After Weather Delay, Rhinos Squeak by Portland in the US Open Cup

Special thanks and contributions from Rob Elder who writes about the Rhinos for Reckless Challenge.

Rochester Rhinos:
(GK) Nicht;
Duckett, Kyriazis, (c) Roberts, Earls;
Rosenlund, Rozenboom, Reidy, Labauex;
McManus, and Brettschneider.

GPS Portland Phoenix:
(GK) Perron;
Lupinelli, Wosson, Harrigs, Manter;
Short, Bompart, Rosa, Appiah;
Omanga, and Da Silva.

Though they waited until the second half, the Rochester Rhinos ultimately got past the demons of a tumultuous weekend which saw them lost to 10-men Orlando and fire head coach Jesse Myers. The opening sequences were fairly wide open as both teams enjoyed promising chances even though Lance Rozeboom and Tyler Rosenlund combined well to control midfield. Portland found a break on the counter attack that resulted in a couple of corners in the 10 minutes, but both were cleared by the Rhinos without much worry.

Ross LaBaeux was fouled in the 14^th minute which allowed Danny Earls to play a ball in to Blake Brettschneider at the far post. He headed it back across the front of goal to Tam McManus who had the first real chance for the Rhinos with his first timed volley smacked off the crossbar. Reidy was active again for the Rhinos down the right flank and trying to cut inside to find a shot.

In the 18^th minute Blake Brettschneider had a chance from service by Bilal Duckett but the Portland goalkeeper does well to block the attempt and smother and rebound. Brettschneider failed to keep up the pressure on Portland's net as he appeared under the same spell as the rest of the Rhinos team as of late and was keen to pass the ball back at every chance.

GPS Portland's first shot of the night came just after the hour mark but sailed wide of the mark without calling Nicht into action. Before the halftime whistle, GPS Portland had two yellow cards for late challenges

At the break the Rhinos had 4 shots, 2 on target, 4 corners, and 4 fouls. Portland only had one total shot, 2 corners and had committed 10 fouls. There was a delay for a little over an hour as a summer thunderstorm passed through Rochester. GPS Portland took advantage of the time to regroup and came out for the second half to sub Ben Havey in for central midfielder Sean Rosa.

In the 54^th minute Interim Head Coach Pat Ercoli, after watching Mike Reidy cross into the accepting arms of Portland goalkeeper Perron, decided he didn't like what he was seeing on the field, and 2012 Rhinos player of the year and USL All-League team J.C. Banks came on for Ross LaBaeux.

GPS Portland showed they weren't pushovers in the 56^th minute as Danny Earls cleared a headed corner kick off the line before Appiah's forced Kristian Nicht into a diving save. In the 60^th minute George Kyriazis comes off for Tyler Bellamy but it appears to be a hamstring injury not the upper body injury from the end of the first half.

Mike Reidy showed Pat Ercoli why he should stay in the starting line up by latching onto the end of a long ball in the 64^th minute but his shot was saved by a diving Perron for a corner. New England Revolution loanee Duckett nodded home the resulting corner served up by Danny Earls in the 65^th minute.

Earls did well to overlap down the left side to cross balls into the box in the 83^rd. Immediately after their goal the Rhinos pressed to apply the killing blow but after a corner kick the play moved back to the midfield.

In the 78^th minute Bompart came out for Diebold who was active crossing into the box late. DaSilva went down under questionable contact outside of the area but the Portland bench was outraged calling for a penalty. Former Rochester Rhino Nano Short put a header just wide for Portland within the last 8 minutes.

The flow of the match swung back to Portland as they forced another Kodak-moment save from Kristian Nicht. Portland had a chance late but their free kick from within 30 yards was deflected out for a corner. The resulting kick was punched out by Kristian Nicht who earned his shutout.

The final whistle had the USL-Pro Rochester Rhinos over the PDL GPS Phoenix 1-0. The Rhinos their 18 year winning streak in their opening round in the US Open Cup alive and will now host their MLS affiliate New England Revolution next Tuesday at 7:35PM.