Estridge

Week 18:
Honorable Mention: Danny Earls

Week 19:
No Rhinos players mentioned because we played our worst game in team history.

Week 20:
D: George Kyriazis; “Played key role as Rhinos shut out Riverhounds to end season”
F: Andrew Hoxie; “Late strike allowed Rhinos to claim No.2 seed in playoffs”
Honorable Mention: Troy Roberts, Tyler Rosenlund

It should really come as any surprise who the top players were by this count.  J.C. Banks was an all-star who, when healthy, was in the very highest echelon of the league.  Danny Earls provided a spark when playing out wide and could play in other positions.  Rochester’s centerback tandem was the best or second best in the league this season.  Troy Roberts was a veteran leader and I don’t think I saw George Kyriazis put a wrong foot in all season.  Kristian Nicht was simply outstanding in his first season in North American soccer.  Aside from the regular season game against Charleston, Nicht consistently made saves that I didn’t think were humanly possible beforehand.

Banks: 14 points
Earls: 14 points
Kyriazis: 12 points
Nicht: 10 points
Rosenlund: 10 points
Roberts: 9 points
Hoxie: 8 points
McManus: 6 points
McFayden: 5 points
Cost: 5 points
Kirk: 4 points
Tanke: 3 points
Fernandez: 3 points
Traynor: 3 points
Estridge: 1 point
Kissi: 1 point
Brito: 1 point

Breakdown of Rhinos Regular Season Results

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Here are the results of each game of the Rhinos’ regular season with the final standings of each opponent.

@ LA 1-0, win, 8th
@ LA 2-0, win, 8th
@ Dayton, 1-0, win, 9th
vs Charlotte, 1-0, win, 7th
@ Charlotte, 1-0, win, 7th
@ Charleston, 1-0, win, 3rd
vs Dayton, 1-1, tie, 9th
@ Harrisburg, 0-1, loss, 6th
@ Dayton, 2-2, tie, 9th
vs Richmond, 0-1, loss, 4th
vs Wilmington, 1-1, tie, 5th
@ Harrisburg, 1-2, loss, 6th
@ Pittsburgh, 1-1, tie, 10th
@ Richmond, 3-2, win, 4th
vs Harrisburg, 1-2, loss, 6th
vs Antigua, 4-1, win, 11th
vs Dayton, 2-0, win, 9th
@ Wilmington, 0-0, tie, 5th
@ Orlando, 0-4, loss, 1st
vs Pittsburgh, 2-0, win, 10th
vs LA, 1-0, win, 8th
vs Orlando, 0-1, loss, 1st
vs Charleston, 0-4, loss, 3rd
vs Pittsburgh, 1-0, win, 10th

Totals against each team by standing:
1st – 2 losses, 0 points
2nd – Us, lol
3rd – 1 win, 1 loss, 3 points
4th – 1 win, 1 loss, 3 points
5th – 2 ties, 2 points
6th – 3 losses, 0 points
7th – 2 wins, 6 points
8th – 3 wins, 9 points
9th – 2 wins, 2 tie, 8 points
10th – 2 wins, 1 tie, 7 points
11th – 1 win, 3 points

Rochester Rhinos earned 41 points from 24 games for the season for 1.71 points per game:
against Orlando – 0 points per game (2 games)
against Charleston – 1.5 ppg (2 games)
against Richmond – 1.5 ppg (2 games)
against Wilmington – 1 ppg (2 games)
against Harrisburg – 0 ppg (3 games)
against Charlotte – 3 ppg (2 games)
against LA – 3 ppg (3 games)
against Dayton – 2 ppg (4 games)
against Pittsburgh – 2.3 ppg (3 games)
against Antigua – 3 ppg (1 game)

Conclusions:  Taking the moronic scheduling of games out of the equation, a team is supposed to tie teams as good as they are and beat they are better than.  The Rhinos followed that mold in all cases except against Harrisburg.  Grabbing 1.5 points per game against Charleston and Richmond across 2 games respectively means 1 win and 1 loss, which is fair if you accept the assumption that they are equally talented teams.  Only taking 1 point per game from Wilmington is a testament to Corey Hertzog and the impact he had since joining that team.  In every other case, taking at least 2 points per game is a remarkable record in any competitive league.

