Roth: What Rhinos need to do to save Rochester soccer

Bob Lilley has seen the sellout crowds, heard the cheers, felt the energy.

He felt it as an opposing coach, bringing strong Hershey, Montreal and Vancouver teams to Rochester to play the Rhinos at Frontier Field and later, Pick-Your-Name-Park, the fine soccer venue on Oak Street.

He felt it somewhat as coach of the Rhinos in 2010-11, when a pair of division winners he and president Pat Ercoli cobbled together stirred the ghosts of championships past.

But let's be honest.

Unabashed Rhinos mania, where being at a game was the "in thing'' to do, evaporated like Abbott's Frozen Custard on a hot sidewalk a long, long time ago.

There's no exact moment, we just know that it occurred somewhere along a bumpy road that saw a stadium built in no-man's land, a promise of Major League Soccer going pfft, and the team not winning a championship at any level for 13 consecutive seasons, this after winning four in its first six, one a U.S. Open Cup.

With the Rhinos opening the home schedule of their 20th anniversary season on Sunday against the New York Red Bulls II, how we're supposed to feel about Rochester's once-glorious soccer team is open for discussion. And nobody knows that better than the club's USL Hall of Fame coach, Lilley, who was brought back for a second time to Rochester in 2014 to make things right.

Over the past six seasons, the Rhinos have averaged 6,114 fans, down 4,222 per game from the team's first 13 seasons. Over the past three seasons, their record is a combined 28-25-25, including a six-win 2013 campaign when Rochester missed the playoffs for the first time.

While many communities across the country are riding a wave of pro soccer fever, Rochester — once Soccertown, USA — seems to be stagnating.

Never one to sugarcoat a red card and call it a candy bar, Lilley agreed. Rochester soccer has reached a crossroads. And he's out to do something about it.

"Because of all the expectations, the championships, the new stadium, the bar was set so high that not achieving that for a number of years has put us in a holding pattern,'' said Lilley, who returned to the Rhinos sideline after a two-year, self-imposed sabbatical to recharge his batteries. "You still have the hard-core fans coming but a lot of the casual fans have stepped aside a bit."

Lilley, who is approaching 30 years in the pro game as a player and coach, doesn't have a magic wand. He believes "If you win it, they will come." And he may be right.

Last year's .500 club played superb defense. This year's club, if a 3-0-2 start on the road can be trusted, can also attack. Alex Dixon, Colin Rolfe, Johnny Mendoza, Tony Walls and Christian Volesky have fueled a 64-shot attack producing seven goals so far. Volesky was the 32nd overall pick in the MLS SuperDraft who fell into the Rhinos' lap.

Lilley said cities that have entered the pro soccer scene in recent years are riding a wave of excitement. He said the Rhinos as an organization have challenged themselves to catch some of that wave.

"Rochester was ahead of the curve in the late 1990s and the rest of the country is now there,'' Lilley said. "We have to show that we can play at a high level and excite the crowd as those teams did back in the day. That's a challenge. The crowd here is somewhat sophisticated and has high standards. They've seen a dominant team and that's what they want to see when they go to the games. It's our job to try and give them what they want.''

And if they don't?

"Well,'' Lilley said, "we're in that holding pattern and you're either going to catch that wave and if you don't, who knows where we'll be five years from now?''

One thing we do know is that nobody is going to out-work or out-coach Bob Lilley.

One of the best instructors in soccer, the Carlisle, Pennsylvania, native has been described as driven, demanding, meticulous, organized and ultra-competitive — and you won't get an argument from him. All are good qualities to have in a leader.

"I think there are a lot of those descriptions that fit," said Lilley, a two-time A-League coach of the year who went 1-1 against the Rhinos in championship games. "I am driven. I expect a real high level of commitment from my teams and I'll push to get that.''

Pushing the right buttons as he goes.

During his two years off, Lilley dropped weight as well as strokes off his golf game. But he's back, grateful that Ercoli has given him another opportunity in a city he still believes is a "plum" job despite recent history.

"I kind of felt like there was still unfinished business here," Lilley said.

Finishing it will go a long way toward saving soccer in Rochester.