LAST SEASON:
Regular season record: 14-3-11, 5th place in Eastern Conference
Record against active USL-1 teams: 11-3-10 (explanation)
RD's 2004 prediction: 12-9-7, 3rd place and out in first round of playoffs
The arrival of former MLS MVP Alex Pineda Chacon and coach David Vaudreuil prompted RD to knowingly crown the S-Backs the “surprise team of the A-League” last year, and the Apes didn’t disappoint.  The season’s highlight was a 10-match winning streak, encompassed by an even more impressive run where Atlanta lost just once in a span of 14 games.  Then they slumped to the finish line with a 3-1-8 mark over the last 12 matches of the season, just missing the final playoff slot, to Rochester, by one victory.

 

SEACREST, OUT:
M Alan Woods to Charleston; All-League First Team; Player of the Week; played every minute of every match but one
M Leslie Fitzpatrick (2+1=5) to Real Salt Lake; two-time TOW
M Fred Degand (3+1=7); 26 starts and 23 complete games
Woods

 

BACK IN BLACK:
D Adilson DeLima (4+1=9); two-time TOW
M Alex Pineda Chacon (3+2=8); All-League First Team
M John Ball (3+5=11); two Teams of Week
F Mac Cozier (12+3=27); All-League Second Team
F Gary Brooks (4+6=14)
GK Joe Barton (1.250 GAA; 5 SO)
Cozier

 

FRESH MEAT:
D Antonio De la Torre from Colorado
M David Hayes from Richmond (3+5=11)
M Rodrigo Rios from Unión Española (Chile)
M Fabian Dawkins from Village United (Jamaica)
F Machel Millwood from Syracuse (6+4=16)
F Kris Stone from Village United (Jamaica)
GK Christian Fegler from IFK Hässleholm (Sweden)
Hayes

 

LOCAL HISTORY:
- Rochester is 6-1-2 against the Silverbacks
- Rochester is 11-1-2 against Silverbacks/Ruckus
- Until 2004, Rochester had never lost to Atlanta
- Atlanta is one of four teams to beat Rochester twice in 2004
- Doug Miller is 4+1=9 in his last four starts against Atlanta
- Bill Sedgewick had two yellow cards vs. Atlanta in 2004
- Atlanta defender Adilson DeLima was ejected from Rochester’s 3-0 win on August 25, 2004
- Rochester scored four goals against Atlanta in 2004, but only one came from a player currently on the roster
- Lenin Steenkamp, Jamel Mitchell and Billy Andracki are all former Atlanta players

 

THE LOWDOWN:
All things considered, Atlanta didn’t lose too many weapons from their surprising 2004 campaign, and what they did drop appears to have been countered by a slew of international signings with a decidedly Caribbean flavor (Dawkins, Millwood and Stone are all Reggae Boyz).  The team’s biggest problem was Barton’s 1.250 GAA, so Vaudreuil signed a couple of defenders right out of college (Ron Plute and Landy Mattison), as well as adding ex-Riverhound Greg Chevalier and Mexico’s De la Torre, who started nearly every match for the Rapids in ’04.  Bringing Fegler in should spark a goalkeeper controversy that will push each net-minder to play at the absolute top of their game.  Dawkins has four goals in his first three matches of 2005, and the Monkey Men are 2-0-1 despite having five of their players missing because of indoor action.

 

RD's 2005 prediction: 18-4-6; 3rd place and through to league championship

Back to the 2005 preview