RHINO DROPPINGS

Last time out: A sloppy field didn't stop Rochester from running all over Toronto in their home opener last Saturday night, though it did, briefly, look like it might allow new left back John Wilson to shatter Jimmy Tanner's team record for Falling Down When the Ball Gets Anywhere Near You (in Wilson's defense, he never did it in front of the net, like Jimmy always did).

The 4-0 trouncing was every bit as exaggerated as the score indicated (new 'keeper Theo Zagar had one save), and every bit as enjoyable, too. The goals were pretty, and some of the near-misses were even prettier. The RD's favorite moment – aside from watching the girls in the hot tub – was when Noah Delgado humiliatingly victimized Lynx defender Andres Arango to set up Kirk Wilson for the second goal. Really nice moves on that kid. And on the hot tub girls, too.

The last time Rochester scored this many goals in a match? Last Independence Day, where second-half phenom Fred Commodore (see below) had a hat-trick in a 6-1 blowout of these same Lynx. But how about before that? You'd have to kick it all the way back to September 2, 2001, when Rochester thrashed Connecticut, 5-2, at Frontier. The last time they did it on the road? You'd be talking about May 23, 1999, when Mauro Biello and Yari Allnutt each netted two in a 4-1 win over the Maryland Mania. The last time they did it without allowing a goal? Waaaay back to August 22, 1998 against the San Francisco Bay Seals. Point is, the four-goal thing doesn't happen a lot, let alone against a decent team. So, as impressive as Saturday's match was, let's not get carried away.

Next up: That said, don't be surprised if the Rhinos do it again right away against A-League newcomers Puerto Rico this Friday night at Frontier. Your old pals here at the RD don't know much about the Islanders, other than the presence of ex-Thunder defender Chris Gores on their roster. What we do know, however, is that the Islanders went 0-1-3 in their debut homestand, including loses to "powerhouse" teams like Toronto and Syracuse.

Rochester has impressive regular season records at home (86-7-23), in May (27-3-12), and on Friday night matches (51-5-23), but in the last two seasons the Rhinos are an anemic 1-1-1 in games that fit that criteria. And all three of them went into overtime, so make sure you pee at halftime. This probably means nothing, but just in case you were wondering, Rochester is 17-0-4 against teams with "Island" somewhere in their name.

Tail of the Tape

1-0-0

Record

0-1-3

4.00

GFA

0.75

0.00

GAA

1.75

4.00

Goal Differential

<1.00>

1 win

Streak

1 draw

5-2-3

Last 10 matches

0-1-3

n/a

Head-to-Head

n/a

1-0-0

Conference Record

0-1-3

MLS update: Pat Onstad let up a goal. Yeah, it doesn't sound exciting, but we're not expecting it to happen that often this season, so it sounded quite newsworthy. Check out his weekly diary at www.sjearthquakes.com.

You've gotta feel bad for MetroStars forwards Mike Magee and ex-Rhino John Wolyniec. The team opened the season starting these two up front, and they responded by scoring three goals in the first two matches (both were wins). Since then, Magee and Wolyniec have been replaced by the likes of Cornell Glen and Sergio Galvan Rey, who have scored zero times in a loss and a draw. Message to Bob Bradley: Buy American.

Where have you gone, Andy Restrepo? Mauro Biello had the game-winning goal against defending champs Charleston in the middle of Montreal's impressive three-match undefeated road trip through the south. The third win came at the expense of Atlanta, who were lit up for two goals from second-half substitute Fred Commodore. The Impact managed to score approximately zero times in the first half without Biello, Commodore and Eduardo Sebrango. But once the three got on the pitch, all hell broke loose.

Speaking of Atlanta, they actually started the season with no ex-Rhinos on their roster. It didn't last long, though: The S-Backs just acquired John Ball from Milwaukee.

Greg Simmonds started the 2004 campaign with a bang, scoring in the Battery' s first match, but since then ol' Greg has just two yellow cards in as many matches to show for his efforts.

Team of the Week: John Wilson and Chris Carrieri made it, along with Commodore. That means three ex-Rhinos have earned the honor, following Eduardo Sebrango last week, and Player of the Week-winner Greg Simmonds the week before. Syracuse has landed three players on the TOW list (Ian Woan, Lars Lyssand and Benito Kemble), and two – Montreal’s Patrick Leduc and Riverhound-turned-Kicker Joey Worthen – have done it twice already.

US Open Cup: It's never too early to start talking about the Cup (unless you're referring to the Can-Am Cup, in which case you should shut your foul trap). Richmond is officially in, edging Virginia Beach with a 3-1 aggregate in a pair of matches last weekend. Portland currently holds a 2-1 advantage over Seattle after one leg.