May 21, 2003

Last time out.  Rochester went 1-1-0 last week, dumping Pittsburgh, 2-1, with a 90th minute header from Lenin Steenkamp at Frontier; and drawing Toronto, 1-1, on the road.  What follows are a few random thoughts on the R-Hounds match:

+ Did you see those late-game thrown-ins from Jamel Mitchell and Scott Schweitzer?  The Score isn't going to forget that when City Newspaper chooses teams for the Greater Rochester Dodge-Ball Tournament.

+ The uncovered baseball infield wasn't nearly as bad as everyone thought, even though the ball often took bounces stranger than what you'd see if Anna Nicole Smith got on a trampoline.

+ Why didn't Pittsburgh play that guy who looks like Justin Guarini?

+ Wouldn't Eric Ongao look sweet playing in Rochester's central defense, with Schweitzer moving out to the right side?

A win and a draw aren't bad, and those two headers against Pittsburgh (2-1-2) were beautiful and all, but is anyone else alarmed that the Rhinos (2-2-1) weren't able to score once while playing a man up for 30-plus minutes against either of those teams?  The R-Hounds really dug in after David Wright was ejected, essentially playing with one forward and nine defenders, but The Score couldn't tell what happened up in Toronto, especially with Doug Miller fresh off the bench.  Toronto (1-1-3) is so bad, The Ultras are already talking about a mass walkout.

Here's a suggestion, and if it's used The Score promises not to question any of Coach Ercoli's substitutions for three whole weeks, even if they're really, really awful:  The midfield is in disarray.  Stoian Mladenov must start every match in central midfield.  Rochester is 27-8-6 and averages 1.60 goals per match when he starts and plays every minute, compared to 6-3-4 with 1.30 GPM when he sees limited action, and 4-0-6 with 1.20 GPM when he doesn't play at all.  If pushing him back into the center means using Steenkamp off the bench for late-match heroics, or moving Temoc Suarez out to the right, so be it.  If Suarez isn't capable of successfully playing on the right side, his salary could easily be used to pick up another defender, or to splurge on some infield-covering turf.  Mitchell, or even Kirk Wilson, can play there until Yuri Lavrynenko is healthy.

Next up.  The Rhinos (2-1-1) square off against the surprising Salty Dogs (3-0-0) twice this weekend - at P&C Stadium in Syracuse on Friday night, and at Frontier on Saturday night.  The matches also serve as US Open Cup qualifiers for both teams, with the aggregate winner advancing to the country's oldest cup competition (Note: An aggregate draw will go right to penalty kicks, without passing Go, collecting $200, or playing one second of overtime).

Sure, the S-Dogs are unbeaten, but look at who they've played -- Toronto (twice) and the winless Charlotte Eagles.  They're led by Gabe Valencia (5+0=10), who might edge out our own Doug Miller as the league's biggest poacher.  Of the seven goals Syracuse has scored, only two have credited assists.  The combination of USOC qualifiers and Laurie Calloway has The Score a little scared (remember how tough his D3 Des Moines Menace were in the Cup last year?).  We're predicting a 1-1 draw in Syracuse, and a 2-0 win at home.  And just so you know how clever The Score is, we picked a 2-1 win over Pittsburgh, and a 1-0 loss in Toronto last week (hey, who would ever dream of getting a PK in TO?).  Even more impressive, The Score correctly predicted a red card in Toronto, and we even called its recipient -- Sebastian Barclay - a "frigging theatrical crybaby" in the 2003 season preview.

Before everyone starts getting carried away with Syracuse's attendance for their home opener (10,721), The Score wants to remind you there was a free KC & the Sunshine Band concert after the match.  The 7,128 souls Montreal drew for their opener was far more impressive.  Still, the fact the S-Dogs had to delay kick-off for 30 minutes because there were still thousands of people waiting in line for tickets is pretty cool.  Even cooler, they ran out of tickets and started letting people in for free.  Well, cool for everyone except the people who paid -- kind of like the original Woodstock.

Where have you gone, Andy Restrepo?  A slow week for ex-Rhinos around the A-League.  Rochester North (a.k.a. Montreal) couldn't score against Richmond on Sunday, so Biello, Sebrango, Nash, et al. didn't put up any noteworthy numbers.  Carlos Parra did have an assist in Atlanta's first 1-1 weekend draw against Charlotte, and netted the first penalty kick in the USOC tiebreaker that sent the Eagles home in a battle of pretty lousy teams.  Bet they wish Richard Goddard had his visa issues worked out already.  For the record, Atlanta is winless in six matches, while Charlotte hasn't won in seven.

Speaking of the Cup.  So Atlanta is in, along with Seattle, Milwaukee, Minnesota, Virginia Beach and Long Island (PSL).  Pittsburgh has all but clinched a berth, following a 3-0 road win in Richmond.  The picture gets much clearer next Monday, and the brackets are scheduled to be announced next Wednesday.  This year, there's a chance Rochester (assuming they qualify) would have to face an MLS side (either DC United or the MetroStars) in their first match.

MLS update.  Scott Vallow rode the pine, while Scott Garlick started in Colorado (he let in two against the MetroStars).  Pat Onstad's shutout streak ended at 336 consecutive minutes, placing him ninth on the all-time MLS list, right behind Jorge Campos.  Onstad allowed more goals (three) against Columbus than he had all season (two), but luckily for him the Earthquake managed to score four, so our favorite Canadian (save Elisha Cuthbert) is still undefeated as an MLSer.

Read the last issue of The Score here.