August 20, 2003

Last time out. The Rhinos notched what may have been the least impressive 3-0 win in the history of Rochester soccer last Saturday at Frontier. The Atlanta Silverbacks (or Silverhawks, if you're the Democrat & Chronicle), who are the worst team in the A-League even at full strength, were without their scoring leader (John Barry Nusum), their assist leader (Mac Cozier) and a suspended defender who started and played every minute of 23 of their previous 25 matches (Joard Odera). On top of that, Atlanta (4-6-16, 18) brought just one lone goalkeeping substitution, all but guaranteeing there wouldn't be another late-match collapse by Rochester (14-6-6, 48).

The S-Backs, who have won once in their last nine matches, managed just two shots on Rhinos 'keeper Billy "Scapegoat" Andracki (or Soren Johnson, if you're WOKR-13). And speaking of Andracki, anyone who thinks he's to blame for the team's recent inability to hold a lead is as dumb as a box of hair. Rochester has zero depth on its back line, but that didn't stop them from going after even more forwards before the league's trade deadline. Want to know why the Rhinos will never catch Montreal in the standings? Because they're exhausted. Rochester has played five more times than Montreal this year thanks to the US Open and Can-Am Cups. Here's the proof: Saturday's "victory" was the Rhinos' first in their last five and second in their last ten. This is usually the time of year they start to crush opponents like the White House steamrolling our civil liberties.

Next up. The dreaded Richmond Kickers (10-7-7, 37), who ousted Rochester from last year's playoffs and prevented them from winning in two meetings so far in 2003. Both teams are fighting for playoff spots in their respective divisions, so expect things to get ugly. Paul Leciks has two goals and Kevin Jeffrey (10+7=27) has a goal and an assist against the Rhinos this season. Since Rochester tends to win late-season matches when they really need to, The Score is picking a 2-1 Rhinos victory. But we have a nagging feeling things will probably end up deadlocked. Praise Jebus -- there won't be penalty kicks this time.

Playoff update. Rochester is two points ahead of Pittsburgh (14-4-8, 46) for the final playoff spot in the Northeast Division. The R-Hounds finish up their schedule this weekend with home dates against Virginia Beach (Friday) and Syracuse (Sunday) - so the Rhinos will know exactly what they'll need to do against the S-Dogs next weekend.

There's a three-way race in the Southeast Division, too -- Charleston, Richmond and Virginia Beach are all in the hunt. Ditto for the Pacific, where Seattle, Portland and Vancouver are battling for two playoff berths. Not in the Central, though -- that's all Minnesota and Milwaukee. For the record, The Score's preseason predictions were Charleston, Richmond, Montreal and Rochester from the Eastern Conference, and either Seattle or Portland representing the Western Conference in the A-League title match.

Forward numbers. If Gabe Valencia weren't leaving for Sweden, would he have started against Atlanta on Saturday? Thank God he didn't, because Team of the Week member Ian Fuller wouldn't have had the chance to score his two goals, and that would have made things uncomfortably close. Since Fuller has (hopefully) regained his starting role from the Salt Town Impinger, let's take a look at how Rochester's various forward combinations have fared so far in 2003 (including US Open Cup and Can-Am Cup, in W-D-L format):

Aren't you all glad the Rhinos went after Valencia instead of a central defender capable of relieving Scott Schweitzer or Craig Demmin?

Where have you gone, Andy Restrepo? John Wolyniec had the match-tying goal for the MetroStars 1-1 draw in Los Angeles, and Greg Simmonds had the winner for Richmond as they defeated the still Hudock-less Charleston Battery. Meanwhile, S-Dog defender Rene Rivas didn't get a yellow card, but that was because he was sitting out a one-match suspension for yellow card accumulation.

MLS update. Pat Onstad goes another week without a loss. Colorado is 6-1-1 when Mark Chung scores, and 0-3-9 when he doesn't (can you say MVP?). Kansas City lost 3-2 to the lowly Dallas Burn, who have had just one win in their last nine. That's exciting enough, but both Tony "Where's the Pie?" Meola and Henry "Phony Racial Epithet" Gutierrez both got yellow cards. It was the third in a row for Gutierrez, and his fourth in five matches since returning from a back injury.

Read the last issue of The Score here.