USL Rochester Rhinos

First Place Rhinos Travel to Wilmington Saturday Night

May 15, 2015 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Rochester Rhinos News Release


ROCHESTER, NY - The Rochester Rhinos travel to Legion Stadium for a USL Regular Season match with Wilmington Hammerheads on Saturday, May 16, 2015. Kickoff is scheduled from 7PM.

The Rhinos enter the weekend as the last unbeaten club in USL. Rochester is on top of the USL Eastern Conference table with 20 points, and has the best record in the 24 team league with a 6-0-2 start to the season.

Rochester is following USL Hall of Fame Head Coach Bob Lilley's tried and tested blueprint for success with the best defensive record in the league. The Rhinos have only conceded three goals in their first eight matches. Perhaps more impressively, Rochester's team effort defensively is limiting opponents to an average of five shots per game, and the Rhinos rank 23rd in USL with only 12 goalkeeper saves in eight matches. In a throwback to the championship days of Pat Ercoli's all-conquering sides of the late 1990s, the 2015 edition has a bit of bite as evidenced by their league leading 113 fouls and 15 cautions to start the season. Lilley's back four of: left back Onua Thomas Obasi, former Colorado Rapids center back Grant Van De Casteele, Greek import Vasileios Apostolopoulos, and right back Pat McMahon, are shielded by captain Tony Walls in midfield and play in front of the USL's top statistical goalkeeper Brandon Miller.

After scoring 29 goals in 28 matches last season, the Rhinos rejuvenated attack has been one of the highlights of the first quarter of the 2015 USL season. Rochester has the seventh best goal scoring record in USL, and ranks third in shots with 100 in eight matches. Goal scoring has come from a variety of attacking options as the Rhinos have six players who have scored goals this season. Rookie Christian Volesky, the 2015 Major League Soccer Combine Most Valuable Player, leads the team with four goals, while second year forward Alex Dixon has already matched his 2014 output with three goals. Second year midfielder Jonny Mendoza has two goals, and Colin Rolfe, Walls, and Steevan dos Santos have all appeared on the score sheet in 2015.

Wilmington enters the weekend in 11th place in the USL Eastern Conference with five points from a 1-5-2 start to the season. After drawing their first two matches of the season, the Hammerheads have lost five out of their last six. The lone bright spot was a 3:0 victory in Red Bull Arena over New York Red Bulls II. Wilmington has opened the season with an 0-2-2 mark at Legion Stadium, while visiting Rochester has a 4-0-2 mark away from Sahlen's Stadium. Despite the slow start to the season, Wilmington still has a roster full of proven USL talent, including 2014 USL First Team selection Ashani Fairclough. Lilley feels that the Hammerheads may prove to be the Rhinos biggest test to date on Saturday night.

"We've gotten off to a fast start this season." Lilley said. "There's no question that it's better to get off to a fast start than a slow start. However, if you look at their roster they have a lot of names that jump out at you right away. Guys who have played in MLS, guys who have played in this league, guys who have caps for their country. This team has way more talent than their record indicates, and they keep getting closer and closer every week."

Saturday night's match in Wilmington can be seen live in its entirety via streaming video on the Hammerheads YouTube Channel with navigation from the USL home page .

The Rhinos return to Rochester and host Greater Binghamton FC in the Second Round of the 2015 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup on Wednesday, May 20th at 7PM. Rochester Rhinos season tickets, flex packages, group sales tickets, and individual match tickets are currently on sale and can be purchased by calling (585)454-KICK (5425), online via Ticketmaster, or by visiting the MVP Health Care Box Office at Sahlen's Stadium during business hours.



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