Rochester Rhinos News Release -- www.rhinossoccer.com
Tuesday, June 24, 2014
ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The Rochester Rhinos will visit Brown University's Stevenson Field on Wednesday night at 7:35 p.m. for a Fifth Round match in the 2014 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup against the New England Revolution. The winner of Wednesday night's Round of 16 match will advance to meet the winner of the Philadelphia Union – NY Cosmos tie in the Quarterfinals.
The Rhinos advanced to the Fifth Round of the 2014 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup with a 1-0 upset victory against D.C. United (MLS) at Sahlen's Stadium on June 17th. Rochester striker Colin Rolfe scored the only goal of the match off an assist from Michael Garzi in the 27th minute. Rhinos rookie goalkeeper John McCarthy made four saves to keep his first clean sheet of the tournament, and his seventh shutout in all competitions. Rochester has defeated eight MLS opponents in the U.S. Open Cup, but the victory over D.C. United was only their second victory over an MLS opponent since the Rhinos won the tournament in 1999. The Rhinos are the last remaining USL PRO team in the 2014 U.S. Open Cup.
“It's a great accomplishment for us to be the last USL [PRO] team still playing in the Open Cup.” Rhinos head coach Bob Lilley said. “We're working hard to get better every day in training and in every match that we are playing. We've been getting results in league play, but we have been looking for a signature victory against a big team. We did that when we beat D.C.”
This will be the sixth meeting between the Rhinos and Revolution in U.S. Open Cup play. New England has won three of the first five meetings, and advanced on penalties when the two sides played to a scoreless draw in 2006. Rochester has only advanced once when playing New England when they beat the Revs 3-1 on penalties after playing to a 1:1 draw in 2004.
The 2014 New England defeated the Richmond Kickers 3-2 in the Fourth Round to advance to their Fifth Round meeting with Rochester. New England was in the middle of the MLS World Cup break which allowed them to use a combination of starters and depth players in their victory,. Stephen McCarthy, Steve Neumann, and Patrick Mullins scored first half goals for the Revs. New England returns to league play on Saturday at the Philadelphia Union.
The Rhinos have taken four points from two league matches since their Fourth Round match with D.C. United. Rochester defeated the Dayton Dutch Lions 2-0 at Sahlen's Stadium this past Friday. Levi Houapeu opened the scoring off an assist from Minh Vu in the 54th minute. J.C. Banks doubled the home side's advantage when he converted a penalty in the 61st minute. New England Revs loanee Luis Soffner made two saves to keep his second clean sheet of the season. On Sunday night the Rhinos traveled to Oklahoma City and played to a scoreless draw with OKC Energy FC. McCarthy made two saves for his sixth shutout of the season in league play.
The Rhinos next home match is on Saturday night at 7:05 p.m. ET against the Charlotte Eagles. Tickets for any match on the Rhinos home schedule will be available by by calling (585)454-KICK (5425), by visiting the MVP Health Care Box Office at Sahlen's Stadium, or by visiting ticketmaster.com. Rochester Rhinos season tickets, flex packages and group ticket sales are also currently available.