US Open Cup Quarter Final

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Rochester Rhinos vs. Wilmington Hammerheads

Marina Auto Stadium

Game Time: 7:00 PM

Attention Rhinos season ticket holders:


All Rochester Rhinos season ticket holder seat locations will be on hold for purchase until halftime of the Sunday, July 5th match against Austin.

Season ticket holders will also have the opportunity to take advantage of a Buy One Ticket and Get One Ticket Free offer for this US Open Cup Quarter Final match.

To purchase your seat locations contact the Rhinos office at (585) 454-KICK (5425) or directly at the Marina Auto Stadium box office during normal business hours.

It's been announced on RhinosZone.com that a soccer tournament will be held on June 6th, 2009 in memory of Jeremy Sangster, a friend of a member of our community here on RhinosZone.com that tragically passed away on October 11th, 2008. Jeremy was 26

There is an early registration fee of $250 per team if signed up before May 1st and a $350 fee per team if signed up between May 1st and June 1st. The tournament is open for anyone 18 and over, it's a 5 v. 5 plus goalies and you're guaranteed a minimum 3 games per team. Each match is 30min long. This event has been voluntarily coordinated by a handful of Jeremy’s friends, with all proceeds contributing to the creation of a Bloomfield High School scholarship in Jeremy’s honor. The event is open for all to attend... please feel free to swing by and join in the fun!

When: Saturday, June 6th, 2009 (rain date Sunday, June 7th, 2009)

Where: Levi Corser Memorial Park, Bristol, New York (map)

What: Soccer tournament, live bands, raffle, and barbecue!

For more information about Jeremy and the tournament

please visit http://www.jeremy22.com/tournament.html

After much speculation, www.RhinosZone.com has learned that defender Scott Palguta has exercised his out-clause and has signed a one-year deal with the Colorado Rapids of MLS, where he will join ex-Rhinos midfielder/assistant coach Steve Guppy.

The 26-year-old New Jersey native spent four seasons with the Rhinos, beginning his professional career in Rochester in 2005 when he impressed coach Laurie Calloway with his stellar work on defense, ultimately earning himself a starting position at left back, beating out popular veteran Bill Sedgewick in the process.  Palguta appeared in 23 regular season matches for the Rhinos that season, and scored the first professional goal of his career on August 3 of that season in a 3-1 victory over the MetroStars of MLS during the U.S. Open Cup.  The Rhinos would honor Scott Palguta as the club's Rookie of the Year that season.

Palguta would take over the starting role at left-center back in 2006 after legendary defender Scott Schweitzer abruptly announced his retired just as training camp was about to open.  Palguta formed a dynamic duo with rookie defender Kenny Bertz that season, as the Rhinos defense conceded just 21 goals in 28 matches that season.  Palguta would appear in all 28 matches that season, chipping in offensively with 3 assists.

Coming off a strong season in 2006, Palguta found that MLS had come calling as he began the 2007 campaign with an invitation to tryout for Real Salt Lake.  As one of the last cuts from their training camp, he would return to Rochester for his third season, where he would begin to establish himself as one of the club's leaders.  Once again he would appear in all 28 matches, while he set career highs in all offensive categories, as well as minutes played, as he scored 2 goals and added 4 assists in 2,477 minutes of action.

MLS came calling for him again, as he began the 2008 training camp with the New York Red Bulls.  Again, he would last until the final cuts before he returned to Rochester for what would be his fourth, and ultimately final, season with the Rhinos.  Entering the season as the third-longest tenured Rhino, trailing only midfielder John Ball and goalkeeper Scott Vallow in terms of games played by active Rhinos, Palguta appeared in 25 matches while tying his career high in goals with 2.

Palguta finishes his Rochester Rhinos career with 104 regular season appearances, tallying 4 goals and 8 assists in the process.  During his tenure with the Rhinos, he was named to the USL 1st Division Team of the Week on 9 occasions.

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Matthew Buckley

Multiple reports, including from ESPN.com's John Clayton, NFL.com's Vic Carruci, and FoxSports.com's Jay Glazer and Alex Marvez, state that Terrell Owens has agreed to a one-year deal with the Buffalo Bills.

Owens, who was released earlier this week by the Dallas Cowboys, has 951 career receptions for 14,122 yards and 139 touchdowns. He has had nine 1,000-yard receiving seasons during his 13-year NFL career.

The 35-year-old, who is 6-foot-3, 218 pounds, provides the Bills with a pair of dynamic receivers, including Lee Evans.

The Rochester Rhinos announced today that they have signed former Trinidad and Tobago defender Brent Sancho to a two-year contract, pending the approval of the USL and the USSF.

After suiting up for the St. John's Red Storm during his collegiate career, Sancho went on to play in the A-League (now known as the USL 1st Division) for the Charleston Battery in 2000, before moving on to Portland, where he would make 22 appearances for the Timbers from 2001-02.

Upon completing his initial stint in America, Sancho would enjoy a stint in the TT Pro League with clubs San Juan Jabloteh and Joe Public.  He would then join Scottish Premier League side Dundee, appearing in 48 matches for the club during the 2003/04 and 2004/05 seasons, before leaving to join Football League One side Gillingham.  After a two-year spell with Gillingham, Sancho joined Millwall, but he would fail to make an appearance for the club during his one-month tenure in London.  From there, he joined Scottish Second Division side Ross County, making two appearances, before returning to America, where he would sign with the Atlanta Silverbacks last July.

