RHINO DROPPINGS
May 19, 2004
Last time out: Scott Schweitzer scored his first goal for Rochester since June 8, 2001, as the Rhinos (2-1-1) escaped Syracuse's P&C Stadium with a 1-1 draw on Friday. Rochester looked a half-step behind every ball, most likely on account of the ugly but ridiculously fast artificial turf at P&C. The Rhinos seemed to adjust better in the second half, which made the final 10-15 minutes and subsequent overtimes pretty damn exciting to watch...and RD has the gnawed fingers to prove it. The draw means Rochester has gone three years in a row without winning their road opener, and they haven't had an undefeated inaugural road trip since the 1999 season.
Sunday saw the Rhinos travel to Toronto (and for those of you who didn't take the Fast Ferry up to TO, you missed a really great time) and receive the requisite red card/penalty kick combo so prevalent in Canada. The Rhinos played a man down for nearly an hour when Shaun Tsakiris was sent off for putting Edgar Bartolomeu in the hospital, and then suffered a questionable stoppage time penalty kick from Ali "Don't Call Me Ngon" Gerba after Bill Sedgewick tied it up in the 82nd minute. People might think the RD is joking around when it comes to Canadian officiating, but Rochester has had a player ejected once a year for the past four seasons when playing in either Toronto or Montreal.
Brian Ashton, who apparently came out of retirement just to face Rochester one more time, received a yellow card for Toronto. Defender Andres Arango, made to look the damn fool by Noah Delgado in Rochester's home opening 4-0 rout of these same Lynx, did not suit up.
Next up: More Salty Dog action as Syracuse (3-2-0) comes to Frontier this Saturday night for the return leg of the US Open Cup qualifier. Rene Rivas will be back for the Dogs, but they should be missing en fuego midfielder Chris Doré (2+5=9), who received his third straight yellow card against Rochester last Friday. Look out for Machel Millwood (2+1=5), who scored three times against the Rhinos in 2003.
With Tsakiris and his mandatory post-red suspension, will Rochester start Yari Allnutt in his place? The Bald Dynamo didn't suit up for either match this past weekend. Or maybe they'll slide Delgado back to midfield to achieve the Chris Carrieri-Doug Miller pairing everyone is either anxious to see or dreading beyond belief. RD is down with either possibility but is vehemently against moving Fuller up top and inserting Lenin Steenkamp into the defensive-mid slot. Not so much because of Fuller as Steenkamp, for the record. Lenin has given away more balls than a Marjax bankruptcy sale, though he did look a little bit better in the Fire friendly..
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| 2-1-1, 7 pts. | Record | 3-2-0, 11 pts. | ||
| 2-1-1 | Conference Record | 3-2-0 | ||
| 2.25 | GFA | 2.00 | ||
| 0.60 | GAA | 1.00 | ||
| 1.65 | Goal Differential | 1.00 | ||
| 1 loss | Streak | 1 draw | ||
| 4-3-3 | Last 10 matches | 5-3-2 | ||
| 1-2-2 | Head-to-Head | 2-2-1 | ||
| 0-1-1 (home) | 1-1-0 (road) | |||
| 9-3-5 | May Record* | 5-2-2 | ||
| 5-1-2 (home) | 1-1-1 (away) | |||
| 15-2-3 | Saturday Record* | 4-3-4 | ||
| 10-0-1 (home) | 2-2-3 (away) | |||
| 4-0-2 | May/Friday Record* | 3-1-1 | ||
| 3-0-1 (home) | 1-1-1 (away) | |||
| * - Last two seasons |
Prediction: On natural grass (and a little bit of dirt), you've got to give the advantage to the Rhinos. Especially when you consider we're in Syracuse 's most generous own-goal scoring stretch of the season. They did it three times last year between late May and early June, including once in their first-ever trip to Frontier, which we'll be celebrating the anniversary of this Saturday. That's the thing about the Salty Dogs: They know it's better to give than to receive. And they're going to give Rochester a 2-1 win.
Around the A-League: Puerto Rico, victims of seven goals in their last two matches, swapped out goalkeeper Andrew Nucifora for Eduardo Memendi and proceeded to blank Richmond and their forward tandem (Kevin Jeffrey, Matthew Delicâte and McColm Cephas) which had accounted for four goals and two assists in their last two matches. The celebration was short-lived, as the Kickers pummeled the Islanders 3-0 in the second Caribbean game. Those Richmond forwards were back with a goal and an assist, and Team of the Week-er David Hayes added a goal, an assist, and a yellow card of his own. Puerto Rico managed to see yet another player sent off (their third in eight matches), and That Prick Wearing No. 7 (a/k/a Martin Zapata) received his second yellow. God knows, he probably deserved at least that, if not some sort of public flogging.
Where have you gone, Andy Restrepo? Mr. Hayes wasn't the only former Rhino lighting it up this past week. Martin Nash contributed the match-winning assist in Vancouver's 3-1 win against Calgary. Team of the Week member Mac Cozier scored twice in Atlanta's 2-2 draw in Charleston; the same match that, in addition to propelling the S-Backs into the USOC, saw John Ball eat his second straight yellow card and A-League Player of the week (for the second time, already) Greg Simmonds net one for the Battery. Montreal’s Gabe Gervais rounded out the TOW list, which read like a Who’s Who of former Rochester players.
MLS update: Scott Vallow almost saw some action on Saturday when Rapids starting 'keeper Joe Cannon went down in a heap after a mid-air collision during Colorado's 1-1 draw in Dallas.
The scoop on John Wolyniec: Two starts: Two goals, two wins for The MetroStars. Four late-match substitutions: Zero goals, zero wins for the Metros. He's so frigging money.
Miscellaneous droppings: We're looking for ideas here at RD headquarters. If you can think of some fun weekly addition we can add to our coverage, drop us a line at rhinodroppings@sick-boy.com.
