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USL Rochester Rhinos

Rhinos Host Richmond Sunday Afternoon

August 6, 2015 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Rochester Rhinos News Release


ROCHESTER, NY - The first place Rochester Rhinos host fourth place Richmond Kickers in Sahlen's Stadium on Sunday, August 9th at 5:05PM.

The Sunday afternoon fixture will find the Rhinos in an unfamiliar position in 2015 - looking to rebound from a loss. Last time out Rochester's 19 match unbeaten streak was snapped in Charlotte, North Carolina on Saturday, August 1st as the Independence topped the visiting Rhinos 4:2. Rochester opened the scoring in the 32nd minute when center back Grant Van de Casteele finished a Jonny Mendoza corner kick. However, it only took the home side six minutes to flip the script on the Rhinos as Alex Martinez finished a Tomasz Zahorski cross from the right flank in the 34th minute, and Zahorski finished off an assist from Paolo Del Piccolo is the 38th minute to give Charlotte a 2:1 lead. It was the first match of the season in which the Rhinos conceded more than one goal in a match. The Independence opened the scoring in the second half when Enzo Martinez finished off a Carlos Alvarez cross from the right flank in the 51st minute to give Charlotte a 3:1 lead. Christian Volesky pulled one back for the visiting Rhinos with an unassisted goal in the 59th minute, his team leading seventh goal of the season, but Alvarez finished his 61st minute spot kick to close out the scoring and hand Rochester its first loss of the 2015 season.

"We lost a 90 minute soccer game last weekend." Rhinos Hall of Fame head coach Bob Lilley said. "It happens. Charlotte is a talented team. They have been good at home all season, and they were good last Saturday night. Our job this week has been to take the lessons we learned from last week's result, and work to make sure that we don't make the same mistakes again."

Despite the defeat, Rochester enters the weekend as the league leaders across a number of defensive categories. The Rhinos still have the best defensive record in USL with ten goals conceded in 20 matches - nine goals better than second place Charleston. Rochester leads the league in goals against average (0.50), and shutouts with 13 clean sheets in twenty matches - six better than six teams tied for second place in USL with seven shutouts. Rochester's first choice goalkeeper Brandon Miller continues to lead USL in goals against average (0.48), save percentage (0.829), and clean sheets with ten.

After last weekend's loss, conventional wisdom dictated that the top of the table would be extremely tight when Rochester kicks off at 5:05PM on Sunday afternoon. Louisville City FC entered the week in second place only five points behind the Rhinos with a game in hand. Louisville resolved their game in hand on Wednesday, August 5th 2015 when they hosted FC Montreal, in a match where three points for the home side would have pulled City within two points of the Rhinos at the top of the table. City entered Wednesday night's match on a six game winning streak, while FC Montreal was tied for tenth place in the Eastern Conference with only one win away from Saputo Stadium all season.

Once again the 2015 USL season continued to prove itself as anything but conventional as FC Montreal dropped Louisville 4:0 at Slugger Stadium. Alessandro Riggi scored a brace in the first 20 minutes of the match with the opening goal in the fourth minute and his second goal in the 19th minute. Jacque Llaman scored the visitor's third goal of the evening in the 21st minute, and substitute Fabio Morelli added the exclamation point to the result when he closed out the scoring in the 89th minute. Frederic Gravelle finished the evening with two assists while FC Montreal goalkeeper Maxime Crepeau recorded seven saves to keep the clean sheet. Louisville is idle this weekend, so first place Rochester has the opportunity to pull eight points clear of the pack by Sunday evening.

"I think one thing that we're figuring out is that there are quality teams top to bottom in both conferences this season." Lilley said. "When you look at the results any team is literally capable of beating any other team. From that perspective it makes our 19 game streak to start the season all the more remarkable."

When the Kickers iconic sleeper bus pulls into Sahlen's Stadium on Sunday afternoon it will be carrying a road weary Richmond team. The Kickers scheduled a back-to-back weekend for their road trip to Harrisburg and Rochester, and as a result Richmond will play a quarter of their eight remaining games in the 2015 USL regular season in less than 24 hours. Fourth place Richmond will visit Harrisburg's Skyline Stadium for a match with seventh place City Islanders on Saturday night. Harrisburg head coach Bill Becher has his team in their traditional position in the beginning of August - within striking distance of a playoff position with games in hand. The City Islanders trail Richmond by seven points, but Harrisburg has two games in hand on the Kickers, so Saturday night's match could prove a decisive moment in the narrative of both teams 2015 USL season.

The Richmond Kickers are well stocked with veteran attacking options to deal with their back-to-back weekend. Richmond is seventh in USL with 32 goals scored this season. USL veteran Jason Yeisley enters the weekend sixth in the league in scoring with nine goals. Fellow USL veterans George Davis IV and Matthew Delicate both have six goals. University of Virginia product Brian Ownby has four goals and four assists. Kickers coach Leigh Cowlishaw even has former Dayton Dutch Lions striker Eli Garner, who has two goals and one assist in only 444 minutes played, in reserve.

"The Kickers have a lot of different ways they can score goals." Lilley said. "They have Yeisley, Davis (IV), Delicate, Ownby - they even have Eli Garner who has proven that he can score goals in this league on the bench. Last year we went down to Richmond and they had nine players on loan from (D.C.) United. Richmond has a lot of options and resources at their disposal, and is going to be ready to play on Sunday afternoon."

The Rhinos next match is in Rochester against Richmond Kickers on Sunday, August 9th 2015 at 5:05PM in Sahlen's Stadium. Single game tickets to the match 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.

Rochester Rhinos season tickets, flex packages, and group sales tickets are also 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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