July 25, 2001
Last time out. Third-place Rochester (7-3-2, 32 points) walloped the sixth-place Long Island Rough Riders (3-9-3, 19) 6-2 last Friday night at Frontier Field. Considering the team had scored only 12 times in the previous 11 matches, the offensive onslaught caught fans off-guard, bringing back fond memories of the glory days of 1998, when the Rhinos scored four or more in seven games (and once more in the playoffs).
So the scoring problem is over, right? The forwards are on fire now? Well, not exactly. Of the six goals, zero were scored by a pure forward (one was netted by defender Gabe Gervais, who was merely playing forward). The other five were tallied by defender Bill Sedgewick, and the entire starting midfield (Martin Nash, Stoian Mladenov, Lenin Steenkamp and Dan Annan). With regular starters Tommy Tanner and Nate Daligcon injured, the midfield clicked for the first time this season, and although he didn’t score, new striker Neathan Gibson continues to look dangerous up front.
You also have to consider the opponent. Long Island ain’t exactly a quality side this year, even though they’re the defending division champs. Think about this --- Rochester has scored half its goals this season against the Rough Riders (they won 3-0 on June 30, too). Only four teams have allowed more goals than Long Island. In anything, the Rhinos should have run up a similar score when they played the bottom-dwelling Toronto Lynx the previous weekend, but barely escaped with a 2-1 overtime win.
Coming up. After a mid-week home contest again fifth-place Montreal (5-10-1, 23), the Rhinos continue their four-match home stand this Friday, hosting 4th place Pittsburgh (5-8-3, 24). The Riverhounds will be without former Rhino Henry “The Blob” Gutierrez, the recent recipient of his second suspension for yellow card accumulation in 2001 (he has 10 in just 15 games). They should also be licking their wounds after Tuesday’s U.S. Open Cup meeting with defending champion Chicago. On Saturday, Rochester travels to Pittsburgh for a road clash against the Riverhounds (The Blob will be back for that one). Friday’s match will be televised on Empire (Time Warner channel 52), and both contests can be heard on WYSL 1040AM.
Scouting report. Pittsburgh is led by Gutierrez’s protruding belly. But seriously, folks they’re led by dangerous forwards Phil Karn (6 goals, 3 assists = 15 points), David Flavius (6+0=12) and former MLS All-Star Welton (2+4=8). The Riverhounds have been pretty inconsistent as of late, crushing Montreal 5-2 last week, but losing to lowly El Paso 6-1 the week before. Despite advancing to the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open Cup, they haven’t been able to string two wins together all season. Rochester is 4-0-1 against the Riverhounds (3-0-0 at Frontier), including a 2-1 home win earlier this year.
MVPs to thugs. Three-time Rhino MVP (and A-League First Team member) Craig Demmin had only three yellow cards in his three-year stint with Rochester. He has six in 17 game for Tampa Bay this season, and was recently hit with a one-match suspension for point accumulation (this should give you an idea of how porous the Mutiny’s back line has been in 2001). The most damaging flash of yellow came when Demmin took down Fire forward and National Team star Josh Wolff, who hasn’t been able to play since. Not to be outdone, 2000 A-League title match MVP Onandi Lowe has four cautions in just eight matches, and will sit out Kansas City’s next contest. Now that Yari Alnutt has recovered from his ankle injury and has seen his first action for the New England Revolution, one can only assume he’ll start collecting cards like Easter eggs.
Read the last issue of The Score here.