Rhinos Tie Salty Dogs in Must-Win Match
Penalty Kicks Are the Only Goals in Drab, Wet Affair
J-P Altieri & Keith Kiedrowski,
a-league.com Match Reporters
Rochester
ROCHESTER, NY, August 6 – The Syracuse Salty Dogs are on a
tear in their last seven matches. Conversely, the Rhinos haven’t had the
greatest of stretches lately, but were poised to knock the Dogs off their high
horse and reclaim a nice lead in the playoffs race. After Friday night,
everything is now up for grabs.
The game began as most between these two sides do: a lot of
passing, few attempts on goal and plenty of fouls. The best chance of the first
half came in the 31’, when Rochester ruined a great chance to take the lead.
Rhinos forward Chris Carrieri sent a brilliant cross to surprise starter Yari
Allnutt, whose header was flicked to the top of the penalty box. Unfortunately,
no one was there to receive this well-developed play and Syracuse cleared. At
the other end, on the counterattack, Syracuse’s Machel Millwood ran though
three Rochester defenders, but his shot was stopped by ‘keeper Soren Johnson.
A handball in the Syracuse penalty box in the 38’ minute allowed
newcomer “Pato” Aguilera a chance to give the Rhinos the lead from the penalty
spot, which he converted with ease.
In the second half, however, Rochester defender Craig Demmin
appeared to return the favor with a handball of his own in the Rhinos’ penalty
area. Former Rhino Rene Rivas converted his spot kick and the match was level
after 48 minutes.
Syracuse nearly took the lead in the 74’, when Rhinos ‘keeper
Soren Johnson misjudged an attack by the Salty Dogs. He was out of position
after the initial attempt, but recovered quickly enough to knock away the
rebound and force a corner kick.
At the other end, only 12 minutes later, Rhinos substitute Corey
Woolfolk ran in unscathed on Dogs ‘keeper Byron Foss but his shot was directly
at Foss, whose got a piece of his hand on the ball to turn it away for a
Rochester corner kick. If Woolfolk had lifted the ball, or had he looked to his
right and passed to an unmarked Doug Miller, the Rhinos would have left the
game with a full 3 points. Instead, two drab periods of overtime ensued, with
the only exciting moment coming in the 102’, when substitute Doug Miller
appeared to be taken down in the Syracuse penalty area. However, the referee
adjudged this to be simulation, and booked him for it. After the match, Miller
was given a red card for apparently arguing the call.
For Rochester, a 1-1 draw with the Salty Dogs may mean missing
the playoffs for the first time in nearly seven years.
Scoring Summary
|
Time
|
Goal Scorer & Assist
|
Score
|
|
38’
|
Aguilera (pen.)
|
ROC 1 – SYR 0
|
|
48’
|
Rivas (pen.)
|
ROC 1 – SYR 1
|
Starting Lineups
Y = Yellow Card
R = Red Card
Rochester Raging Rhinos
Formation: 4-4-2
1 GK – Soren Johnson
3 D – Craig Demmin
11 D – Bill Sedgewick
17 D – David Wright
25 D – John Wilson
7 M – Pato Aguilera
9 M – Yari Allnutt
13 M – Noah Delgado
21 M – Kirk Wilson
15 F – Chris Carrieri
24 F – Ian Fuller
Syracuse Salty Dogs
Formation: 4-4-2
28 GK – Byron Foss
6 D – Jason Perry
7 D – Lars Lyssand
13 D – Ryan Hall
26 D – Rene Rivas
2 M – Tim O’Neill
15 M – Frankie Sanfilippo
18 M – Ian Woan
22 M – Jonathan Steele
17 F – Mauro Carbajal
23 F – Machel Millwood
How They Fared
Here’s how we feel the Rhinos fared against Syracuse:
8 = Highest, 0 = Lowest
|
Player
|
J-P’s Rating
|
Keith’s Rating
|
Comments
|
|
1 GK – Soren
Johnson
|
6.5
|
6.0
|
Played well.
Better ‘keeper than Zagar.
|
|
3 D – Craig
Demmin
|
5.0
|
5.0
|
Looked slow,
tired and old tonight.
|
|
11 D – Bill
Sedgewick
|
5.0
|
5.0
|
Played poorly and
didn’t contribute much.
|
|
17 D – David
Wright
|
6.0
|
6.0
|
Made many
mistakes on the ball.
|
|
25 D – John
Wilson
|
6.5
|
6.0
|
Hustled hard, but
had a enough bad touches to lower score.
|
|
7 M – Pato
Aguilera
|
8.0
|
7.0
|
Scored the only
goal for Rochester. Played a good game.
|
|
9 M – Yari
Allnutt
|
6.5
|
6.0
|
Helped out
considerably, but may be too slow to be a starter.
|
|
13 M – Noah
Delgado
|
6.5
|
5.0
|
Played decent,
although it’s been a rough stretch for the entire midfield.
|
|
21 M – Kirk
Wilson
|
5.0
|
5.0
|
Ball hog. No vision.
Disappears for long stretches. Trade him, bench him, do anything! Keep him
off the pitch!
|
|
15 F – Chris
Carrieri
|
6.0
|
6.0
|
Played sub par
for his standards tonight.
|
|
24 M – Ian Fuller
|
5.0
|
4.5
|
This guy has 2
positions: falling down and waiting for the ball to come to his foot, rather
than running towards it. His complaining is fun to watch, though.
|
|
Coaches
|
4.0
|
3.0
|
We’re at a loss
for words. Indecision and lack of overall team fortitude has allowed the
season series with Syracuse to turn in their favor. This could very well be
another trophy-less season.
|
Statistics
SHOTS:
ROC: 9
SYR: 10
SAVES:
ROC: 4
SYR: 3
FOULS:
ROC: 22
SYR: 20
CAUTIONS/EJECTIONS:
ROC: 3/1
SYR: 1/0
OFFSIDES:
ROC: 1
SYR: 3
ATTENDANCE: 10.527
