September 15, 2009
Apparently the scoreless draw that fans had to endure wasn't the worst part of Sunday afternoon. 2008 Rhinos MVP (and perhaps the 2009 team MVP) Johnny Menyongar is done for the year due to a torn ACL suffered on Sunday afternoon.
Menyongar is currently tied for the league lead in goals and tied for third in the league's scoring title race and will be extremely difficult to replace.
The Rhinos are going to need someone to step up as they prepare for the USL 1st Division playoffs.
Crazy weekend for the playoff bound USL-1 teams
The Rhinos scoreless draw at home with Miami FC wasn't the only result that was gained by a non-playoff team playing away from home.
Cleveland went into Portland and came away with a 1-0 win. The Timbers have lost their last three home games starting with the loss to the Rhinos. Then they dropped a 2-1 decision to Austin before losing to Cleveland on Sunday evening.
Minnesota led Montreal most of the afternoon on Sunday before Pete Byers scored the equalizer for the Impact in the 85th minute.
And while Vancouver was able to get past Austin 2-1 at home on Sunday, they needed two goals in the last 10 minutes to do so. And that was after going up a man in the 77th minute when Gifton Noel-Williams saw red.
Puerto Rico has lost their last two league matches as well with a 5-2 loss in Minnesota on Thursday and a 2-1 loss in Carolina on Saturday. The Islanders busy schedule continues with a Champions League game against Cruz Azul tonight.
So while the Rhinos are licking their wounds, it doesn't appear that too many of the playoff teams are hitting their strides heading into the post season.
News & Notes:
- Matthew Delicate was picked up by the Carolina RailHawks ahead of the USL-1 roster freeze. The RailHawks announced the move on Saturday.
- If you missed what Emmanuel Adebayor did over the weekend when Arsenal visited Manchester City, then check this out. Or this out. And if you want to laugh at the situation, check out this cartoon.
Oh yeah, the Daily Mail had a nice close up of the contact.
- If you are looking for a TOA vs the USL update, here is a little piece on the situation. Inside Minnesota Soccer also talked to some of the Thunder's players for their takes on the situation. It sounds to me like players such as Jeremiah Bass have a better handle on what is in the nest interests of the game of soccer in the US than some of the people pulling the strings.
- Adebayor isn't the only player to get a little worked up over the weekend. Landon Donovan and David Beckham were a little fired up after FC Dallas came into The Home Depot Center and spanked the Galaxy.
- This video on "Soccer in the States" has been liked to all over the US Soccer blogs.But here is some very exciting news , IMO. Although, I wonder if that is merely a Blanco effect?
- Costa Rica has sacked their head coach after losing their last three qualifiers.
- Greg Lalas talks about how USMNT players need to get on the field when their club teams play in UEFA Competitions, such as the Champions League. Seriosuly, what are the odds that Gooch gets to play today versus Marseille for AC Milan?
- MLS Talk and SBI.net take on the mess that is the situation where the US-Honduras qualifier liekly won't be on ESPN, FSC, or even MUN2. I think we need to pass a hat to cover the costs.....
- It looks like it could be a while longer before Jermaine Jones makes his US debut.
- Yanks Abroad takes another look at who is in line for the 23 tickets to next year's World Cup.
- MLS Talk has a couple Bob Bradley pieces. One about how he plays the cards he's dealt and another that states the case for Bob Bradley being the USMNT head coach.
- I can't believe Stuart Holden makes that little for Houston. I can't argue with Stuart being the best bargain in MLS at under $40,000.
- The EPL will roll out a "Home Grown" rule starting next season. It will be interesting to see if that hurts depth in the EPL or not.
- The Offside Rules wants to hang out with Gabriel Ferrari.
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.
