Rochester will ring in the new year Friday night against the Florida Tropics.
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — The Rochester Lancers will ring in the new year this weekend with two Major Arena Soccer League games at the Dome Arena.
The Lancers will meet the Florida Tropics for a Friday, Jan. 3 encounter in Henrietta, N.Y. before they welcome the Harrisburg Heat on Saturday, Jan. 4. Both matches kick off at 7 p.m.
Rochester (0-6), coming off an 11-0 home defeat to the Baltimore Blast on Dec. 28, has featured a young team in its return to MASL action this season after finishing third in M2 last year.
Anthony Rozzano leads the side in scoring behind his two goals and four assists. Jeremy Ortiz has three goals, while Michael Cunningham, D’Amico and Rafa Godoi have two each.
The Tropics (5-1), who bulked up with several key signings during the offseason, are atop the Eastern Division. Ricardo Carvalho (6 goals, 7 assists) leads the team in scoring, followed by Victor Parreiras (5 goals, 3 assists) and Zach Reget (4 goals, 3 assists).
Former Lancers indoor standout Joey Tavernese (1 goal, 5 assists) is one of several players with Rochester ties on the squad. Others include midfielder Antonio Manfut (Rhinos and outdoor Lancers), defender JP Reyes (Rhinos and indoor Lancers) and defender Drew Ruggles (Rhinos).
In pregame ceremonies, Florida co-owner and Chief Operating Officer Chris Economides, former Rochester Rhinos general manager, will be feted as honorary captain.
After taking next week off, the Lancers will return to action as they visit the Harrisburg Heat at the Farm Show Arena on Sunday, Jan. 19 at 5:05 pm.
They will return to the Dome Arena for back-to-back games against the Blast on Friday, Jan. 31, and the St. Louis Ambush on Saturday, Feb. 1. Both games begin at 7 p.m.
Prior the Blast game the Lancers will induct 20 individuals into the club’s indoor Wall of Fame.
Tickets for those contests and all matches are available at www.RLancers.com and at the Arena box office on game day.
If you can’t make it out to the games, you can catch all the action at MASL.tv