Jeff DiVeronica

@RocDevo

The Rhinos relinquished the lead twice in Friday night’s match against longtime USL rival Charleston. Ordinarily, that’d make head coach Bob Lilley the angriest guy in the stadium, but he found the silver lining in a 3-2 win that ran Rochester’s record to 4-1-1

“You lose the lead twice you could think: It’s not our night, you know? I think we stayed after it and we got the goal,” Lilley said. “It’s an important win for us. It moves us a little bit higher up in the standings and sets up a big game next weekend against Charlotte.”

The three points moved the Rhinos into sole possession of second in the USL Eastern Conference, one point ahead of third-place Charlotte (4-2, 12 points), which comes to Rochester next Saturday. The defending USL champions haven't lost at home in 23 matches, a streak that dates to late in the 2014 regular season.

Here’s something else that was impressive Friday: The Rhinos stood up to the physical challenge presented by the Battery (2-2-3), a veteran unit that knows how to unnerve you and tried to get under the skin of frontrunners Christian Volesky and Steevan Dos Santos with a decent dose of shoves and whacks.

“We had to scratch and claw and it was a game that came down to who wanted it more a little bit,” said Rhinos midfielder Tony Walls, whose 75th-minute penalty kick was the game-winner. “The difference between the teams in our league isn’t much, so you’ve got to bring it every night.”

Good work in the box by Volesky and Dos Santos, last year’s two top scorers, resulted in the PK. Defender Shawn Ferguson was called for a handball on Dos Santos’ shot and since Walls has never missed a PK for the Rhinos in his three seasons, he grabbed the ball. “I think I’m on it until I miss, knock on wood,” Walls said.

Joe Farrell’s first goal as a pro — he cleaned up a rebound off goalie Alexander Tambakis in front — put Rochester ahead 1-0 in the 11th minute. Charleston’s Romario Williams, who was a handful to harness, tied it in the 15th. Dos Santos spun on two defenders in the box in the 28th and Kenardo Forbes converted on the loose ball to make it 2-1 Rhinos in the 28th. Dos Santos returned Friday from a two-game USL suspension and his presence was felt.

The Battery tied it in the 47th on a shot by Ricardo Garbanzo, who drew two more yellow cards because of his fragility falling to the turf, but the PK was the difference. Lilley gave Tomas Gomez the start and the backup goalie did enough to preserve the win, smothering a late laser by Maikel Chang and watching a Williams blast from 24 yards sail high. The Rhinos played without center back Vasileios Apotoslopoulos, a late scratch due to a hamstring injury.

Rookie Wal Fall, a 23-year-old from Germany, started instead.

“It was a good test for us character-wise,” Lilley said. “We had to make a lead hold up.”

JDIVERON@Gannett.com

Rhinos 3, Charleston 2

Scoring: 1, Rhinos, Joe Farrell (unassisted) 11th minute; 2, Charleston, Romario Williams (Zach Prince) 15th; 3, Rhinos, Kenardo Forbes (unassisted) 28th minute; 4, Charleston, Ricardo Garbanzo (Williams); 5, Rhinos, Tony Walls (penalty kick) 75th.

Shots: Charleston 10, Rhinos 11. Corner kicks: Charleston 4, Rhinos 3. Saves: Charleston 5, Rhinos 3. Yellow cards: Rhinos 4 (Garzi 22, Volesky 37, Kamdem 43, Fall 68); Charleston 2 (Chang 21, Williams 73).

Charleston starting lineup: Alexander Tambakis; Taylor Mueller, Shawn Ferguson, Obrian Woodbine; Neveal Hacksaw, Romario Williams, Quinton Griffith, Maikel Chang, Ricardo Garbanzo, Justin Portillo, Zach Prince.

Rhinos lineup: Tomas Gomez; Bradley Kamdem (Jordan Becker, 78), Wal Fall, Dominic Samuel, Joe Farrell; Sean Totsch, Tony Walls, Kenardo Forbes (Marcos Ugarte, 87), Mike Garzi (Ryan James, 79); Christian Volesky (Asani Samuels 87), Steevan Dos Santos.

Attendance: 4,162.