Saying that the Rhinos took most of their wins from weaker teams means nothing.  In any league in the world, successful teams get most of their wins from weaker teams.  By virtue of logic most teams take wins from weaker teams; that’s why they are the weaker teams.  We also got results against tougher teams.  There were only two teams we didn’t nick a point from all season.

A 4-0 loss at home, the worst home result in team history, is a depressing way to end the season but takes away from the fact that we beat Charleston at Blackbaud earlier in the season.  The 3 points from a 1-0 win are the same as the 3 points from a 4-0 win.

The problem here isn’t so much the results (except against Harrisburg and god, do I hate Harrisburg), but the performances.  It hurts and also defies reasonable explanation how we take the best attack-minded team we’ve had in years and try to grind out results.

I would love to get some feedback from other fans before I try to tackle the season in review.  Comment on this post (or any other post, lol) or email me dohertysoccer [at] gmail.com to let me know what you thought of the Rhinos season or what the team could have done better this year.

What to Make of the Rhinos’ 4-0 Loss at Home to Charleston

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I’ve purposely waited to write this post because I was too upset Saturday night when I got home after the game.  It’s hard not to blame everyone for the disgrace that was the team’s performance against Charleston but I’ll try to make sense of that disaster.

Team MVP J.C. Banks and fellow starters Tyler Rosenlund and Tam McManus were all ineligible to play against Charleston.  Any team in the world would stutter with the loss of three players from its starting XI, but in that case of the Rhinos not all of these players should have been starters.  Head coach Jesse Myers has continued to select Rosenlund and McManus together despite the fact that they occupy the same space on the field and try to operate in the same manner.  The loss of Rosenlund or McManus to suspension should have been a blessing in disguise because it allowed the team to play a 4-4-2.  Unfortunately it didn’t play out that way on the field.

Jesse Myers had 7 days to figure out his starting line-up and instruct the team during training sessions.  Despite this amount of time, Myers sent out a team that looked lost and  lacked out sort of direction.  In the seven games the team has played since signing Kendell McFayden, the speedster has been on the field with Andrew Hoxie for 149 minutes total for an average of 21.3 minutes per appearance or 23.65% of the 630 minutes before the game against Charleston.  Hoxie is a great technical player who can create a foot of separation from his mark outside the box or nod a ball onto a teammate.  McFayden is a quick player who can chase a ball down anywhere on the field.  Neither of these players tends to stay centrally as a target forward.  The failure to select Isaac Kissi from the start was just the first of many mistakes Jesse Myers made on the night.

Myers had the chance to line up a balanced 4-4-2 but failed to send out the correct players.  The experiment of playing Danny Earls in the center of midfield has not been nearly as successful as Myers must think it has been.  Putting Earls in the middle effectively neuters any meaningful attacking potential from the left side.  Chris Estridge is a solid two-way midfielder but Danny Earls was a much more dangerous player on the outside.  Myers chose to play Earls in the center alongside Drew Cost.  Both players like to spread the point of attack and offer an outlet to recycle possession when an attack breaks down.  In this regard they are very similar players in center midfield because they try to provide a calming presence and to deliver accurate passes from deep.  If the two players do almost the exact same things on the field, why play them in the same position at the same time?

Neither of the central midfielders selected by Jesse Myers is particularly adept at regaining possession.  Surely the two players can tackle the ball away from an opposition player, but that is neither’s primary skill is winning the ball.  Michael Tanke was healthy and sat on the bench the entire game.  Tanke is quite good at harrying the other team and dispossessing opposition attackers.  The team clearly needed somebody to perform that task last night but Myers saw fit to allow the other team to maraud the field and constantly attack our defense without respite.  Tanke would have provided some much-needed relief to George Kyriazis and Troy Roberts who were under pressure nearly the entire match.

