By Rochester Rhinos,

ROCHESTER, NY - The Rhinos continued their winning ways against Tampa Bay, winning 1-0 in a hard-fought victory at Capelli Sport Stadium. The Rhinos improve to 3-1-3 on the season (12 points), while the Rowdies fall to 6-3-2 (20 points).

The first 20 minutes went without a shot from either team. However, the first chance oddly came on a goalkeeping error by Rowdie’s goalkeeper Matt Pickens. He comfortably collected the ball in his box and was attempting to fake rolling it out, but the ball slipped out of his hands. Jordan Dover chested the ball and momentarily lost possession before blasted it over the keeper and over the crossbar.

The Rhinos would strike first in the 27th minute as Kenardo Forbes whipped in a corner that landed at the feet of Wal Fall. His shot would initially get blocked, however, he collected his own rebound and buried it to give Rochester a 1-0 lead.

Tampa Bay nearly struck back a couple of minutes later as Neill Collins got a free header off a corner that went straight at Rhinos goalkeeper Tomas Gomez. This would be his only save of the match en route to his third clean sheet in only six starts, though he was much more involved than his stats would suggest.

The second half would get off to a similarly slow start, with no shots in the first 31 minutes, but plenty of noise filled Capelli Sport Stadium as the two teams engaged in a very physical and chippy contest.

Tampa Bay earned a pair of dangerous free kicks just after the 70th minute in similar positions to the right of the 18. Gomez would come through on both occasions, punching clear the first attempt. On the second attempt, Gomez rose above the crowd in the box and plucked it out of the air

The Rhinos had a couple late chances to double their lead late. In the 82nd minute, Dover was played in and got a shot away that went just wide. A couple of minutes later, 2nd-half substitute Antonio Correia played in Kenardo Forbes who took on several defenders had a chance that led to a tame corner.

The Rhinos did a fantastic job of limiting the impact of goal scoring threats Georgi Hristov and Deshorn Brown. The game lacked in offensive action with each team compiling 5 shots.

Former England and Chelsea star Joe Cole did not make the trip to Rochester.

The Rhinos next match will be on Wednesday, May 31st against GPS Omens (Mass.) in the Third Round of the US Open Cup. The winner will face the New England Revolution of MLS. Tickets are just $8 and can be purchased online, at the box office, or at 585-454-KICK.

Box Score First Half Second Half Final Rochester 1 0 1 Tampa Bay 0 0 0

LINEUPS:

Rhinos: Gomez, Dover, James, Farrell, Felix, Pratzner, Fall, Garzi (Campbell, 90'), Forbes. Boukemia (Tergou, 63'), Graf (Correia, 79')



Rowdies: Pickens, King, Boden, Lowe, Collins, Schafer, Jones (Morrell, 63'), Vingaard (Paterson, 68'), Nanchoff, Hristov, Brown

Statistics Shots Saves Fouls Corners Rochester 5 1 14 5 Tampa Bay 5 2 11 2

Scoring Summary:

ROC: Fall (27’)



Discipline:

TBR: Hristov (33’)

ROC: Garzi (39’)

TBR: Lowe (55’)

TBR: Nanchoff (81’)



Attendance: 1,140