THIS. IS. ROCHESTER!

By: alessio | July 1st, 2009

As (one of) the Offside correspondent(s) for the USL-1 Rochester Rhinos, I’d like to formally inform you all that Rochester is officially the best club in North America. (Minus Mexico) Why? Because we beat the best team in MLS league and playoff play of last season, of course!

Tonight’s game was not one for the weak supporters. This was not a game for the armchair or bandwagon fans. The weather forecast for tonight’s game was 70% precipitation. The result? 200%. The game was delayed an hour due to rain and lightning, and while there were a few breaks in the clouds, tonight’s weather was downright miserable. It was driving rain in the upper-50s. But it was worth every minute.

First, we must state that Colombus did not field their best XI. It was a strong team, but Schelotto, Hejduk, and whoever is their first-keeper sat out the match to rest for this weekend. (I don’t know any other Crew players, from the numbers I assume some were starters though) The Rhinos played their best team, with Kenny Bertz and Brett Sancho forming a rock-solid center-back partnership with Long-Island native Tim Melia taking over from the injured Scotty Vallow in goal.

The game was pretty open, with Rochester and Colombus both attacking plenty and playing relatively even sided. The first goal was scored by the Rhinos Ty Harden in the 30th minute. An excellent set-piece from the ever-dangerous Johnny Menyongar was knocked down to Harden, who took a touch, turned, and fired it into the back net leaving Gruenebaum no chance to save it. The lead didn’t last long, as the Rhinos defense failed to clear on a corner, leaving Duncan Oughton to score in the 37th minute.

10 minutes after the half, the referee awarded a penalty to Rochester and gave a 2nd yellow to Crew midfielder Alex Grendi for pushing down Ryan Heins in the box. However, Crew keeper Gruenebaum was on his game that night, and managed to save the penalty. The game continued, as Rochester tried to exploit its’ position by spreading play, and had some very good efforts on goal. In general, Rochester was on the frontfoot while Columbus was playing to the counter.

Extra-time didn’t resolve the game, and it was down to penalties. I’ll be honest, I didn’t expect us to pull it out. Crew keeper Gruenebaum was on his game, coming up with several fine saves and Rhinos keeper Tim Melia looked occasionally nervous, though he did come through with a few good interventions. Plus, Gruenebaum saved a penalty in regulation time. There was to be no such thing, as the Rhinos overcame their nerves and won 5-3, with Tim Melia coming up big to save a penalty, requiring two interventions to keep it out of the net.

Rochester welcome USL-2 (strange, we face the MLS champs in the round of 16 and a USL-2 team in the quarters?) surprise victors Wilmington Hammerheads who defeated the Chicago Fire in this round, previously ousting the Railhawks in a shootout. The game will be next Tuesday in Rochester.

Overall recap:
The Good:
Kenny Bertz and Brett Sancho- These two looked impenetrable for most of the match, and it didn’t surprise me we conceded off a clusterf*** set-piece. Brett in particular had a great game before going off with injury, with a goal-saving diving block when a Crew player was about to volley it in from about 7yards out.
Tim Melia- The goal was unsaveable for him, though he got a glove on it, but he came up big when he had to, with a brilliant save in the penalty shootout.
Johnny Menyongar- Always looked dangerous and created some brilliant final passes.
The fans-Fair play to the 25 Crew fans or so who made the trip up to support their team. Despite the miserable weather, the weekday night, and the non-league status, I would guess around 5,000-6,000 Rochester fans showed up and stayed for the game. That’s better than a Round of 16 match would draw in Italy. Much better.

The Mediocre:
The Forwards- They had some very good service but failed to kill them off, but to be fair the Crew’s reserve keeper was playing excellently tonight. Need to be a bit more ruthless.
John Ball- A mixed game for the veteran, who looked composed in defense (barring a few moments) but was a bit wasteful on the offensive side.

The Bad:
The weather-An hour ago, it just became July. Yet it was quite cold out, and it poured like crazy as it has been for the last two weeks. Rochester’s summer is jockeying with winter to see which is the cruelest season.