Sancho gained notoriety during the 2006 World Cup, when he proposed to his girlfriend on day of Trinidad & Tobago's match with England.  Three hours prior to kick-off, he sent a text message to Geoff Clark, one of the co-hosts of BBC's "South East Today," who was watching the match with Sancho's girlfriend, that read "Can you tell her that Brent says he loves her more than anything else and would like to spend the rest of his life with her.  Will she marry me?"

Sancho becomes the sixth player to suit up for the Rhinos with Trinidad and Tobago national team experience, joining the company of Anthony Rougier (2005), Tiger Fitzpatrick (2008-present), Atiba Charles (2008), Mickey Trotman (2001), and former club captain Craig Demmin (1998-2000; 2002-2005).

The Rochester Rhinos have announced their 2009 pre-season schedule that will kick off late March and finish up mid April.

Sat., March 21: vs. Cleveland City Stars (USL1), 3 p.m.

Wed., March 25: vs. University of Rochester, 5 p.m.

Sat., March 28: vs. CSL Italia Shooters, 4 p.m.

Wed., April 1: at University of Maryland, 7:30 p.m.

Fri., April 3: vs. Crystal Palace (USL2) at UM-Baltimore County, 7 p.m.

Sun., April 5: vs. Real Maryland (USL2) at Maryland Soccerplex, 1 p.m.

Thur., April 9: vs. St. Bonaventure at Corning, 7 p.m.

Tue., April 14: vs. University of Buffalo, 5 p.m.

*Match dates in GREEN indicate home games.

Sources close to www.RhinosZone.com have indicated that Ross Smith, the Scottish-Canadian defender notorious for his "short shorts," has been sidelined for the 2009 season due to personal reasons.

Smith, 28 is a native of Guelph, Ontario joined the Rhinos in last July, joining the club from England League Two club Dagenham & Redbridge, appearing in 15 matches while chipping in offensively with 2 goals.

More details to follow.

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-Matthew Buckley

Sources close to RhinosZone.com confirm that Wilfrid Loizeau has signed with the Rochester Rhinos and is expected to arrive in Rochester mid March and be ready for the first practice with the team March 20th.

Wilfrid Loizeau was born on March 20th, 1985 in Paris, France. In his youth days Loizeau spent some time in the Le Havre and Auxerre youth academies. He would then play a few seasons with Creteil (Ligue 2 at the time). He would continue his career playing with such teams as FK SIAD Most of Czech Rep, Vitória de Setúbal Portugal and most recently Royal Excelsior Virton of Belgium. Loizeau also has been called up by Guadeloupe and has been capped 8 times and scoring 1 goal vs Guyana back in January 16th, 2007.

It's been revealed to RhinosZone.com that Wilfrid Loizeau had a few options on the table between Miami FC, Montreal, Chicago Fire and the Rhinos. In which he ended up picking the Rochester Rhinos.

The Rochester Rhinos have re-signed popular midfielder/defender Danny Earls to a one-year contract.  Earls, a 19-year old native of Dublin, Ireland, made his debut for the Rhinos in a U.S. Open Cup match against RWB Adria last June, and made an immediate impact.  After he instantly cracked Darren Tilley's starting eleven, he brought a certain stability on the offensive and defensive front that the club had been in dyer need of.  After they began the season with a pathetic record of 1-4-4, the Rhinos found a new life after inserting Earls into the lineup and rolled into the postseason with a record of 10-5-5 in the 20 games which Earls appeared in. 

Earls, who recorded 1 goal and 3 assists in his 20 appearances, including 19 starts, during the 2008 season, was named as the USL 1st Division's Player of the Week for the weekend of July 25-27 after the young Irish lad netted his first goal as a Rhino during a 1-1 draw with the rival Montreal Impact.  He would parlay that offensive effort into a stellar defensive performance in Montreal two days later as the Rhinos defeated the Impact 2-0.

With the re-signing of Earls, the Rhinos now possess a group of defenders that also includes returnees John Ball, Kenney Bertz, and potentially Scott Palguta and Ross Smith, both of whom reportedly have out clauses in their contracts which would allow for them to pursue an opportunity to play in MLS this season.

Matthew Buckley

RhinosZone News Update - December 17

In a December 16 "460 Oak Street" blog entry, Rochester Rhinos owner Rob Clark announced that the club has re-signed defender Ross Smith to a one-year deal, pending league approval. The transaction allows the Rhinos to retain most of their starting defenders from last season (leaving midfielder/defender Danny Earls as the exception), which leaves Clark to believe that bringing Smith back "will give us (the Rhinos) the best back line in the League. Period," as he conluded his blog entry

The 28 year-old Scottish-Canadian, notorious for his "short shorts," joined the Rhinos during the middle of the 2008 season from England's League Two side Dagenham & Redbridge. While accumulating 3 Team of the Week honors during the course of the season (weeks 12, 19, and 22), Smith was instrumental in the Rhinos turning their season around, as Rochester went 7-4-4 with him in the lineup after they began the season with an abysmal record of 2-5-5. In 15 appearances with the Rhinos last season, the native of Guelph, Ontario chipped in offensively with 2 goals.

Matthew Buckley