October 3, 2008
Tonight, the USL 1st Division Semifinals begin with the Rhinos hosting regular season champs Puerto Rico and Montreal hosting Vancouver.
The forecast for this evening is cool, but it does appear that the rain showers that have been hanging around are supposed to have moved on by kick off if you believe Weather.com.
Puerto Rico won the season series with the Rhinos as they defeated the Rhinos 4-0 at home on August 8th , the teams tied 1-1 in Rochester on August 10th and the Islanders took the final regular season match up 2-0 at PAETEC Park on September 12th.
It is going to take a huge effort for the Rhinos to turn the tide. But, this team was able to dispatch of Charleston even though the Battery had won the season series!
News & Notes:
- Bob Bradley has named his roster for the upcoming USMNT World Cup Qulaifiers.
- I'm surprised that Darren Tilley wasn't even a finalist for USL 1st Division Coach of the Year. The weird thing is that the other awards had three nominees and Coach of the Year only had two (Colin Clarke and John Limniatis).
- Beckham isn't happy with MLS........
- Steven Goff and Luis Bueno both have blog posts on Jose Francisco Torres opting to play for the US instead of Mexico. It is expected that he'll get a cap in one of the next two World Cup Qualifiers for the US.
- SBI.net says it's a good thing for MLS that DC Dallas' Juan Toja got called up Colobian National Team. It will be interesting to see if MLS can use this as a positive recruiting item or not.
- Rhinos fans need to step up tonight like these supporters!
The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author, and not necessarily those of the Rochester Rhinos or SoccerSam.com. Feel free to send any comments or complaints to news@soccersam.com. James promises to read (but not to respond) to all of them.
