Toronto FC II failed to halt the Rochester Rhinos’ unbeaten streak, falling 2-0 to the visitors at the Ontario Soccer Centre on a hot and humid Saturday afternoon.
Rochester put on the pressure right from kick-off and came close to opening up the scoring in the 5th minute of the match. Rhinos midfielder Jonny Mendoza was able to place a low shot past TFC II goalkeeper Alex Bono that rung off the post.
TFC II had an opportunity to break the deadlock in the 45th minute via right back Marcus Godinho. The play started with Godinho making a pass to midfielder Luca Uccello and continuing his run into the Rochester box.
Uccello read the run and flicked a pass over the Rhinos defense that put Godinho in alone behind the Rhinos back line. Off the bounce Godinho tapped the ball over the rushing keeper but a Rochester defender was able to get back into position and clear the ball off the line.
Rochester forward Steevan Dos Santos opened up the scoring in the 56th minute. Left back Onua Obasi made a diagonal run into the centre of the pitch and was able to place a through ball into the path of Dos Santos who made no mistake, placing a shot into the bottom left corner past Alex Bono.
The second goal of the match came 2 minutes later for the Rhinos, a near replica of the first goal. Onua Obasi cut in from the left flank and fed Jonny Mendoza who slotted in his third goal of the season.
Your Reds had a great opportunity to spoil the clean sheet for Rhinos goalkeeper Brandon Miller in the 81st minute. Marcos Nunes found himself in alone against the Rhinos goalkeeper after a pass from Stefan Vukovic, but Miller was able to save his first shot and Nunes sliced the ensuing rebound just wide.
All in all Rochester was the better team on the pitch on Saturday and TFC II Head Coach Jason Bent gave credit where credit is due.
“Overall I thought Rochester was better than us in every single department on the day,” he said following the loss.
“It was just one of those days that we didn’t have enough of our players turn up and willing to compete and perform at the level that is required.”
Fair play to Rochester; they deserve the 3 points,” he added.
TFC II takes on Saint Louis FC next Saturday, July 18th at the Ontario Soccer Centre at 8:00PM ET. Follow along on Twitter @TorontoFCII using the hashtag #TFCLive and watch the action via livestream at torontofc.ca/live
Scoring Summary
RCH – Steevan Dos Santo 56’ (Onua Obasi)
RCH – Jonny Mendoza 58’ (Onua Obasi)
Misconduct Summary
TFC – Liam Fraser 75’ (caution)
RCH – Alex Dixon 83’ (caution)
RCH – Christian Volesky 90’ (caution)
Records:
Toronto FC II: 3-7-3 12pts.
Rochester Rhinos: 11-0-6 39pts.
Lineups
Toronto FC II – Alex Bono ©; Marcus Godinho, Emeka Ononye, Daniel Fabrizi (Clement Simonin 68’), Mark Anthony Kaye; Anthony Osorio (Marcos Nunes 65’), Liam Fraser, Luca Uccello, Malik Johnson (Stefan Vukovic 45’); Edwin Rivas (Kevin Timachy 65’), Massimo Mirabelli
Substitutes Not Used: Brogan Engbers, Skylar Thomas, Gabriel Boakye
Rochester Rhinos – Brandon Miller; Vassilios Apostolopoulos, Onua Obasi, Patrick McMahon, Julian Ringhof; Marcos Ugarte (Alex Dixon 70’), Jonny Mendoza (Christian Volesky 88’), Mike Garzi, Tony Walls © (Sean Totsch 68’); Kenardo Forbes (Timi Mulgrew 70’), Steevan Dos Santo (Colin Rolfe 80’)
Substitutes Not Used: Adam Grinwis, Grant Van De Casteele
