Toronto FC II picked up another point at home after a late equalizer from Skylar Thomas helped extend the Reds' unbeaten streak to 3 games.
Rochester struck first in the 27th minute when Bradley Kamdem played a through ball into their leading goal scorer Christian Volesky who made no mistake and finished past keeper Phil Di Bennardo.
A positive from the first half for the Young Reds was the play of Di Bennardo. The first half saw Di Bennardo stop 4 Rochester shots, including a massive point blank save off of Steevan Dos Santos to keep the Reds in the match.
The two teams traded chances to begin the second half but the Toronto defence held their ground. Skylar Thomas made a nice tackle to prevent a prime Rochester scoring chance in the 50th.
The Young Reds would find their breakthrough after a rebound off of a free kick found Raheem Edwards, who swung a perfect cross into the box. Skylar Thomas climbed up to meet the ball and guided it into the bottom corner of the Rochester net to make it 1-1.
Edwards would have a chance to win the game after getting around the Rochester’s backline, however a last ditch effort from a Rochester defender would deny the chance. The match would end as a 1-1 draw.
Coach Jason Bent had this to say about getting a point tonight, “It was huge against the reigning champions, you know to stay undefeated over the last three games, start to build a bit of a rhythm.”
The point gives the Young Reds a record of 5-11-5 on the season. With 20 points the team sits just 4 points out of a playoff position.
When asked about the team's playoff push defender Mitch Taintor had this to say, “I think we’re definitely capable of doing it, the past 3 games we’ve been playing pretty well and I think we just need to keep doing what we’re doing in order to make the playoffs.”
The Young Reds are back in action this Saturday when they visit the Richmond Kickers. Kickoff is at 7:00 PM ET. Follow the action here at tfc2.ca or on twitter @TorontoFCII.
Scoring Summary
RCH – Christian Volesky 27’ (Bradley Kamdem)
TFC II – Skylar Thomas 77’ (Raheem Edwards)
Misconduct Summary
TFC II – Anthony Osorio 31’ (caution)
Records:
Toronto FC II: 5-11-5 20pts.
Rochester Rhinos: 8-4-6 30pts.
Lineups
Toronto FC II – Phil Di Bennardo; Bubacarr Jobe, Mitch Taintor, Skylar Thomas, Anthony Osorio (Lenard Sohn 78’); Liam Fraser (Brian James 65’), Chris Manella ©, Luca Uccello, Sal Bernal (Aiden Daniels HT); Ayo Arinola (Shaan Hundal 65’), Raheem Edwards
Substitutes Not Used: Angelo Cavalluzzo, Robert Boscovic, Marko Maletic
Rochester Rhinos – Adam Grinwis; Bradley Kamdem, Sean Totsch, Joe Farrell, Dom Samuel; Ryan James (Michel Guilavogui 80’), Kenardo Forbes, Mike Garzi (Andre Fortune 78’), Sean Rielly (Brandon Beresford 77’); Christian Volesky, Steevan Dos Santos
Substitutes Not Used: Tomas Gomez, Vasius Apostolopoulos, Dan Lynd
