RHINO
DROPPINGS
July 14, 2004
Last time out:
On Sunday, fans were so excited that the hare-brained Lenin Steenkamp
substitution didn't blow the game with an errant pass that fireworks were
launched...while it was still light out. That's
just how stoked people get when their Rhinos need a fluky,
once-every-two-seasons goal (a 35-yard lob from new midfielder Pato Aguilera) to
beat a last-place team who had just one win in their last 13 games and
had to play again the following day in Syracuse.
The RD isn't totally sure, but we think there's more to motivating
this team than simply playing U2's "Desire" when the players come out
of the tunnel.
On the plus side of aural matters, the RD
really digs the new gameplan of playing the canned jock-rock only when the ball
isn't in play (although it does seem to confuse the Rhinestones to virtually no
end). We also thought Soccer Sam's
ill-functioning microphone made him sound like a cross between the aliens from Mars
Attacks and the adults from Peanuts.
But on to the more serious issues...
Pato's pretty-as-a-picture goal in the
29th minute finally gave the Stampede a chance to hurl some toilet paper onto
the field (it was the Rhinos first goal in 276 minutes, quickly followed by
their first corner kick in over a match-and-a-half in the 51st minute). Things are looking dismal offensively. Everybody knows Rochester hasn't scored a goal in Montreal
since July 23, 2000 (Allez Jimmy Glenn!), but they haven't really been scoring
against Montreal anywhere with any
consistency. How does 10 goals in
their last 19 matches vs. the Impact sound?
Grabs you where it counts, doesn't it?
How about this: Corey Woolfolk, Substitute? Six goals in 10 games (1.41 GPG). Corey Woolfolk, Starter?
One goal in six games (0.19 GPG).
And Steenkamp?
Is Coach Ercoli seriously the only person who can't see that Lenin is no
longer fit to play at this level? The
RD staff would be the first people in line to thank the guy for the
contributions he's made to the team over the years, but it's time to cut the
cord already. He's a liability. It'd be better to play a man down. At this point, he's worse than – dare we say it – Nate
Daligcon.
This might be the nicest thing the RD
will ever say about Ercoli: He never let the Rhinos fall as hard as Charleston
has. The Battery, last year's
A-League champs, are now the A-League chumps.
Like post-championship seasons in Rochester, they lost a lot of players,
but replaced them with a crop of ridiculously impressive talent, from ex-MLSers
(Ezra Hendrickson, Nick Downing, Wolde Harris, Ivan McKinley) to A-League
legends (Greg Simmonds, Justin Evans, Michael Green, Nigel Henry) to
international pros (Henrik Jensen, Jesus Martinez - yeah, they even signed
Jesus). But things didn't click.
Then, continuing to follow the Ercoli blueprint, the Battery went out and
got even more guns (Gabe Valencia, Rick Titus, Caleb Norkus) instead of sticking
with a consistent starting XI. To
date, that hasn't worked, either. Maybe
Charleston will hit their stride in August, squeaking into the playoffs and then
tearing into their opponents like nobody's business.
But right now, that doesn't appear too likely.
And Rochester still needed a fluke goal to beat them (Allez Jimmy Glenn!)
Next up. Virginia Beach
(Saturday) and Richmond (Sunday) – two inconsistent teams duking it out on the
playoff bubble. The Mariners are
1-0-3 since dealing Pato Aguilera to Rochester and are led by ex-MLS hero Dante
Washington (9+4=22) as well as ex-Rhino flip-thrower Mike Kirmse (four cautions
in 11 starts). Your guess is as
good as ours if VeeBee will be featuring the dazzling services of Jeff Bilyk
(see below), or if he'll just be promoted to the Rene Rivas School of the Dark
Arts. Bad news: The Mariners are
4-1-1 at home in July, and 6-1-1 at home on Saturdays since 2003. Good news: We just saved a bunch of money on the RD car
insurance.
The
Kickers have also lost three of four, following a nifty 5-0-1 streak. Good news:
Rhino killer Paul Lekics (three goals in his last four matches vs. Rhinos) was
ejected during Richmond's brawl with Atlanta (see below). Bad news: He'll
probably sit for Wednesday's match in Toronto.
Richmond is led by two Kickers Future products: McColm Cephas (4+2=10)
and Rhinos 2004 draft pick Matthew Delicâte (6+4=16).
Ronnie Pascale is the league's save leader, has six shutouts, and allows
less than one goal per match. The
Kickers are 4-1-0 at home in July since 2002. Rochester, meanwhile, has
lost their last three road matches in July.
