Rochester Rhinos News Release -- www.rhinossoccer.com
Monday, May 28, 2012
ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The Rochester Rhinos travel to PPL Park in Chester, Pa. to play the Philadelphia Union in the third round of the 2012 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup on Tuesday night at 7:30 p.m. The Rhinos defeated the Brooklyn Italians 3-0 in the second round of the U.S. Open Cup on May 22nd to advance. The winner of this tie will advance to play the winner of the D.C. United/Richmond Kickers tie in the fourth round of the U.S. Open Cup on Tuesday, June 5th.
The Rhinos enter the match with a 7-1-2 record in all competitions and a 5-1-1 record away from Sahlen’s Stadium to start the season. Rochester got off to a historic start with a 6-0-0 record with six consecutive clean sheets, but they are 0-1-2 with three goals for and four goals against in their last three league matches.
“It’s too simple for us to focus on the past week or 10 days. The truth is we’ve had a very difficult start to the season,” Rhinos coach Jesse Myers said. “We’ve played seven of our first nine league matches away from home, and during that stretch we’ve had two back-to-back away matches. Now that the U.S. Open Cup has started we’re in a stretch of six matches in 15 days, and four of those matches are going to be played in a week. Realistically, we were hoping to be a top-four team at the end of this stretch, and right now we’re in second.”
The Rhinos have been led by second-year winger JC Banks (three goals and four assists in all competitions), but he has gotten some help from first-year forward Tam McManus of late. McManus has two goals is his last three matches. He opened his scoring account for Rochester with the game-winning goal in the second round of the tournament, and came off the bench to rescue a point for the Rhinos with the game tying goal in their 2-2 draw with the Dayton Dutch Lions in Dayton on Saturday night. The club acquired McManus from Ayr United (Scottish First Division) to bring a veteran presence to his attack. McManus appeared over 100 times for Hibernian in the Scottish Premier League at the beginning of his career, and scored six goals in 20 appearances for Major League Soccer's Colorado Rapids in 2008.
“There’s no doubt Tam has the pedigree to score goals.” Myers said. “He was the leading scorer for Hibs one season in the SPL and scored goals in the MLS with Colorado. JC has been a constant threat for us this season, but we’re starting to create some chances for some other players now.”
Another new addition for the Rhinos during the offseason, goalkeeper Kristian Nicht, has been one of the best players in USL PRO at the start of the 2012 season. Nicht has a 7-1-1 record in all competitions with six clean sheets, two goals conceded, and a 0.22 goals against average. The 30-year-old German spent most of his playing career in the German Bundesliga.2 before coming to the United States during the January International Transfer Window. Nicht is supported by MLS veterans Troy Roberts and Quavas Kirk as well as Italian Serie B veteran Georgios Kyriazis in the Rhinos' back four.
“We have an experienced group in the back as well as Tyler Rosenlund and Danny Earls, who also played in MLS, in the midfield.” Myers said. “The Union will be a step up in competition for us, but I think our roster has a lot of players with the experience to handle it and give us a chance to be successful.”
One variable in U.S. Open Cup play is how seriously a MLS opponent will take the competition, but Union manager Piotr Nowak insisted last week that he will field a first choice squad on Tuesday night. Philadelphia is off to a slow start this season with a 2-7-2 record and a 1-3-1 mark at PPL Park. They have scored eight goals and conceded 14 in their first 11 matches of the 2012 MLS season.
Philadelphia joined Major League Soccer in 2010 and have a nucleus of young talent that is the foundation for their young club. The Union are led by play-making midfielder Freddy Adu. The 22-year-old has one goal and one assist in seven matches this season. Leading scorer Gabriel Gomez (four goals) left the Union’s last match, a 1-0 loss to Toronto FC, with an injury, but Philadelphia has plenty of attacking options remaining. Colombian veteran Lionard Pajoy scored a pair of goals in a 3-2 loss to the Red Bulls two weeks ago, and Danny Mwanga, the number one overall selection in the 2010 MLS Draft, comes off the bench to provide an offensive spark or plays next to Pajoy as a second striker. Michael Farfan, a second-year midfielder, looks to set up his teammates with scoring chances.
Defensively rookie Raymon Gaddis has secured a spot as a starting outside back, and 20-year-old former Maryland standout Zach MacMath has had a promising start in goal. However, both MacMath and back up Chase Harrison missed the match in Toronto due to injury, so third string keeper Chris Konopka got the start.
“We really can’t control the team that the Union puts on the field on Tuesday night.” Myers said. “This is a big opportunity for us to showcase our team and show what we can do. Now it’s about going out and executing in Philly.”
The Rhinos return to Sahlen’s Stadium to play the Richmond Kickers on Saturday night at 7 p.m. Tickets for the match with Richmond are on sale now by calling (585) 454-KICK, by visiting rhinossoccer.com, or by visiting any of Ticketmaster’s retail locations.