Kristian Nicht, who has been remarkably solid for the Rhinos in his first year in North American soccer, had his worst game of the season against Charleston.  He came off his line to punch a ball clear but missed his target, allowing Charleston to tap home an easy goal.  On another goal in the first half Nicht failed to catch a shot that subsequently bobbled around the 18 yard box before a Charleston player blasted it in the back of the net.  Seeing Nicht laying on the ground reaching for the ball just out of his grasp made me almost as sick as seeing Gio dos Santos’s goal against Tim Howard in the 2011 Gold Cup Final.

On Saturday against the Battery, Rochester lined up in a 4-4-2 that looked something this…

After getting blown up in the first half 3-0, Myers decided to make some changes.  The coach brought on two more strikers.  The formation then looked more like this:

You could call this a 4-2-3-1, but it was really just a 4-2-4.  Myers’s answer to lacking direction and purpose going forward was to play 4 strikers on the field at the same time.  I doubt the team has ever trained a line up with all of the team’s 4 forwards playing together.  It was no wonder that a team that was already out of sync playing in a normal lineup in the first half was completely lost playing in that monstrosity of a formation.

Myers’s inexperience as a head coach shown through in spades against Charleston.  He didn’t adequately prepare his team, he picked the wrong starting lineup, and his second half substitutions stank of desperation.  At least Jesse Myers wrote himself into the Rochester Rhinos’ history books.  He coached (or rather, didn’t) the team into their worst home loss in club history.  In the previous 16 years of professional soccer in Rochester, the Rhinos had never lost 4-0 at home before.

The only positive to take away from the weekend is that the Rhinos shored up a playoff spot, 17th year in a row, due to results elsewhere in the league.  If the Rhinos win by a comfortable margin next weekend at home against Pittsburgh they can hold off the Charleston, Richmond and Wilmington to claim second place in the 2012 USL-Pro season.

Rochester Rhinos Host Charleston Battery with an Eye for the Playoff Bye

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If the Rochester Rhinos can defeat a stuttering Charleston Battery at home on Saturday night, they can ensure postseason soccer for another year in Western New York.

Rochester has won 4 (and tied one) of their last 5 games against teams not named Orlando City, whereas Charleston hasn’t won a game since July 14.  Overall this season, the Battery are 11-10-1 but recently they have been in free-fall form, mustering just 4 points from their last 9 games for a record of 1-7-1.  Despite winning 4 times on the road before June 3, Charleston has only managed one win away from home in nearly nine weeks.

A win against Charleston would put the Rhinos into the playoffs with one game remaining and would be a large step toward shoring up second place.  The second place team in the 2012 USL-Pro regular season earns a first round playoff bye which translates into an extra week of rest before the semifinals.

Next week the Rhinos host the Pittsburgh Riverhounds in their regular season finale.  The two teams tied in Pittsburgh earlier this year and Rochester beat the ‘Hounds 2-0 at Sahlen’s Stadium last month.  Getting four points from the two remaining games, a win and a tie, would ensure the Rhinos remain in second place (though Harrisburg could match the Rhinos on points if they win all three of their games left).

Despite a slump in recent weeks, Charleston Battery is still a very dangerous team.  Nicki Paterson has 10 goals and 2 assists in 22 games from the midfield.  That haul of 22 points is good enough to put Paterson second in goals and points for the season behind Dennis Chin of Orlando City.  Fellow midfielder Jose “Chiva” Cuevas has registered 7 goals and 3 assists for a total of 17 points on the season. Continue reading →

Rhinos Looked Weak Against Spirited Dayton

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J.C. Banks added another assist to his season and career totals (8 and 13, respectively) by playing a ball into Danny Earls who finished far side in the third minute.  Isaac Kissi sealed the game when he coolly finished off a feed from Andrew Hoxie that beat the high offside trap in the last minute of regulation.  The interceding 86+ minutes were often not worth watching.  Rochester got the three points they needed but the game should have been much more comfortable.

