RHINO DROPPINGS
May 24, 2006
Last time out: A three-match road trip involving a trio of foes who were in last year’s postseason, and Rochester managed to swipe a beyond-impressive seven points. Scoring at Swangard would have been the cherry on top of the giant sundae the Rhinos will be pulling into PAETEC Park on June 3rd (worst case scenario: a 5-1-1 record, which is about double the points RD thought they would have had going into the home opener).
This is the first time the club has strung together five straight road wins since the early strains of the legendary 1999 season (there was a nine-match win streak, including playoffs, between the 1998 and 1999 campaigns), but even that run saw the club allow more goals (three) than Scott Vallow’s defense has to date in 2006 (one). Before anyone starts crowing about the league being weaker back then, consider this: Rochester scored about the same number of goals (10 vs. 9). The league was weaker, but that’s beside the point . . .
Matthew Delicâte was named Player of the Week for his goal-a-piece performances against Seattle and Portland, while Greg Howes and Kenny Bertz made the Team of the Week. And speaking of honors, Delicâte’s POW nod means that Rhinos have taken that title four times in the last 10 weeks of the regular season (John Ball in 2006, and Greg Howes and Juninho in late 2005). And that, my friends, is a reign of terror.
Next up: This year, RD is proud to partner with soccersam.com to bring you Special New Match Previews, which are going to be the same as the Regular Old Match Previews, only in a different location.
Click here for the match preview (a new window will open)
Where have you gone, Andy Restrepo? Chris Carrieri assisted on Richmond’s only goal in a 1-0 over Pittsburgh, which gave the Kickers (4-0-1) a berth in the US Open Cup. Wouldn’t it be nice to exact some revenge on them come July 12?
David Wright* had the game-winning hit in the 7-6 Mets win over the Yankees in Friday’s installment of the Subway Series. It’s nice to see a two-sport athlete who isn’t an arrogant buffoon (we’re talkin’ to you, Sanders).
Craig Demmin suited up for Virginia Beach for the first time, but never got into the 1-0 Mariners road win over Miami FC, which took place on the birthday of the former Rhinos defender.
Plenty of ex-and-current Rhino love in the MISL season-end honors. Greg Howes and Adauto Neto made the All-MISL First Team, while Danny Kelly was named to the Second Team. Kelly, who retired after winning the 2005-6 title with Baltimore, was also named the new coach of the Blast. The Hector Marinaro MVP award (seriously) winner won’t be announced until tomorrow, but the odds of someone with local ties taking it home are pretty good. Howes, Neto, and John Ball were all in the top ten for total points.
Around the (A-)League: Toronto dropped their fourth straight 2-0 game, which has to set some kind of record. Seattle beat the Lynx on Saturday, for their first win of the season. It was also the first time they scored a goal with one of their starters.
Toronto eventually scored a goal, in extra-time of their fifth match of the season. None of their fancy new Brazilian signings saw action, and neither did Theo Zagar or Matthew Palleschi, the latter of whom was assessed a two-game suspension for his thuggish actions against Juninho on May 13.
Montreal finally looked like the monsters everyone knows they are, pummeling Minnesota, 4-0. The Impact have scored six goals in four games, but none have come from their All-League First Team starting forward tandem of Mauro Biello and Mauricio Salles. Ha!
Coach quote of the week (since last week’s was so popular): Duncan Wilde, on signing ex-Kickers forward Kevin Jeffrey: “He is the type of player who can make a difference immediately for our squad. The league is highly competitive this year and we’ll be in a tight battle for a playoff spot.” A tight battle? For a playoff spot? Somebody might want to give this guy a breathalyzer test. Or make him share whatever he's got to make him this optimistic.
MLS update: The big John Wolyniec trade has paid off for Columbus (the team that dumped Woly) for the second straight week, with Joseph Ngwenya (the guy traded for Woly) scoring the Crew’s only goal in a 1-1 draw against visiting and John-Wilson-and-Jamil-Walker-less DC United. Meanwhile, the Galaxy (the team that got Woly) lost for the second straight week. Oft-injured ex-Timber scoring sensation Alan Gordon made his first appearance of the season for Los Angeles.
CD Chivas USA scored four times…and still lost 5-4 to Red Bull. Carlos Mendes assisted (on one of Jean Philippe Peguero’s three goals) for his first ever MLS point. Ante Razov took out his non-USMNT call-up by picking up his fourth caution in six starts.
Houston’s second loss (and Chicago’s second win) of the season came without ex-Toronto defender Adrian Serioux in the lineup: He’s nursing a fractured big toe.
If anyone was wondering about what World Cup call-ups do to MLS, well…here you go:
- Teams missing no players (Chicago, Columbus, New York): 3-2-1, +3
- Teams missing three players (Los Angeles, Kansas City): 0-0-5, -7
Or, if you want the whole picture:
- Teams missing one or less player: 7-3-5, +8
- Teams missing more than one player: 3-0-8, -8
* - Yeah, not that David Wright – don’t bother e-mailing
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