Miami Draws its Last Road Game of the Season
September 13, 2009 - USL First Division (USL-1)
Fort Lauderdale Strikers News Release
The Blues drew against the playoff-bound Rochester Rhinos Sunday afternoon with a final score of 0-0. Miami will return home to face the Puerto Rico Islanders at Lockhart Stadium on Saturday, September 19th at 8 p.m.
"We played well enough to win this match, creating plenty of good opportunities, but we simply could not finish," said head coach Zinho. "Now all we can do is focus on Puerto Rico and finishing the season with a win in front of our fans at home."
Miami rebounded from Tuesday's defeat to the Charleston Battery by creating numerous opportunities throughout the match against Rochester, but the Rhinos' goalkeeper, Scott Vallow, snuffed those opportunities with a tremendous performance in goal.
Aaron King had Miami's first chance at a goal when he took on a couple of Rhinos defenders, firing a shot towards the upper corner of the goal; Vallow stretched out, stopping the shot with an acrobatic save.
In the 17th minute, a questionable penalty was called on Miami. Justin Pizarro poked the ball away from Johnny Menyongar, causing the USL-1 leading goal scorer to trip on himself in the penalty area. Kenney Bertz tried to finish the penalty kick, but the shot whistled wide of the near post.
Twelve minutes later, Alen Marcina beat the Rhinos' defender, positioning himself to unleash a violent shot in point blank range. Vallow once again reacted in time to make another spectacular save.
Towards the end of the first half, King used his speed to break loose at the midfield line to the fringe of the penalty area, rifling a shot towards the second post, but the ball sailed wide of the frame.
The Rhinos began the second half with an opportunity to score the first goal of the game. Menyongar had a shot off from the edge of the box, trying to make it curve towards the second post, but that shot was also wide off the mark.
Moments later, Marcina broke through the Rhinos' defense, making a brilliant run towards the goal. Marcina beat Brent Sancho in the foot race, but defender John Ball backtracked and was able to wrestle the ball away from Miami's leading goal scorer.
Miami had yet another chance to take the lead in the 63rd minute when Pizarro was knocked down at the edge of the Rhinos' penalty area, awarding the Blues a free kick from a very dangerous position. Walter Ramirez launched a violent shot that sailed over the goal, missing out on Miami's first goal.
Towards the end of the match, King had one more look at goal when he used his speed to break through the Rhinos' defense, but his shot would once again be off the mark. Neither team managed to get the ball inside the goal, forcing both teams to draw, 0-0.
USL First Division Stories from September 13, 2009
- Timbers Handed 1-0 Loss By City Stars - Portland Timbers
- Whitecaps Storm Back for 2-1 Win - Vancouver Whitecaps
- Underdog City Stars Defeat First Place Portland 1-0 - Cleveland City Stars
- Miami Draws its Last Road Game of the Season - Fort Lauderdale Strikers
- Final Thunder Away Match Ends in 1-1 Draw with Montreal Impact - Minnesota Thunder
- Impact Earn Late Tie - Montreal Impact
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