Down I-90 West, the Rochester Rhinos advanced to the USL Championship game with a 1-0 victory over Louisville City FC in a jumping Shalen's Stadium. Vasilis Apostolopoulos had the only goal of the match in the 21st minute off a corner kick sent in by Kenardo Forbes. The Rhinos defense stood tall throughout the contest, only allowing Louisville three shots in which Brandon Miller only had to save two of them. Their real test came after the 83rd minute when Dos Santos was given a straight red card for head butting an opposing player. Even being a man down, the Rhinos did not bend and held on for the victory. The Rhinos now host LA Galaxy II this Friday at 7:30pm with the USL Championship on the line.
Syracuse Silver Knight's coach Tommy Tanner was in attendance for the Rochester game Saturday night. It was good to see the Rhino legend cheering on his former team and two of this Silver Knight stars (Forbes and Bourdeau.) However, he must have gotten a scare when Forbes was taken out in extra time after going down with a lower body injury. He already saw captain Nelson Santana and Slavisa Ubiparipovic leave Syracuse for Ontario,California by trade. Losing any other player at this time would only worsen the Knight's current situation. It is key to note Ontario has yet to send a player to Syracuse to complete the trade.
Finally, in Leigh Valley, the Syracuse Crunch took down the Phantoms 4-3 to get a great start to their 2015-16 season. Jonathan Marchessault had two goals for the boys in blue while Paradis and Blunden tallied goals for Syracuse. Gudlevskis had 26 saves in net and picked up the win. The Crunch have their home opener this Saturday at 7pm against the Binghamton Senators.
Thanks/Credits:
http://www.empire-football-league.com/press-releases/202-syracuse-strong-wins-empire-football-league-championship-.html
http://rhinossoccer.com/news/?article_id=777
http://www.ontariofury.com/news/ontario-fury-acquire-two-from
http://syracusecrunch.com/news/2015/10/10/Crunch_1010150645.aspx