I have to admit it. The weather almost had me convinced not to go to the game. I had also driven eight hours through rain storms so bad that I could barely see the front of my car and was tired, hungry and cold. But I had come home a day early from vacation to see the game, so I went. As did the additional 1,631 fans that stayed around and never stopped cheering on the Hounds. Despite the weather, the cold and some unlucky breaks that allowed the Rhino's a 3 - 1 victory, the Hounds and their fans showed great heart.
Tim Carter, coach of the Hounds, walked into the press box and simply said "Let me start, they kicked us out of the park for the first twenty minutes." Rochester was able to pick apart the right side of the Hounds defense for the majority of the first half. That weakness lead to the Rhino's first goal at the 20th minute mark. A corner kick taken by Stoian Mladenov found the virtually unmarked head of Lenin Steenkamp.
Just three minutes later Rochester would be up by two goals. A well placed cross from midfield split the Hounds line and found it's way onto the waiting boot of midfielder David Hayes. Hayes crossed the ball into the middle where David Miller scored his sixth goal of the season.
A breakdown in the defensive line nearly gave the Rhino's a third goal in the 26th minute as two loan defenders faced three charging Rhino's. The final pass was just a bit too far and the effort went for naught.
In the 35th minute, the tide started to turn. Randy Dedini, Pittsburgh's goaltender made a point blank reaction save off an unknown Rochester players shot from close range. The save seemed to give a little more confidence to the beleaguered Hounds.
In the 40th minute Pittsburgh was able to take advantage of the slippery field conditions and get a break, sadly Thiago Martins was the only forward and he quickly drew five defenders.
As the second half started, Pittsburgh started to apply some much-needed pressure. Although they didn't threaten the goal much in the early part of the second half, the team just looked different than they had in the first half. Stronger and more confident than they did in the first half. Pittsburgh switched from a 4 - 4 - 2 lineup into the more offensive minded 4 - 3 - 3 formation.
Rochester still had the better chances. In the 61st minute a free kick from thirty plus yards out bent enough to make Dedini extend for it and punch it out.
The night wouldn't be a total loss. In the 64th minute, goal-scoring machine Thiago Martins added to his total for the year. Taking advantage of a rebound on the slippery grass, Martins pounded the ball past Billy Andracki, Rochester's goalie, for his seventh goal of the season. Corey Woolfolk was given the assist.
The fans didn't have time to celebrate, for less than a minute later Rochester regained their two-goal advantage and shut down the Hounds efforts for the rest of the night.
Defender David Wright indicated that the third goal was a combination of bad decisions and luck. "Randy [Dedini] called for it and Aaron [Thomas] just did what he was told to do. It probably wasn't the best decision". What Thomas tried to do was head the ball back to Dedini. The soggy ball and wet field conditions made that a dangerous option and the ball died between the two. Doug Miller got to the loose ball and was able to slip the ball to an unmarked Ian Fuller who tucked the ball away easily.
"That just took the steam out of us," Coach Tim Carter stated. "And Rochester is a good enough team to seal it off." Which is basically what they did. Dropping sometimes as many as nine player's back to defend.
Pittsburgh would have two other chances to pull within one in the dying minutes of play but Gary DePalma's free kick in the 89th minute was directly at Billy Andracki and an injury time Derek Potteiger shot would sail high and wide.
Yellow card issued to Rochester's Lenin Steenkamp in the 15th minute for unsporting behavior.
Red Card issued to Gary DePalma in the 90th minute for unsporting behavior.
