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Rochester, Louisville End Deadlocked

By NICHOLAS MURRAY - nicholas.murray@uslsoccer.com, 09/30/17, 8:01PM EDT

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Scoreless draw sees Louisville move closer to East’s No. 1 seed


Photo courtesy Matt Wittmeyer / Rochester Rhinos

ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The Rochester Rhinos and Louisville City FC ended in a 0-0 draw on Saturday night at Capelli Sport Stadium as Louisville moved closer to clinching the No. 1 seed in the USL Eastern Conference. Rochester had the first good chance of the game in the sixth minute as a flicked header by Bradley Kamdem flashed just wide of the left post off Wal Fall’s free kick from the right. Former Rhinos player Sean Totsch had the first scoring chance for Louisville as his header was comfortably saved by Tomas Gomez in the 18th minute, but neither side threatened much before the break as it remained scoreless. The second half continued in a similar vein, with Luke Spencer firing high for Louisville in the 64th minute and Fall doing the same for the Rhinos four minutes later. Rochester’s Ryan James also fired just wide of the right post with 15 minutes to go, while Jordan Dover had a chance beautifully blocked by a sliding challenge from Oscar Jimenez inside the penalty area. Spencer again fired off target for the visitors with six minutes to go, but neither side was able to find a breakthrough as the game ended scoreless.

Scoring:
None

Three Things That Matter:

  • 1. Louisville was unable to clinch homefield advantage throughout the playoffs with Saturday’s result, but it did ensure the its opening postseason clash in the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals will be at Slugger Field as it did enough to earn a point. Without a win, though, the side’s chances of claiming the USL Regular Season Championship might have come to an end tonight as the side would now need to win both of its final two games at home and get plenty of help from elsewhere to stand a chance at overcoming Real Monarchs SLC’s lead in the race for the title.

  • 2. With two of the top three defensive teams in the Eastern Conference on the field, clear looks at goal were always going to be at a premium, but it didn’t make for a dour, defensive contest. Both teams looked to get forward quickly when they got the opportunity to try and create an even-numbers opportunity on the counterattack, but both sides tended to recover well as the likes of Louisville’s Sean Reynolds and Rochester’s Joe Farrell made some timely interventions.

  • 3. Rochester will take positives from Saturday’s performance, but the lack of a victory to send the side’s winless streak to five games and keep it from a place in the top four will be disappointing. In comparison to the first meeting between the teams this season, where Louisville grabbed a stoppage-time victory, the Rhinos looked the more likely to grab all three points, but the side has now not scored multiple goals in a game in more than a month as its attack really needs a boost approaching the playoffs.

USLSoccer.com Man of the Match

Sean Reynolds, Louisville City FC – Reynolds put in a stellar defensive shift for the visitors with six interceptions and 12 clearances to lead his side to a shutout on the road.

Upcoming Games:
Rochester Rhinos
at Pittsburgh Riverhounds – October 7, 7 p.m. ET, Highmark Stadium
Louisville City FC vs. Charlotte Independence – October 7, 7:30 p.m. ET, Slugger Field

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