Late Goals from Rhinos Sink Fury FC
Published on March 10, 2017 under United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Ottawa Fury FC News Release
OTTAWA, ON - Several quality chances weren't enough for Fury FC on Friday morning as the club dropped a 3-0 preseason decision to the Rochester Rhinos at the University of Ottawa.
A fresh group of players off the bench made the difference for Rochester as the Rhinos benefit from three late goals to secure the win.
For the first time in preseason, Fury FC Head Coach Paul Dalglish wanted to test his players' fitness by giving them a full 90-minute game. That ultimately gave the advantage to Rochester late in the match, as they brought in a fresh set of players to kick off the second half.
"When Rochester brought on basically a whole new team in the second half, it was too much for us," said Fury FC GM and Head Coach, Paul Dalglish.
"We were very tired in the last 10 minutes and made three mistakes and were punished for it. But I want to focus mainly on the first 80 minutes where we had a lot of positives to build on. Overall, I'm disappointed with the final score but pleased in a lot of other areas," added Dalglish"
After a good first save from Callum Irving early in the game, Steevan Dos Santos - who was playing against his former team for the first time - and Gerardo Bruna had two excellent scoring chances in the opposition's box, but they both came up short, leaving the game scoreless after 45 minutes.
Sito Seoane started the second half with a great individual effort in the box, cutting through two Rhinos' defenders and firing a half-volley shot in the top corner, but Rochester's goalkeeper got a piece of it and tipped it over the bar.
With fresher players on the field, Rochester intensified their pressing and got closer to Irving's goal. The Rhinos opened the scoring at the 76th minute on a penalty kick, when Stefan DeFregger got his first of the game. DeFregger scored his second six minutes later when he intercepted a ball in Ottawa's defensive third. Jalen Brown completed the score for Rochester at the 87th minute.
"Losing 3-0 is not good so I'm very disappointed. It's another learning experience for us, a hard one but, nothing we can do now about it," said Fury FC Captain, Lance Rozeboom.
"We have to learn from it reassess the game over the weekend and come out stronger next week. Ultimately, you learn from it, you move on, you can't dwell on it. You can't get too high with the wins, or too low with the losses, but losing hurt and it should always hurt," added Rozeboom.
Fury FC will get back to training at the RA Centre Monday afternoon before hosting the League1 Ontario All-Stars next Friday at the University of Ottawa.
Season tickets are available at OttawaFuryFC.com, by calling 613.232.6767 X1 or in person at The Box Office at TD Place.
MATCH REPORT:
Starting XI (Formation 3-4-3):
Irving; Venter (Manesio 46'), Del Campo, McEleney; Campbell, Bruna, Rozeboom, Barden; Sito, Dos Santos, Haworth
Scoring Summary:
76' ROC - Stefan DeFregger (PK)
81' ROC - Stefan DeFregger
87' ROC - Jalen Brown
Caution Summary:
45' OTT - Martin Del Campo
Ejection Summary:
None
Next Preseason Match: March 17 vs League 1 Ontario All-Stars - 4:15 p.m. - University of Ottawa
United Soccer League Championship Stories from March 10, 2017
- LA Galaxy II Sign Jean Jospin Engola and Andre Ulrich Zanga - LA Galaxy II
- Late Goals from Rhinos Sink Fury FC - Ottawa Fury FC
- Fury FC and FC Edmonton Renew Rivalry in Canadian Championship - Ottawa Fury FC
- San Antonio FC to Face FC Dallas in Final Preseason Match on March - San Antonio FC
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