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Rhinos blanked on road By Richard W. Kozak, Jr.  |
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The Rochester Rhinos 2008 season might have fit right in with 1970’s popular counterculture. After all, the current Rhinos’ campaign has definitely been one of “streaks.”
After suffering through a season commencing losing “streak” that condemned the “black and white” to the United Soccer League’s Division 1 basement for most of the season the Rhinos used a fortuitous “streak” to move back into League respectability and the USL playoff hunt.
Last week, the Rhinos’ seven game unbeaten “streak” fell by the wayside, and after a quick jaunt to the Islands and Bayamon, Puerto Rico, a 4-0 loss to the Puerto Rico Islanders has set up a two game losing streak for Rochester that has left the team feeling a bit exposed and fighting for a playoff berth.
The Rhinos continually depleted roster made the trip to Ramon Lobriel Stadium near San Juan. Without the feisty Andrew Gregor serving a suspension for a handful of yellow cards, and namely injured Ross Smith, the Rhinos proved no match for the USL’s first place team.
The win was the ninth for the Islanders in the last eleven games and upped their record to 11-6-3, good enough for 36 first place points. The loss slipped the Rhinos back into sixth place with a 7-7-7 record with 28 points.
Ex-Rhino turned “Rhino Killer”, Noah Delgado, made his former team pay right off the get go with a well placed cross before the quarter hour mark. Delgado placed a ball to the leaping head of Cristian Arrieta past Scott Vallow in the game’s 12th minutes for the 1-0 lead before a raucous crowd.
Thirteen minutes later, relentless pressure on the depleted Rochester defensive corps garnered another Islanders’ goal and a quick 2-0 lead that the Rhinos had no answer. With miles of unadulterated space on the pitch, Puerto Rico’s Edwin Miranda ripped a 25-yard shot directly into the Rhinos’ net and into the locker room with a lead.
The Rhinos did not fare much better in the second half as the Islanders continued with their offensive pressure and notched two more goals in the second stanza. In the 61st minute, Puerto Rico’s Fabrice Noel was gift wrapped a present by a soft Rochester defense and uncharacteristically sloppy play by Vallow.
Noel deftly avoided a gambling Vallow, picked up his own first shot rebound and deposited it in the Rochester net for the 3-0 lead. The Rhinos bore little resemblance to the team that waltzed through most of the month of July in a favorable fashion.
The team seemed disjointed in its offensive attack and totally confused on its defensive line. The untested Rhinos seemed uncertain of their marks or tactics. The confusion would once again result in another Islanders’ goal, this time in the 72nd minute.
Miranda, once again, proved executioner as he ripped a laser in from approximately 23 yards away from the Rochester goal. In almost identical fashion to his first tally, Miranda gave no chance to a overmatched Vallow as the Rhinos allowed four goals for the second consecutive match.
As the regular season winds down, it’s time for a more positive manner of “streaking” for the Rhinos before the streak of consecutive post-season appearances is no longer.
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