(Rochester, NY)... The Rochester Rhinos and Minnesota Thunder went to battle tonight under the lights at PAETEC Park with the Rhinos coming out victorious by a score of 3-1. Coming into the meeting, the last between the two teams, Minnesota only trailed Rochester by one point in the standings.

In a half which was dominated by Rochester, much of play was battled out in the midfield with Rochester having the only real scoring chances. The first opportunity of the match came in the 16th minute off of a Rochester corner kick, with the ball dropping to forward Matthew Delicate whose shot was blocked in front before it could reach the net. Just four minutes later, Luke Kreamalmeyer put his defender on the turf with some fancy footwork before attempting a cross, which was deflected on net right to Thunder goalkeeper Nic Platter. Platter was put to work again in the 36th when Scott Palguta's toe poke was headed towards net but Platter had his positioning right.

With the Rhino defense playing solid limiting the Thunder to two shots in the half, former Thunder star and Rhinos leading scorer Johnny Menyongar tallied his fifth goal of the season after intercepting a weak back pass by Minnesota defender Tighe Dambrowski. Menyongar who intercepted the pass just outside the box dribbled to the right of net before pounding home the first goal of the match, giving Rochester a 1-0 lead heading into the half.

After a strong first half, Rochester did not let down applying pressure all over the field. Rochester had the first scoring chance of the half in the 56th minute when Tiger Fitzpatrick put a shot just wide of the near post after receiving a ball from Luke Kreamalmeyer to beat the defense. The Rhinos pushed their lead to two just three minutes later on a beautiful shot from Daniel Antunez. Following a cross from Steve Guppy, the ball squirted through to Kreamalmeyer who dropped a pass to Antunez who, in his first home match as a Rhino, powered a shot into the upper corner of the net for his first goal.

Minnesota's first chance of the half came in the 61st minute but Ricardo Sanchez could not put the free kick on net. The Rhinos made it 3-0 just two minutes later on an intricate passing play starting with Antunez playing a through ball to an overlapping John Ball, who then played a low ball across the net, which was knocked out by Platter right to Kreamalmeyer who buried it, to make it three-nil. Though down three Minnesota did not lay down and had a chance in the 81st on another freekick from Sanchez. This time he put it on net but Rhino keeper Scott Vallow did well to handle it, making his first and only save of the match. The Thunder were still applying pressure late in the match and got their lone goal in the 88th minute after a long ball which was one touched into the middle by Brian Cvilikas and then put into the net by Melvin Tarley.