Rhinos fall short in Carolina

The Rochester Rhinos opened their 14th season of play on Saturday against the Carolina Railhawks.  Sallieu Bundu's 53rd-minute goal was all the RailHawks needed to propel them to a 1-0 win over the Rhinos on Saturday night before a crowd of 3,427 at WakeMed Soccer Park.

First half cornerkicks were dominated by the home side 8-1 and nearly resulted in the first goal of the match for Carolina in the 15th minute.  After a clearing attempt of a corner by Rochester, Railhawk midfielder Brian Plotkin found himself with a blast from 20 yards that Rhinos goalkeeper Scott Vallow got help with in making the stop.  Vallow was able to deflect Plotkin's shot before watching it ring of the goalpost keeping the game scoreless. 

The Railhawks continued to apply pressure, this time Luke Kreamalmeyer was able to sneak in behind the Rhino defense and get a head on a ball but was unable to beat  Vallow.  In the 37th minute it appeared that Carolina would take a one goal lead but the score was nullified when Plotkin was ruled offside.

The Railhawks picked up in the second half where they left off nearly notching the first goal in the opening minutes of the half.  Sallieu Bundu laid a ball off to Josh Gardner that required a diving Vallow to make the save.  Minutes later it was Gardner again who broke in free on the Rhino goal and once again it was the goalpost that helped Vallow keeping the Railhawks off the board. 

The scoreless battle wouldn't last however as the 54th minute saw Gardner feed Bundu who one-timed a shot that beat Vallow for a 1-0 Carolina lead.  Rochester would suffer another loss as defender Danny Earls was red-carded for an illegal tackle sending him off in the 57th minute.

Rochester came back with an attempt by John Ball but Caleb Patterson was sharp to make the save. 

Rochester gained some momentum as the second half wore on but couldn't find the net as Patterson was to the challenge each time.  In the end the Rhinos couldn't muster a goal against their rivals, dropping their first match of the season.  Rochester will return home before heading to take on the Puerto Rico Islanders on Friday, April 24th at 8:00 p.m. from Juan Ramon Loubriel Stadium in Bayamon, Puerto Rico.

Lineups

ROC: GK Scott Vallow, D John Ball, D Kenney Bertz, D Brent Sancho, D Danny Earls, D Chris Nurse (Nano Short, 73rd), MF Tiger Fitzpatrick (Mike Ambersley, 78th), MF Andrew Gregor (Darren Kenton, 62nd) , F Johnny Menyongar, F Tai Atieno, F Ryan Heins  (Mauricio Salles, 64th).

CAR: GK Caleb Patterson, D Devon McKenney, D Mark Schulte, D Jack Stewart, D John Gilkerson, MF Amir Lowery, MF Brian Plotkin (Hamed Diallo, 82nd), MF Daniel Paladini, MF Josh Gardner (John Cunliffe, 75th), F Luke Kreamalmeyer (Caleb Norkus, 88th), F Sallieu Bundu (Gavin Glinton, 62nd).

Scoring summary

CAR: Sallieu Bundu, assisted by Josh Gardner (53rd)

Cautions

ROC: Chris Nurse (31st), John Ball (65th), Mauricio Salles (85th)

CAR: Amir Lowery (33rd), Daniel Paladini (38th), Devon McKenney (45th)

Ejections

ROC: Danny Earls (57th), John Ball (90th)

CAR: Devon McKenney (84th)