USL Rochester Rhinos

Rhinos Look to Rebound in LA

June 10, 2014 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Rochester Rhinos News Release


The Rochester Rhinos will visit the Stub Hub Center in Carson, CA to play the LA Galaxy II on Wednesday, June 11th, 2014 at 10:30PM (EDT) before they travel to the Peoria Sports Complex for a Saturday, June 14th, 2014 match with Arizona United SC at 10PM (EDT). Both matches can be seen live in their entirety via streaming video on YouTube Live. The Rhinos will be looking to use the road trip as an opportunity to reshape the identity of their team.

Entering Rochester's Saturday, June 7th home match with Pittsburgh the Rhinos had one of the best defensive records in the league. Rochester had conceded a league low seven goals through their first eleven matches. Rhinos rookie goalkeeper John McCarthy was unbeaten in six starts with only one goal conceded for a league leading 0.167 goals-against average, and a USL PRO best five clean sheets. The Rhinos lost 3:2 to the bottom of the table Riverhounds who entered the match with only nine goals scored in their first ten matches of the season.

"There's no question that there are some lessons to be learned from our home loss to Pittsburgh." Rhinos head coach Bob Lilley said. "We had a good run of results where we were getting points in matches without paying attention to all of the details. The same thing happened to us against Pittsburgh. We didn't play badly - we created 15 chances - but we didn't get the result. We have to get back to focusing on the little things that result in scoring goals, limiting chances, and getting points and results in matches."

After rotating the squad due to fixture congestion during the first ten weeks of the season, the Rhinos appear to have found some consistent attacking options. After scoring just nine goals in their first eleven matches, the Rochester Rhinos had one of their best attacking performances of the season in their 3:2 loss against Pittsburgh. Rochester posted a season high 15 shots, and the Rhinos scored two goals in a match for only the second time this season. JC Banks scored his team leading fourth goal of the season from the penalty spot, and Minh Vu scored his second goal of the season from a free kick. Attacking midfielder Alex Dixon was also dangerous throughout the match, and he already has two goals this season.

The LA Galaxy II will enter their Wednesday night match with the Rhinos with the league's best goal scoring record. Los Dos have scored 30 goals in their first 13 matches of the season, and they have scored five goals in two of their last three matches. Four Galaxy II players are among the top 20 in USL PRO in points. Chandler Hoffman is second in the league in goals scored (eight), points (17), and shots (29) while Jamieson Bradford IV is seventh in the league with four goals in eight matches. Raul Mendiola, Jack McBean, and Andre Auras are all among the top ten in USL PRO in assists with three.

Los Dos is one of three teams in USL PRO with twenty or more goals scored this season. This will be the Rhinos first match with LA Galaxy II, but they have already played the other two teams, Orlando City and Richmond, twice. After conceding three goals in their season opener with Orlando City, Rochester has only conceded two goals in their last three matches against high scoring competition.

"LA Galaxy II is the first MLS team who is exploring the possibilities that come from fielding an MLS reserve team in USL PRO." Lilley said. "They are focused on getting quality minutes for their young players, but when they are at home they are also getting minutes for guys who are playing semi-regularly in MLS. They're going to be another good test for us."

Wednesday night's match can be seen on the LA Galaxy's YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/user/TheLAGalaxy

The Rochester Rhinos next home match will be Tuesday, June 17th at 7:05PM in the Fourth Round of the 2014 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup against D.C. United of Major League Soccer. Tickets for any match on the Rhinos home schedule will be available by by calling (585)454-KICK (5425), by visiting the MVP Health Care Box Office at Sahlen's Stadium, or by visiting ticketmaster.com. Rochester Rhinos season tickets, flex packages and group ticket sales are also currently available.



United Soccer League Championship Stories from June 10, 2014


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