In the match preview I noted that Dayton has rarely been knocked out of games this season.  The team hangs around even after going down a goal on the road.  I noted, along with several other observers at the game, that Dayton was only ever one pass or one touch away from getting into dangerous scoring opportunities.  There were a couple occasions when Dayton forwards were through on goal but Kristian Nicht made himself big and blocked the chance. Continue reading →

Rochester Rhinos v Antigua Barracuda FC Match Preview

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Antigua Barracuda FC has a record of 3-9-0 and has only scored 8 goals while giving up 23 goals against in the meantime.  The team has yet to score a goal away from home, losing all four of their matches on the mainland U.S. by an average of 3-0.  ABFC just ended an 8 game losing streak by beating Charleston on the island this past Sunday 1-0 behind an early second half goal from Peter Byers.  Molvin James left this game after 8 minutes due to injury and was replaced by Keita DeCastro.

If the Rhinos (25 points from 15 games) fail to finish their chances against Antigua Barracuda FC on Wednesday night, they will leave themselves susceptible to getting leapfrogged by Wilmington (22 points from 15 games), Harrisburg (19 points from 13 games) and Los Angeles (17 points from 12 games).  Rochester needs to take advantage of home games so the team doesn’t see it’s tremendous 6-0-0 start go down the drain.

Probable Starting XI:
F, Peter Byers, 11 g, 811 m
F, Stefan Smith, 12 g, 905 m
M, Quinton Griffith, 12 g, 1047 m
M, Tamorley Thomas, 11 g, 568 m
M, Akeem Thomas, 12 g, 995 m
M, Matthew Aldred, 8 g, 498 m
D, Luke Blakely, 11 g, 847 m
D, George Dublin, 11 g, 915 m
D, Karanja Mack, 11 g , 820 m
D, Orlando Mitchum, 12 g, 1031 m
GK, Keita DeCastro, 5 g, 442 m

Probable Reserves:
GK, Molvin James, 9 g, 647 m
D, Troy Dublin, 6 g, 326 m
D, Ranja Christian, 7 g, 189 m
M, Randolph Burton, 7 g, 415 m
M, Lawson Robinson, 8 g, 401 m
F, Kerry Skepple, 8 g, 381 m
F, Kimoi Alexander, 9 g, 498 m

Highest Scorers:
Stefan Smith, 4 goals
Peter Byers, 2 goals, 3 assists
Quinton Griffith, 2 goals, 1 assist
Kimoi Alexander, 1 assist
Matthew Aldred, 1 assist
Orlando Mitchum, 1 assist

8 of the 13 players who featured against the U.S. Men’s National Team in Tampa last month.  Here is the starting lineup and 2 substitutes.
Molvin James*; Marvin McCoy, Marc Joseph, George Dublin*, Quinton Griffith*, Randolph Burton*, Mikele Leigertwood, Lawson Robinson*, Tamorley Thomas*, Keiran Murtagh; Dexter Blackstock
Peter Byers* (63′ for Keiran Murtagh); scored a goal against USMNT
Stefan Smith* (83′ for Tamorley Thomas)
* denotes players on Antigua Barracuda FC

Rhinos Were Flat in 2-1 Home Loss to Harrisburg

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Disclaimer: I wrote this piece when I got home from the match Saturday night while I was still angry so it’s pretty critical of a lot of people.

Rochester Rhinos didn’t show up for the first half of Saturday’s game.  Kristian Nicht definitely earned his paycheck by coming up huge when the game opened up in the second half.  Looking at the tactical decisions, it seemed head coach Jesse Myers was managing the game from his armchair at home.  Meanwhile Lucky Mkosana stole the show scoring his second goal against Rochester in as many games and setting up the winner for Drew Yates.

Rhinos lined up in a 4-5-1 formation with a few headscratchers.  Because Drew Cost is still injured, Myers tried to use Earls in that playmaking midfield role.  You may remember Earls dropping deep in the center to receive the ball in the match against Philadelphia.  On paper this made a bit of sense but more importantly it allowed Michael Tanke to operate as a ball winner.  Tanke was constantly closing down opponents and putting his body on the line to make hard tackles.  This midfield tandem also freed up Tyler Rosenlund to push forward.

Because Earls moved into the center of the field, Quavas Kirk pushed up from defense to play right midfield.  Argentine defender Lucas Fernandez stepped into the backline with Tyler Bellamy, Troy Roberts, and Jack Traynor.  J.C. Banks was solid playing on the left side but Traynor’s fragility forced him to defend more than he was used to.  Tam McManus started the game as a lone forward but didn’t get any service and was forced to drop deep to receive the ball in midfield.