.
 |
| Tail of the
Tape |
 |
|
 |
| 11-1-4 |
Record |
6-3-9 |
| 4-1-2 (away) |
|
6-0-2 (home) |
| 9-1-4 |
Conference Record |
5-3-7 |
| 2-1-2 (away) |
|
5-0-2 (home) |
| 1.38 |
GFA |
1.33 |
| 1.14 (away) |
|
2.25 (home) |
| 0.56 |
GAA |
1.50 |
| 0.85 (away) |
|
1.63 (home) |
| 0.81 |
Goal Differential |
<0.17> |
| 0.29 (away) |
|
<0.63> (home) |
| 1 win |
Streak |
2 losses |
| 1 loss (away) |
|
3 wins (home) |
| 7-0-3 |
Last 10 matches |
3-1-6 |
| 4-2-4 (away) |
|
7-1-2 (home) |
| 4-0-2 |
Head-to-Head |
2-0-4 |
| 1-0-2 (away) |
|
2-0-1 (home) |
| 9-2-6 |
July Record* |
8-1-11 |
| 2-0-4 (away) |
|
5-1-3 (home) |
| 20-2-3 |
Saturday Record* |
9-3-18 |
| 7-2-2 (away) |
|
7-2-8 (home) |
| 3-0-0 |
July/Saturday Record* |
4-0-2 |
| 1-0-0 (away) |
|
3-0-1 (home) |
|
|
|
|
* - since 2002 |
|
.
|
| Tail of the
Tape |
|
|
 |
| 11-1-4 |
Record |
9-3-6 |
| 4-1-2 (away) |
|
5-1-3 (home) |
| 9-1-4 |
Conference Record |
8-3-6 |
| 2-1-2 (away) |
|
4-1-3 (home) |
| 1.38 |
GFA |
1.33 |
| 1.14 (away) |
|
1.11 (home) |
| 0.56 |
GAA |
1.00 |
| 0.85 (away) |
|
0.88 (home) |
| 0.81 |
Goal Differential |
0.33 |
| 0.29 (away) |
|
0.22 (home) |
| 1 win |
Streak |
2 losses |
| 1 loss (away) |
|
1 loss (home) |
| 7-0-3 |
Last 10 matches |
6-0-4 |
| 4-2-4 (away) |
|
6-1-3 (home) |
| 7-1-3 |
Head-to-Head |
3-1-7 |
| 3-0-2 (away) |
|
2-0-3 (home) |
| 9-2-6 |
July Record* |
7-3-7 |
| 2-0-4 (away) |
|
4-1-1 (home) |
| 7-3-4 |
Sunday Record* |
2-3-3 |
| 4-1-3 (away) |
|
1-0-2 (home) |
| 3-1-1 |
July/Sunday Record* |
0-1-0 |
| 1-0-1 (away) |
|
0-0-0 (home) |
|
|
|
|
* - since 2002 |
|
Prediction: Look
for a 1-1 draw in Virginia Beach, and a 1-0 loss in Richmond.
Around the A-League. Edmonton's
Jamie Lopresti picked up his third red card of the season in a 1-0 loss in
Seattle. This ties Lopresti with
Puerto Rico 's Javier Novarini for A-League Thug of the Year honors. A close runner-up is Virginia Beach's Jeff Bilyk, who you
might not remember because he was suspended for the Mariners' match at Frontier
in June. Bilyk received his 10th
yellow card of the season in just his 14th match (a 2-1 loss vs. Wave United –
Hamisi Amani-Dove had the only VeeBee goal).
Tired of being bored to death watching
the Rhinos back-pass themselves into futility?
You oughta think about moving to Atlanta, where the S-Backs have won 10
straight. Their latest – a 3-2
overtime win over Richmond – saw the Monkey Men down two goals and a player midway through the second half.
But they pulled it out in true Kardiac Kid-style.
And there were two ejections. Remember when Rhinos soccer used to be that
exciting?
Speaking of remembering stuff, the RD
was reminiscing about the good old days, when teams like Syracuse, Atlanta and
Charleston used to suck up all of the Rochester retreads.
Well, last week, Syracuse nabbed Atlanta reject-slash-Slovenian striker
Attila Vendagh, who immediately contributed a goal to the struggling S-Dog
attack in a 2-0 win over the Kickers. Syracuse
toppled hapless Charleston on Monday, with Rene Rivas
netting the winner after earning his 5th caution of the season.
Scott Schweitzer contributed his second yellow in three games.
Where have you gone, Andy Restrepo?
meets MLS update. Ex-Rhinos all over the MetroStars' 2-0 win over San Jose. It was the E-Quakes' third loss in a row, leaving them
winless over their last five (their previous win was when Pat Onstad was with
the Canadian Nats). John "Good
Enough to Ride Rhinos' Pine" Wolyniec scored the game-winner and went the
full 90. And you know what that
means, don't you? The Metros are
6-0-0 when Woly plays 90, and 0-4-6 when he doesn't.
Think
some of the Rhinos are workhorses for playing two matches this weekend?
How about Damarcus Beasley, who kicked it in a pair of 1-1 draws...on the same day. Run-DMB
went 90 for the US men in their 1-1 draw against Poland, and then came in as a
sub and played 30 for the Fire in the second half of the Soldier Field
doubleheader (a 1-1 draw vs. New England). The RD needs to take a nap
just thinking about it.
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.