September 27, 2006
In a very surprising move, the Rhinos have dismissed back up goalkeeper Patrick Hannigan from the squad less than a week before the USL 1st Division Championship game to be held at PAETEC Park on Saturday evening.
The only comment that Coach Calloway would give on the situation was that Hannigan was let go for disciplinary reasons.
Personally, I thought that Billy looked better than Hannigan in the Lenin Steenkamp tribute match and that he could still play in the USL 1st Division if he were willing to take the time away from his family to dedicate to the game of soccer.
The championship game will be the 10th game in the Vancouver-Rochester series
There are a few interesting stats in the article. The Rochester-Vancouver all time series is tied at 4-4-1 with the Rhinos having gone 3-1-0 at home, including a 2-0 win at PAETEC Park on July 3rd.
But, the Rhinos are 14-4-0 at home versus Bob Lilley coached teams including a perfect 7-0-0 at home in the playoffs versus Lilley's teams.
Add in that the previous 13 home teams have walked away with the hardware in USL top flight championship games and Vancouver does not have history on their side heading into Saturday night.
All forwards will say that they would score more with more playing time
And a lot of people have been wondering why Connally Edozien hasn't been playing more.
If you look at the stats for this season, it appears that Edozien might have a strong case if he were to go with the standard forward's line about wanting more playing time.
Here is a look at the most efficient scorers on the Rhinos this season amongst the 12 players that scored in USL 1st Division regular season play:
| # | Name | Pos | GP | Min | G | Min/G |
| 8 | Edozien, Connally | F | 22 | 841 | 4 | 210.25 |
| 7 | Delicâte, Matthew | F | 28 | 1869 | 8 | 233.625 |
| 21 | Bagley, Christopher | M/F | 6 | 284 | 1 | 284 |
| 10 | Menyongar, Johnny | F/M | 22 | 1627 | 5 | 325.4 |
| 9 | Howes, Gregory | M | 25 | 1820 | 4 | 455 |
| 23 | Gbeke, Charles | F | 21 | 929 | 2 | 464.5 |
| 35 | Martinez, Rey Angel | F | 12 | 529 | 1 | 529 |
| 2 | Lewis, Eric (Ricky) | D | 11 | 580 | 1 | 580 |
| 13 | Ball, John | M | 27 | 2007 | 3 | 669 |
| 22 | Steele, Jonathan | M | 11 | 705 | 1 | 705 |
| 18 | Lines, Aaran | M | 22 | 1359 | 1 | 1359 |
| 4 | Bertz, Kenney | D | 26 | 2285 | 1 | 2285 |
Sebrango suspension upheld
The Vancouver Whitecaps appeal of forward Eddy Sebrango's first yellow card in the Whitecaps last game versus Montreal was denied by the USL and the former Rhino will be forced to miss the championship game.
The Vancouver Sun is reporting that the loss of Sebrango will likely mean that USL 1st Division MVP finalist Joey Gjersten and David Testo will start up top for the Whitecaps on Saturday night.
Gjersten led the Whitecaps in scoring this season with 12 goals and 7 assists. Testo was second on the team in scoring with 6 goals and 2 assists in 21 regular season games played.
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