Saturday night’s match was very disappointing.  Rhinos were outplayed at home and didn’t do much to deserve anything from the match.  Were it not for a handful of highlight reel saves by Kristian Nicht, Rochester would have suffered a much more embarrassing scoreline.  Driving home with my girlfriend and two buddies, no one said much of anything.  Someone remarked that none of us had seen the Rhinos win a league game this season because we were all still at our respective colleges when the team beat Charlotte in early May.  In case it’s not apparent yet, this is unacceptable given how much talent this team has. Continue reading →

Looking Ahead for the Top Three Teams in USL-Pro

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In the aftermath of the third round U.S. Open Cup disaster, let’s look ahead to the middle of the USL-Pro season so we can feel good again.  Oddly enough all three of the top teams in the league lost in their Tuesday night cup matches.  As of today, May 30, the current USL-Pro standings see Orlando in first, Rochester in second, and Charleston rounding out the top three.

At this point in the season Orlando and Rochester have each played 9 games and Charleston has played 7.  Of their matches, Orlando has only dropped 4 points (2 draws), the Rhinos have dropped 7 (2 draws, 1 loss), and Charleston have dropped 6 points (2 losses).  In the USL-Pro season each team plays 24 games, so the third round of the Open Cup comes about a third through the season.

So far this season, the Rhinos have played back to back games twice; first on May 11 and 12 in Charlotte and Charleston, and then on May 25 and 26 in Harrisburg and Dayton.  Between Friday May 18 and Tuesday May 29, the Rhinos played 5 matches.  The Rhinos also already flew to Los Angeles and don’t have to make the trip down to Antigua.  Fortunately Rochester doesn’t have anymore back-to-back games, but does have two occasions of playing a second game after only one full day of rest (Friday 15 June and Sunday 17 June, Thursday 12 July and Saturday 14 July). Continue reading →

Making Sense of the Rochester Rhinos’ 6-0-0 Record

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The Rochester Rhinos have started the 2012 USL-Pro season a perfect 6-0-0 without conceding a single goal.  Rhinos goalkeeper Kristian Nicht ranks first in USL-Pro goalkeepers in wins (6), saves (29), shutouts (6) and German Bundesliga experience (one season with Alemannia Aachen).  J.C. Banks is near the top of the USL-Pro points leaders as the second year winger has tallied two goals and two assists for six points.

The understanding between experienced German goalkeeper Kristian Nicht and his centerback tandem of Greek veteran George Kyriazis and former L.A. Galaxy defender Troy Roberts has been magnificent.  Though the three have only been playing together since preseason a couple months ago, their seamless communication makes it appear as though they’ve known each other for years.

Newcomer Jack Traynor has played every minute of the every game for the Rhinos this season in defense.  Third year Rochester regular Quavas Kirk has been dealing with an upper leg problem with has meant that Mike Zaher and Argentine Lucas Fernandez have been covering fullback duties in his absence.

The Rhinos midfield is led by 2011 Team Player of the Year Tyler Rosenlund.  Last year he operated behind a lone striker but with the addition of Tam McManus to the squad, Rosenlund as moved farther back into center midfield with Drew Cost.

Former Colorado Rapids left back Danny Earls and 2011 Rhinos Rookie of the Year J.C. Banks have been lighting up the wings for the Rhinos.  Banks is right-footed but capable with his left, while Earls can use his right foot but is much more dangerous on his natural left.  This allows Rhinos head coach Jesse Myers to operate a traditional 4-4-2 wingplay, or to invert the wingers in a 4-5-1 in which each wide player cuts in on his favored foot.

Tam McManus, while only registering one assist through 6 games, has been a great overseas signing for the Rhinos.  Playing behind his strike partner, the Scottish veteran brings an unyielding work rate to the USL-Pro team.  McManus has the pedigree and experience to consistently make the little decisions that benefit the team.  He knows which runs to make, when to hold back and he always pops into space to receive a pass and open up the team in offensive drives.

