By Rochester Rhinos,

Rochester will hit the road to face the Ottawa Fury in their second-ever USL meeting. Kickoff is set for 2:00PM Saturday, you can catch the Rhinos live on ROC Sports Network, WBGT Channel 18 and digital 46.1. You can also watch the match live on the USL’s YouTube Channel.

This match marks the halfway point in the season for Rochester. The Rhinos have taken 4 points from the last two matches and are currently in 7th place in the Eastern Conference on 24 points (6-3-6). The Fury (5-6-5) have only won once in the last five matches, falling to 10th place on 20 points. Ottawa last tasted victory on June 20th vs. Orlando City B.

The two sides met for the first time ever on June 17th in Rochester. The Rhinos took all three points in a 1-0 victory thanks to Ryan Felix’s first professional goal that was headed in direct from a Kenardo Forbes corner. You can watch the highlights here.

Ottawa competed in the NASL for the first three years of their existence before making the switch over to the USL for the 2017 season. They made the NASL Championship final in 2015, sandwiched in-between a couple of seasons where they failed to qualify for the playoffs.

The two teams also squared off in a March preseason contest in Ottawa, where the Rhinos won 3-0. Stefan Defregger provided a pair of goals as the Rhinos scored all three after the 76th minute, with Jalen Brown providing the other tally.

Both teams have gotten a taste of MLS action this season, with the Fury having just lost 1-0 to the Montreal Impact last night in a tribute to former Fury and Canadian National Team captain Julian de Guzman. They also participated in the Canadian Championship and facing Toronto FC in the semifinals. They defeated them 2-1 at home before losing the away leg 4-0. Rochester dropped a 3-0 contest in the Fourth Round of the US Open Cup to the New England Revolution in June.

Former Rhinos Lance Rozeboom, Steevan Dos Santos and Onua Obasi feature for the Fury. Dos Santos has 3 goals on the season, including striking twice in the last four matches.

Rhinos goalkeeper and 2016 USL Golden Glove winner Tomas Gomez co-leads the USL with 7 clean sheets in just 13 appearances. He has an impressive 0.62 GAA.

Fury goalkeeper Callum Irving has started all 16 matches for Ottawa and has 5 clean sheets and a 1.25 GAA.

Ottawa defender Andrae Campbell is suspended for the match, having picked up a red card in last week’s 1-0 loss to Toronto FC II. Rhinos defender Sergio Campbell will miss Saturday’s match, as he is currently with the Jamaican National Team participating in the Gold Cup.

Ryan Felix is one yellow card away from a one-match suspension for yellow card accumulation.

The Rhinos next home match is on July 22nd vs. the Pittsburgh Riverhounds, kickoff is at 6:05PM. We’ll be celebrating Youth Soccer Appreciation Night. Click here and use promo code YouthSoccer to purchase discount tickets.