Rochester Rhinos News Release - www.rhinossoccer.com
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
ROCHESTER, NY -- The Rhinos continued USL-1 action Wednesday night at Marina Auto Stadium against their league rival Montreal Impact. With neither team able to get over the hump and capitalize, they both left the stadium with a point after a 0-0 tie.
Rochester looked to gain more points as they hoped to keep pace in the league table while the Impact tried to rebound from three straight league losses.
The Rhinos found their first chance in the first minute when midfielder Danny Earls crossed an early ball to midfielder Chris Nurse but his header wasn’t good enough and was saved by Montreal goalkeeper Srdjan Djekanovic.
In the 24th minute, midfielder Ryan Heins was put through by forward Johnny Menyongar for a chance down the right side. Heins raced towards the goal and decided to shoot but his shot was blocked by Djekanovic.
Two minutes later, defender Kenney Bertz found himself with a chance on a volley after a cross from Earls, but it was tipped by an Impact defender and rebounded off the crossbar.
Four minutes before halftime, Montreal Coach Marc Dos Santos was ejected from the game for an apparent altercation with Rochester midfielder Tiger Fitzpatrick. Heins was given another chance again in stoppage time after forward Warren Ukah fed him down the right, but the midfielder’s shot was high and wide.
Quality chances were few for the Rhinos in the second half, but they found a great one in the 75th minute. Fitzpatrick was pulled down by a Montreal defender just outside the penalty area awarding his team a free kick. Menyongar stepped up for the restart, but his shot hit the wall and the ball was cleared out by the Impact.
In stoppage time, midfielder Kwame Sarkodie had a chance straight on goal from a cross by defender John Ball, but his shot was right at Djekanovic.
Midfielder Mike Ambersley found a clear path to goal just a minute later while bursting through the Impact penalty area where Djekanovic came up again, diving to tip the opportunity wide.
The tie improves the Rhinos to 7-5-4 (25 points) while Montreal betters their record to
5-7-3 (18 points). Rochester will host the Charleston Battery Saturday night at Marina Auto Stadium. Kick-off will be at 7:35 p.m.
