Rhinos Tame Thunder

Minnesota Remains Winless on the Road Versus Tired Rochester Side

J-P Altieri & Keith Kiedrowski,
a-league.com Match Reporters
Rochester

ROCHESTER, NY, July 30 – The Minnesota Thunder, an A-League Finals rival of the Rhinos a few years ago, have plenty of road problems. They haven’t won a game on the road yet the season, and playoffs crunch time is beckoning.

Rochester almost made it seem like that trend would continue at Frontier Field Friday night, when converted forward-turned-midfielder Corey Woolfolk nearly scored in the opening minute off an intercepted pass in the Thunder midfield. He nearly put the Thunder behind again in the 17’, but his shot went barely wide.

With this flurry of offense in a suddenly sputtering system in Rochester, it came as a shock when the Thunder’s counterattack in the 21’ netted the game’s first goal, off the head of Minnesota’s David Castellanos. Castellanos received a brilliant cross from midfielder Kevin Friedland, and Castellanos’ header found Rhinos ‘keeper Theo Zagar frozen as the ball dropped into the net.

Rochester attempted to regain control of the match, which it had enjoyed for the first 20 minutes, but quality shots were hard to come by. This changed in the 42’, however, when Rhinos midfielder Shaun Tsakiris connected beautifully with forward Chris Carrieri. Carrieri’s shot found the far left post—at a tough angle nonetheless—that made the score 1-1 at half time.

Rochester tried to take the lead early in the second half, but Minnesota tightened up their back three and although the Rhinos would put 7 shots on ‘keeper Joe Warren, many seemed futile, if at all powerful. Many had to wonder how the Thunder was winless on the road this season with the defensive clinic they were putting on for the 10,631 in attendance.

The answer to this question was revealed in the 87’, when Rochester substitute Ryan Trout—a one-time starter in the Starting XI for Rochester—netted the game winner. An odd man rush left the Thunder exposed at the back for the first time in 40+ minutes, and a great cross from midfielder Noah Delgado allowed Trout to pop the ball into the Thunder’s net. Warren, like Zagar earlier, was frozen in his tracks as the ball went in.

With so many games in the last few weeks, there is no rest period for another week and a half for Rochester. This was a hard-fought victory against a worthy opponent. With some luck, the outcomes of tight matches such as tonight’s will work in the Rhinos’ favor as the playoffs approach. If not, one has to question what went wrong; and there are many fingers to be pointed at many individuals in this organization.

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