Towards the Playoffs…

By: alessio | September 3rd, 2009

[From Jack Diveronica in the Democrat and Chronicle...]

Pretender or contender?

With five matches left in the regular season, it’d be hard to argue that the Rhinos haven’t been the former this season.

They’ve been in the middle of the pack in USL First Division for more than two months and in nine matches against the league’s top four teams, they’re 0-5-4.
Advertisement

Tonight, though, they have yet another chance to boost their reputation.

Not only does Rochester face the league-leading Portland Timbers in Oregon, but it has the chance to end the longest unbeaten streak in league history. Portland lost its season opener at Vancouver, but since then has gone 14-0-10 — an unbelievable 24-match unbeaten run over the past four months.

“It’s a great opportunity for us to kind of do something special and maybe jump-start our season,” said Rhinos midfielder Andrew Gregor, the former USL All-Star for Portland who will be playing in his hometown tonight.

“I look at it as a massive game, obviously for us to get points, but also because of that (unbeaten) streak. We get a great result like this … things can change quickly in this game. Winning always helps things, and a game of this magnitude could set a nice little tone for the rest of the season.”

Rochester hasn’t done much lately to suggest it could come away with a win tonight. It has gone just 1-3-3 over the past month with that lone victory coming against last-place Austin.

Portland beat the Rhinos on Aug. 15 in Rochester. It led 1-0 at halftime but scored in the 74th and 80th minutes en route to a 4-1 win. The Rhinos also lost 2-1 in Portland on May 14 after a controversial penalty kick was awarded to the Timbers in the final minutes.

But the Rhinos are coming off two better results. They used Ze Roberto’s 80th-minute goal on Saturday night at sixth-place Vancouver to pull out a 1-1 tie. The match before that, they limited second-place Carolina to just four shots in a 0-0 draw in Rochester.

“I don’t think we set the world on fire (in Vancouver), but it was a solid, professional performance,” said coach Darren Tilley, whose club has been on the West Coast since Friday.

Tilley said midfielder Danny Earls, who left Saturday’s match at halftime, may play. Earls has an undisclosed injury but has battled an ankle sprain much of the season. Forward Warren Ukah (knee) is also questionable.

Tilley said two newcomers, midfielder Amaury Nunes and defender Tim Velten, aren’t expected to join Rochester until next week.

The Rhinos play Sunday at fourth-place Puerto Rico.

Even if Rochester doesn’t win another match this season, it’s almost certain to still be among the top seven teams in the USL and make the playoffs.

But, as Gregor said, tonight’s a chance for what could be a pivotal win.

“Portland’s the best team in the league,” Tilley said. “(But) if we play well, we’ve always got a good chance of winning.”

This is the time for Tilley to figure out what can work in the playoffs. As stated, the team is nearly guaranteed a spot in the playoffs and that could lead to a possible slump in form. That is not acceptable, the team needs to figure out what has worked this season, and what hasn’t. The Rhinos have blown hot-or-cold and we need to drive into the playoffs with momentum, purpose, and tactics.