Christiano Francois scores his first goal of the season in the 1-1 tie with Ottawa.
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — The Rochester Rhinos dominated the Ottawa Fury, outshooting the Canadian visitors, 16-7, at Capelli Sport Stadium on Saturday night. However, a late Ottawa penalty kick nullified Christiano Francois’ first goal of the season as the match ended in a 1-1 tie.
With the draw, Rochester (11-5-9 for 42 points) moved into 3rd place in the USL Eastern Conference with 7 matches left to play before the start of the playoffs.
Louisville City leads the Eastern Conference with 50 points with the Charlotte Independence second with 47 points. The top 4 teams will have home field advantage in the first round of the playoffs. The Charleston Battery and Tampa Bay Rowdies are tied for 4th with 41 points, but the Rhinos have a game-in-hand on both teams.
The Rhinos got off to a flying start in the 19th minute against the Fury. After a poor clearance, Jalen Brown collected the ball about 25 yards out and chipped the ball to Ryan James coming down the right wing. James got to the endline and dinked the ball into the box. The goalkeeper was caught hanging on his near-post and Christiano Francois, the shortest player on the field, was there to head the ball into the empty net to give Rochester the 1-0 lead.
Rochester had one of their better halves of the entire season, keeping the Fury on their back foot for the majority of the opening period and dominating on the wings – thanks to impressive displays from Francois and Brown. The Rhinos led the half in crosses, 12-3. For the game, the Rhinos took 7 corners to just 2 for the Fury.
Ottawa had a chance to equalize on the stroke of halftime, as they were awarded a free kick about 40 yards from goal in stoppage time. Gerardo Bruna found former-Rhino Steevan Dos Santos at the far post, but he was unable to convert.
Kenardo Forbes nearly doubled the Rhinos lead 5 minutes into the second half, but was denied by Fury goalkeeper at the near post as he dove to his right and touched the ball around the post.
Ottawa evened the count in the 71st minute by way of a Dos Santos penalty kick. It was the 5th-straight match in which Dos Santos scored, extending his Fury franchise record.
The Rhinos got chances towards the end of stoppage time after a Fury player was sent off for a second yellow in the 88th-minute, but they could not convert and had to settle for just one point.
Goalie Dan Lynd, a Penfield native, recorded 6 saves in the draw.
Rhinos head coach Bob Lilley was quite pleased with the team’s performance as he said, “I thought it was one of our better performances of the year. We pressured high up the field, we didn’t sit back on our one goal lead. Nine times out of ten we win that match.
“We have a tough road ahead of us, and if we play like we did tonight, good things will happen.”
Rochester hits the road for a trio of matches and will face the Pittsburgh Riverhounds Saturday, Sept. 16. They then have an important clash with first-placed Louisville City FC on Wednesday, Sept. 20, before heading to Richmond to face the Kickers on Saturday the Sept. 23.
The next home match is Saturday, Sept. 30 against Louisville City. It’s Oktoberfest at Capelli Sport Stadium, where fans will be able to sample beer around the concourse and be treated to a live band as the team is partnering with the Irondequoit Oktoberfest.