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Putting up a Good Fight, Wilmington Ties Rochester

August 28, 2016 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Wilmington Hammerheads FC News Release


Wilmington, NC - On a muggy night in the Port City, the Wilmington Hammerheads welcomed the Rochester Rhinos to Legion Stadium for a 7pm kick-off.

This is the second meeting between the teams, who last met on August 6th, where Rochester took home a 2-0 win.

Bouncing back after a long series of challenging results, Wilmington controlled the ball with consecutive passes and light feet at the start of the game. Back on home turf for the second weekend in a row, Wilmington gave their 2,791 fans and supporters an entertaining game.

In the 6th minute, #2 Tom Parratt fired the first promising shot of the game just outside the box, where goalkeeper #33 Dan Lynd made the save. Continuing to control the ball, Parratt attempted a second line drive at Lynd, only to be

Wilmington Hammerheads

Wilmington Hammerheads

Putting Up A Good Fight, Wilmington Ties Rochester 2-2 Aug 28th 2016, 01:58, by Wilmington Hammerheads FC

Putting Up A Good Fight, Wilmington Ties Rochester 2-2

Wilmington, NC - On a muggy night in the Port City, the Wilmington Hammerheads welcomed the Rochester Rhinos to Legion Stadium for a 7pm kick-off.

This is the second meeting between the teams, who last met on August 6th, where Rochester took home a 2-0 win.

Bouncing back after a long series of challenging results, Wilmington controlled the ball with consecutive passes and light feet at the start of the game. Back on home turf for the second weekend in a row, Wilmington gave their 2,791 fans and supporters an entertaining game.

In the 6th minute, #2 Tom Parratt fired the first promising shot of the game just outside the box, where goalkeeper #33 Dan Lynd made the save. Continuing to control the ball, Parratt attempted a second line drive at Lynd, only to be blocked by a defender first.

First action for goalkeeper #2 John Smits took place in the 21st minute, when Rochester fired a close shot. Smits made a diving save pushing the ball out of bounds, giving Rochester their first corner kick of the game.

Rochester started to pick up the pace half way through the first half of the match, keeping the ball in Wilmington's defensive end. Rochester has been known to hold a strong defensive line in the first half, to prevent giving up goals.

Wilmington's offensive lineup bounced back when another shot on goal took place in the 28th minute, bringing Lynd to his knees for a save. Both teams, sitting far between one another in the USL standings, brought a good performance to Legion Stadium.

It wasn't until the 35th minute when #10 Justin Moose scored a beautiful goal in the lower left corner of the net, with an assist by #22 Kyle Parker. Quickly following, Smits made a smart save, denying Rochester a goal late in the first half.

Despite being up by one goal, tensions grew on the field. Late in the first half, #9 Matthew Barns Homer received the first yellow card of the match.

As the first half drew to a close, Wilmington led 1-0, against the challenging Rochester group.

Hungry to score, Rochester entered the second half with more energy and precision, as they continued to test Smits in goal. Although Rochester continued to fight, Moose had an incredible run in the 60th minute, passing each defenseman and going one-on-one with Lynd. After beating Lynd in a slide tackle, Moose tried to regain control of the ball that encountered #32 Chase Miller.

Almost instantly following Moose's attempt, #18 Stefan Defregger received a beautiful through ball where he fired a shot hitting the left post, which bounced across an open net. Defregger attempted to retrieve the rebounded ball, but was unable to find the back of the net.

Rochester continued to fight for the ball and in an attempted offensive attack in the 66th minute when #9 Christian Volesky received the second yellow card of the match. Shortly after in the 72nd minute, #21 Michael Binns received a yellow card.

Unfortunately, in the 76th minute Rochester's hard work paid off when #29 Sofaine Tergou scored the equalizing goal. At this point in the game Rochester dominated the game, applying pressure to Wilmington's every play. Tensions grew and #47 Ashani Fairclough received a yellow card in the 79th minute; Wilmington's third of the game.

As a result of Fairclough's yellow card, Rochester had a dangerous opportunity to score just outside the box in the 82nd minute. With luck on Wilmington's side, Rochester missed the goal, high and wide. As the game grew more intense and neared the end, #23 Bruno Perone received the fourth yellow card of the game for Wilmington in the 85th minute.

Wilmington quickly retaliated from the call forcing Rochester's defense to drop. Fairclough fired a dangerous shot skimming the top of the net. Wilmington took the lead in the first minute of stoppage time when Perone scored Wilmington's second goal of the game, and his sixth of the season.

Rochester didn't take long to equalize the score, when one minute later #17 Wal Fall scored the final goal of the match, assisted by #11 Kenardo Forbes. Head coach Mark Briggs stated, "It was a great performance and all I asked from the players before the game, they gave me. The result is disappointing, especially when we were up 2-1 with a minute to go."

The fight for playoffs continues as Wilmington tied Rochester 2-2. =

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