Graciano Brito and Andrew Hoxie have taken turns in the role of advanced target forward.  Brito has started many of the games this season, with Hoxie entering in the second half to try to make a breakthrough.

Gustavo Zamudio is a highly talented Chilean midfielder who is still finding his place with the team.  He has been employed out wide, as a central attacking player and against Charleston Zamudio played as a deep playmaker in front of the backline.  If Jesse Myers liked what he saw from Zamudio in that deep role, the former Universidad Católica player could be a natural replacement for Alfonso Motagalvan who moved to the Fort Lauderdale Strikers for 2012.

Tyler Bellamy suffered an early season knock after starting the first game in Los Angeles.  Fan-favorite Isaac Kissi is still recovering from a serious knee injury.  Conor Chinn was an offseason acquisition and the former New York Red Bulls attacker has been steadily integrating himself into Jesse Myers’ side.  Western New York native Kyle Manscuk has been a late game substitute in defense and Michael Tanke has filled into the midfield on a number of occasions when legs get heavy.

The team’s 6-0-0 start matches a USL record, while six consecutive shutouts to start a season has not been achieved by any professional team since the modern era began with the creation of MLS in 1996.  Add this feat to the fact that the Rochester Rhinos have the highest average league attendance and second only to newly established San Antonio Scorpions under the MLS.

Rochester’s run has included 5 road wins, 2 of which were across the country in Fullerton, California.  The only road trip harder than playing the Los Angeles Blues is making the flight down to the Caribbean to play Antigua Barracuda FC.  While the season is still young and the Rhinos have 18 games left, the team doesn’t have to travel to Antigua (Antigua hasn’t scored on the road yet) and 11 of their remaining games are at home, including the final five games of the season.  This presents a great opportunity for the team to put together another strong run of momentum at the end of the season.

At this point in the campaign, the other teams in the top four are Orlando City, Charleston Battery and Los Angeles Blues.  Rochester has already won away at Charleston and Los Angeles (twice) so the Rhinos just have to host each team once in addition to facing Orlando home and away.

While the team has only scored 7 goals this season in 6 games, the defense has yet to give up a goal.  This highly organized defense-first strategy is the brainchild of first year head coach Jesse Myers.  Myers spent 14 years studying the league as an assistant for the Richmond Kickers and he knows what it takes to be successful in the USL.

All of these factors have combined to present a picture where it is easy to see the Rhinos staying at the top of the league all summer.  In previous years the Rhinos started slow and took a month or two to build up solid form.  This season, however, the core of experienced players from around the country and overseas has already provided the best start to a season in the 17 year history of the team.  Things are looking good in the city once referred to as “Soccer Town, USA.”

Rhinos Squeak by Dayton to Finish Their Road Trip A Perfect 3-0

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The Rhinos took advantage of a defensive blunder by the Dayton Dutch Lions to steal three points in a drab and dreary USL-Pro match on Saturday night.  Neither team really deserved to win this match, but J.C. Banks was on hand to capitalize on a truly dreadful back pass debacle.

The Rhinos started Kristian Nicht in goal; Quavas Kirk, George Kyriazis, Troy Roberts, and Jack Traynor in the back; Danny Earls on the right, J.C. Banks out left, Drew Cost and Tyler Rosenlund in the middle; with Tam McManus playing behind Graciano Brito.

The Dayton Dutch Lions ran out the same lineup they used in their previous two league matches. Matthew Williams; Gregory Preciado, Nixon Dias, Mettin Copier, and Shane Smith; Joel DeLass, Mikael McNamara, and Kyle Knotek; Gibson Bardsley, Gerrit-Jan Bartels, and Akeem Priestley.

In the first half, the Rhinos seemed to struggle with the advanced wing-play from Dayton’s wide forwards Gibson Bardsley and Akeem Priestley.  Rochester seemed content to sit back, soak up pressure and exploit counter attacks.  However, no counter attacks were forthcoming and the Dutch Lions could not put together a final ball.  In fact, both teams were spraying sloppy passes and slicing shots well wide of the goal in the first 45 minutes.  The referee’s whistle came as a relief for the spectators much more so than for the players of either side. Continue reading →