The teams will vie in the inaugural Capelli Sport Hero Cup match.
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — The Rochester Rhinos and the Harrisburg City Islanders collide at Capelli Sport Stadium on Saturday at 6:05 pm on ROC Heroes Night in the first leg of the inaugural Capelli Sport Hero Cup match. The ROC Heroes Night is presented by Excellus Blue Cross Blue Shield.
The two historic USL clubs and Capelli Sport have come together to create the Capelli Sport Hero Cup to benefit military personnel and first responders.
The Cup will be awarded to the winner of the regular-season series between the two sides. The second leg will be played in Harrisburg on Aug. 8.
Both teams will wear special edition Capelli Sport camouflage jerseys in both matches. The game-worn jerseys will be auctioned off to the public from July 8 to Aug. 15, via the Bidr online platform. The auction proceeds (100%) will be divided to benefit the Rochester-area Veterans Outreach Center, the Rochester-area Badge of Honor Association, and the Harrisburg-area Wounded Warrior Project®. Each club’s earnings will go to their respective foundations.
Capelli Sport is the current stadium naming rights and official uniform supplier of the Rochester Rhinos. The Harrisburg City Islanders are currently owned and outfitted by Capelli Sport.
This also is the third of eight Old Guard Shield matches the Rhinos will play this season. The OGS is a supporters-run competition which involves the 5 oldest clubs in the USL: Rochester, Pittsburgh, Harrisburg, Richmond, and Charleston. Each home and home series between the “participating” teams will count towards the standings. If the teams face each other more than twice, only the final home match will count.
Rochester comes into Saturday on a 3-match winless streak coming directly after an 8-match unbeaten run. The Rhinos showed a lot of promise on Wednesday evening in St. Louis, drawing 0-0, outshooting STLFC, 16-3, and having a 10-0 advantage on corners. Tomas Gomez earned his 6th clean sheet of the season, one behind San Antonio FC’s Diego Restrepo for best in the USL.
Harrisburg, conversely, is on a 2-match winning streak after previously going 10 matches without a victory, dating back to April 15. The Islanders won a wild 4-3 contest at Toronto FC 2 last Saturday, a week after upsetting Louisville City FC, 1-0, at home.
Rochester will likely face a former goalkeeper for the second straight match, as four-year Rhino and 2015 USL Goalkeeper of the Year Brandon Miller has made 11 starts for the Islanders, earning 3 clean sheets in 2017. Another member of the 2015 USL Championship-winning Rhinos squad Jonny Mendoza also features for Harrisburg and has created the most chances this season (18).