USL Feature
Saturday, May 7, 2011
By NICHOLAS MURRAY
After winning the USSF Division 2-Pro League regular season title a season ago, it might seem like the Rochester Rhinos have started the 2011 USL PRO season rather slowly. Falling on the road to the Richmond Kickers and Wilmington Hammerheads to start the season before rebounding with a win against the Dayton Dutch Lions to earn their first points and goals of the season isn’t the start many were expecting the side to make.
But veteran Coach Bob Lilley isn’t going to let the start to the season concern him, especially ahead of Saturday night’s home opener against the Charleston Battery that starts a run of four of the team’s next five games being played at home.
“It’s early,” Lilley said by phone this week. “I think teams are rewarded over the course of the season if they continue to grow. We know we’re in a very competitive league with a lot of good teams and we can’t rest on what we did last year. We’re going to have to show up and play well or you’re going to drop points, so certainly we feel like we have areas we can improve, and we’re seeing that improvement as we go forward and hope that now having some home games and a few more games under our belt, our performance levels will go up.”
That’s not to say that Lilley hasn’t been impressed by what he’s seen around the league so far. Having become a coach in USL with the Hershey Wildcats in 1997, Lilley has seen the growth in soccer, and in the level of play within USL, throughout his stops in cities like Montreal and Vancouver. One of the reasons he cites for the greater levels of competition throughout the league is the number of players that are now coming into the professional game every year, with more players being able to contribute to teams immediately.
“Every year the depth of players in this country gets better,” Lilley said. ”I think the level has risen, but I think there’s also more players looking for jobs every year. There’s a lot more in the way of combines and opportunities for us to find players, for other teams to find players, and I think the clubs in this league have done a good job. I was impressed with Richmond and Wilmington on the opening weekend, it was early in the season and they had strong sides on the field.”
Lilley believes he has the same potential within his squad. Among the additions to the core of last year’s team are players like Tony Donatelli. The 26-year-old attacking midfielder has yet to find the back of the net this season, but Lilley has seen a lot to be pleased about otherwise.
“I think sometimes with attacking players, even though he’s not a forward, everything is judged on how they do in terms of the scoring department,” Lilley said. “But he does a lot of things on the field in terms of possession and making good decisions, he reads the game well. He’s been a big addition and I think he’s going to be a strong piece for us as we go forward.”
As has happened with Donatelli so far other Rhinos players haven’t yet quite caught fire in their levels of play, not that it should be that surprising after only three games. For Lilley, the key to finding success this season will be how the team is able to develop and grow as a unit over the course of the season.
“Hopefully we put ourselves in a position by July or early August where we’re playing our best soccer,” Lilley said. “It’s a long march that’s obviously started, but there are a lot of games to be played and there’s a lot that’s going to happen in terms of injuries and teams hitting good patches and struggling. I think it’s the teams that are able to grow and are consistent that are the ones that can put themselves in the best position going into playoff time.”
And that building process is one that will continue on Saturday night.
“Hopefully we can bring energy and make it difficult for them and put them under pressure and create chances,” Lilley said of his side’s game with Charleston. “They’re very capable and have always been with [Battery coach] Mike [Anhaeuser] there, for a long time the Battery generally have a strong back four, defend well as a team collectively, and they’re always capable of getting goals on the break, they have some pacey guys up front.
“It’s a tough game for us, even with Charleston playing the night before, but it’s one where we’re on our home pitch and we feel like if we have a good performance, we’ll have opportunities to win this game.”