May 29, 2011
Bob Lilley and the Rhinos were not thrilled with how Friday night's 1-1 draw with the Wilmington Hammerheads went.
First, you had the Rhinos losing Connor Tobin, Troy Roberts, and Michael Tanke to injury in the first half.
Then you had the Rhinos going down 1-0 even though they were up a man thanks to a straight red card early in the second half to Wilmington right back Garetch Evans.
Finally, you had the match being abandoned with 11+ minutes to go due to the downpours that created huge puddles on the field.
The Rhinos hope to get back on track tomorrow afternoon when they travel to New York City to take on FC New York.
The Flash are on FSC tonight
The WNY Flash travel to Philadelphia to take on the Independence in this week's WPS Game of the Week on Fox Soccer Channel at 6pm tonight.
The Independence are 3rd in the WPS standings and feature Amy Rodriguez, Megan Rapinoe, and Natasha Kai up top and US #2 GK Nicole Barnhart in back.
The Flash are hoping to increase their lead over second place magicJack to 8 points in the WPS standings. magicJack pulled to within 5 points (with 1 game in hand before tonight) thanks to a 4-0 win over the Atlanta Beat last night that included an Abby Wambach hat trick. Although,magicJack went from playing in front of over 8000 fans in Rochester last week to less than 900 at home last night.
In other WPS action, Sky Blue FC, who will be in Rochester on Friday night to take on the Flash, defeated the Boston Breakers 2-1 on a late goal by Carolyn Blank.
Barcelona defeat Manchester United to claim their third UEFA Champions League title in six seasons
SI.com - Barca simply the best
Grant Wahl's 3 quick post game thoughts
The USA 10 Kit - Chalkboard Analysis
The USA 10 Kit - Barca's defensive shift
The USA 10 Kit - What does the CL Final mean to the US?
The Original Winger - Match Highlights
Thankfully, we saw a match where the teams wanted to play and fans were rewarded with a beautiful display of soccer in Barca's 3-1 win over Manchester United yesterday.
One can only hope that other team's take Barca's lead when it comes to future winner takes all matches.
News & Notes:
- FIFA has slapped a couple of big name people with suspensions following ethics violations.
- Grant Wahl and Alexi Lalas have takes on the situation.
- Soccer America breaks down how the bribes took place.
- Does anyone see Rochester being in the mix if the 20th MLS expansion team will cost in the $75 to 100 million range? I don't see that happening.
- The potential MLS owner in Miami talks to the supporters in that town.
- The USMNT has opened camp in Cary, NC.
- Tony McManus has been cut loose by Tampa Bay. I wonder if the Rhinos would have an interest?
- Sunil Gulati talks about the US search for a new U-20 USMNT coach.
- Gooch is looking for a new club after Twente passed on an offer to buy his contract from AC Milan.
- Teal Bunbury gives a tour of Sporting KC's new stadium.
- CSN had a spot about supporting local soccer.
- The Montreal Impact will get a new badge for the jump to MLS.
- Not only can Barca play, you can learn from them on the business side of things, as well.
- MLS commish Don Garber talked about ticketing in this interview.
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 jamesrweise@gmail.com. James promises to read (but not to respond) to all of them.
