May 25, 2007
Tonight, Peter Amos and his squad aim to make PAETEC Park a real home field advantage as they build toward the W-League Final Four that will be played here in Rochester. With the knowledge that the team is already one of the teams that will be playing in the semifinals, Amos has built a team with a core of players from last year's squad, added in a core of players from the Trinidad & Tobago Women's National Team, a couple of players from a very successful Florida State program, as well as some local high school talent.
What Amos hopes to get from that mix is a squad that can compete with the Vancouver's and New Jersey's of the W-League. The first test of Amos' team will come tonight at PAETEC Park as the Rhinos host the Toronto Lady Lynx. Toronto features last season's W-League Goalkeeper of the Year Justine Bernier, as well as one of the team's Co-Defenders of the Year in 2006, Vonya Beckles. That should provide the Rhinos offense with a stiff challenge in their home opener.
The game starts at 7:35pm tonight and every fan in attendance will get a free ticket to Sunday's men's match versus Miami FC.
Juan Pablo Angel leads NY to big win on national TV
The 2007 NY Red Bulls season can almost be summed up like the beginning of A Tale of Two Cities.
The Red Bulls are getting all they could ever hope for out of Angel (3 goals & 2 assists in 3 league matches) and fellow Designated Player Claudio Reyna has only been healthy for 4 out of 8 league matches.
The Red Bulls are tearing up the MLS standings, yet are struggling at the gate.
Whether it's a re-born Clint Mathis, Dema Kovalenko playing out of position and with a broken nose, or any other moves on the field, Bruce Arena has once again appeared to have regained his golden touch.
Oh yeah, did I mention that the opening of Red Bull Park seems to be ever so close to sliding into 2009?
The people running the business side of the Red Bulls need to start keeping pace with the soccer side of the club.
San Jose back in MLS in 2008?
Oakland A's owner Lew Wolff owns the option to being back MLS soccer to the San Jose area through 2009. And despite the fact that a deal to build a stadium for the team at San Jose State fell through, Wolff wants to join the league as soon as possible while still working alternate plans for a stadium to house the team.
It will be interesting to see how much leeway MLS gives to an owner that wants in, but obviously doesn't have every last I dotted and T crossed when it comes to meeting one of the major requirements that MLS supposedly has for potential expansion cities.
For the sake of the Earthquakes faithful, I hope they get a team and a suitable stadium to be their home.
Real Salt Lake after Shalrie Joseph?
It's going to be really interesting to see how this plays out.
And how fast will tampering charges be filed against Real Salt Lake if Joseph demands a trade out of New England?
Bob Bradley on his Gold Cup roster
I can't believe nobody asked why Frankie Hejduk was named to the roster!
One question that was asked was the plans for Michael Bradley post-Gold Cup. Bob, aka Michael's dad, said that the plan is for Michael to play in the U-20 World Cup following the Gold Cup.
Somewhere Thomas Rongen was smiling.
The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author, and not necessarily those of the Rochester Rhinos or SoccerSam.com. Feel free to send any comments or complaints to news@soccersam.com. James promises to read (but not to respond) to all of them.
