Saturday, August 17, 2013
FULLERTON, Calif. -- Two second-half goals from the Los Angeles Blues, including a stoppage-time winner from Matt Fondy, earned a 2-1 victory against the Rochester Rhinos on Saturday night at Titan Stadium. The victory allowed the Blued to conclude their regular season with an 11-8-7 record and 40 points on the season.
The Blues, who had already clinched a playoff spot, leapfrogged Pittsburgh and Dayton to move into sixth place in the USL PRO standings, and they will now try to dethrone the reigning champion Charleston Battery, who finished the season in third place. The two teams will meet in the quarterfinals of the USL PRO Playoffs on Saturday, August 24th at Blackbaud Stadium at 4:30 p.m. PT.
The first half was mainly dominated by Rochester, who controlled the ball well and made it difficult for the Blues to connect any passes in midfield. A chance for Rochester in the 24th minute off a corner kick was ultimately cleared by the Blues' defense, and the best chance for the Blues came in the final minute before the break when Shay Spitz crossed a ball into Juan Perez, but the shot was deflected toward goal and Kristian Nicht was able to make the stop.
Spitz got the Blues on the board five minutes into the second half after George Davis IV and Matt Fondy came in for Maykel Galindo and Juan Perez, respectively. Davis played a ball from the wing into Spitz, who was there to finish for his fifth goal of the season, and give Los Angeles some confidence after a lifeless first half.
The Rhinos responded in the 67th minute when Tyler Rosenlund leveled things up for the visitors, thanks to an unassisted rocket strike from about 20 yards out. After a couple of positioning adjustments on the Blues side and a couple of subs, Los Angeled pressed for two more chances, but wasn't able to level.
In the 84th minute, Rochester found themselves down to 10 men when Blake Brettschneider was shown two yellow cards in quick succession. Taking advantage and pressing hard for a game-winner, the Blues found a chance in stoppage time when Spitz intercepted a ball in the Rhinos' final third, made a lightning-fast run down the middle, and then played a ball through to Fondy, who was there to pick it up and break in on goal. Fondy rounded the goalkeeper, and fired his shot home just beyond the stretch of the retreating defenders as he scored his 10th goal of the season.
The Blues finished the regular season with 40 points a marked improvement over last year’s record of 9-12-3. In the process, the Blues improved their goal tally from 26 last year to 52.