May 7, 2003
Last time out. The Rhinos couldn't hold on to a two-goal lead in last Friday's home opener against Atlanta and ended the night in a 2-2 draw, despite nearly outshooting the S-Backs by a 3-to-1 margin. Both of Rochester's goals came off the foot of the returning Doug Miller, and the wee forward was pretty close to connecting on at least three or four other opportunities. When was the last time anyone can remember a defender sending a long ball out of the back into space for a player who was chugging along at full blast? It's been a while, my friends, and it was sure great to see it again Friday.
Now before anyone starts getting carried away with the pros and cons of Coach Ercoli's new run-and-gun offense, let's look at the facts. There were only three new faces in Rochester's starting XI (David Hayes, Ryan DiNunzio and Fred Commodore), and only one of them made for a significant upgrade in speed (Hayes for Martin Nash). Aside from those beautiful long balls out of the back, the only major difference between 2002 and 2003 was Miller, who never seemed afraid to uncork a shot no matter where he was on the pitch. Thanks to Miller and his 11 cracks at goal, the Rhinos shattered their team record for most shots in a game, with 33. Just to put that in perspective, Rochester mustered just 41 shots total in their four playoff matches in 2002. The highest one-match total last season was 25, and that was against the D3 Des Moines Menace. In fact, Miller's 11 attempts on Friday would have outshot the 2002 Rhinos in 15 of their 28 regular-season matches.
While the Miller-led offense is certainly a step in the right direction, you can't possibly say the same thing about Rochester's baffling pattern of substituting the wrong players at the wrong time. With a two-goal lead, doesn't it make sense to add more defensive presence? You'd think so, but Ercoli used every field player on his lineup card except his two defenders (Carlos Mendez and Nate Kaczanowski).
Still, you really have to consider it a work in progress. Rochester has never been particularly strong in their home openers, or in the month of May. Friday's draw brought those two records to 2-2-4 and 19-2-11, respectively. Would it surprise you to learn that since 2000, half of the Rhinos' regular-season home losses have come before June 1? So let's reserve judgment on the new "changes" until then. Come June 1, Rochester will have seven more matches under its belt, and everyone will have a much better idea of where things stand.
Next up. The Rhinos hit the road this weekend, taking on Virginia Beach (2-0-1) on Friday night (it's on Fox SportsWorld), and the S-Backs (0-2-1) on Sunday. Look for a regression back to the defense-first game plan on Friday, as the Mariners have a frightening amount of firepower at their disposal (Dante Washington, Roy Lassiter and ex-Rhino Hamisi Amani-Dove). VeeBee won two straight at home before dropping a weekend match in Charleston.
Atlanta, meanwhile, had two straight come-from-behind draws on the road before getting spanked by Richmond on Sunday night. In case you missed it in person on Friday, the S-Backs are a pretty physical team. Their four defenders, who have started and played nearly every minute of all three matches, have already amassed six yellow cards between them. Apparently they're trying to be the 2003 version of Pittsburgh. Eric Ozimek made the A-League Team Of the Week for his two assists against the Rhinos last week.
MLS update. Pat Onstad pitched another shutout for San Jose on Saturday (his second in a row), and if it weren't for his highlight-reel own goal a couple of weeks ago, the 3-0-1 Earthquakes would be undefeated. Even more impressive: Onstad faced Tyler Twellman and Carlos Ruiz – the top two goal-scorers in 2002 – in those shutout wins. Scott Vallow is starting in Colorado but hasn't had quite as great a time. He let in two, including a world-class header from Clint Mathis, against the MetroStars on Saturday.
You'd think DC United's Hristo Stoichkov would have learned a thing or two after crippling a college player in a pre-season match this year, but even after riding a two-game suspension, the violent Bulgarian quickly collected two yellow cards in his first two matches of the season. Way to go, you hack!
Kansas City's Tony Meola has finally found something he likes more than pie, or even putting opposing forwards in headlocks. Meola's latest hobby seems to be allowing goals. He's seen eight fly past him in four matches so far this year, and five in the Wizards' last two. Here's looking at you, Beef-a-Roni!
Cheers and jeers. Kudos to Edmonton for landing an A-League (and W-League) franchise for the 2004 season. But our sympathies are with fans in the Twin Cities who, despite drawing a team record 5,893 to their opener at the Metrodome, learned the new editor of the St. Paul Pioneer has decided soccer isn't popular enough to garner space in his newspaper. I guess that means more coverage of ice fishing.
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Read the last issue of The Score here.