Rochester River Dogz

2018 US Open Cup Round 1: Erie Commodores edge River Dogz in PKs to earn date with Riverhounds

May 12, 2018 by John Bava

In a battle between two teams making their Lamar Hunt US Open Cup debuts, it was the home team that held serve.

The NPSL’s Erie Commodores triumphed over the Rochester River Dogz of the Rochester District Soccer League in a mesmerizing 5-4 penalty shootout win after the two sides played to a 1-1 draw through 120 minutes. This marked just the second time in the Modern Era (1995-present), and the second year in a row, that an amateur team from Western Pennsylvania has advanced in the tournament. They join Tartan Devils Oak Avalon who reached Round 2 in the 2017 US Open Cup.

This was also the first time Erie has advanced in club

Erie opened the scoring in the 27th minute. Forward Sam White got in behind the Rochester back line from the left hand side and centered the ball to Cameron Philpot, who made no mistake one-timing it past Rochester goalkeeper William Banahene to make it 1-0.

The visitors, led by head coach Doug Miller, a US Open Cup champion with the Rochester Rhinos, remained headstrong despite the repeated Erie forays into their defensive third. And late in the first half, they found themselves with an opportunity of their own that they pounced on. Midfielder Austin Gerber collected a long ball in the 45th minute and dribbled into the Erie box. He then slotted a deftly placed near-post shot, beating goalkeeper Nicolau Neto for the equalizer.

Erie continued to put the River Dogz on the back foot after halftime. But Rochester were resolute defensively and successfully repelled the Commodores’ scoring chances throughout the entirety of the second stanza. After 90 minutes, the two sides remained deadlocked at one apiece which necessitated 30 minutes of extra time.

The best chance of the first extra session came from the River Dogz. In the 96th minute, William Stone came onto a cross from the right and headed it at goal. But Neto was up to the task, parrying it to his left to avoid falling behind to the underdogs.

Erie reasserted control on the match in the second 15 minute extra period. It resulted in a legitimate chance in the 112th minute when Philpot had a chance for a brace. But Banahene, who made quite a few impressive saves himself to keep Rochester in the game during regulation time, did so again in to keep things tied up.

The River Dogz net minder was called into action once more in the 118th minute. This time, it was a chance for second half substitute Jack Simpson to be the hero for the home side. But Banahene came off his line and prevented Simpson from flicking it over him.

In keeping with the theme of goalkeeping exploits, Neto had something left in the tank himself. In the 120th minute, the Erie goalkeeper made another sprawling save to his left. After the resulting corner, the Commodores sprung a counterattack which resulted in a free kick. But nothing resulted from it and the match when to a penalty shootout.

The battle of spot kicks was a back and forth affair. But Erie was given a lifeline when defender Alexander Harling hit his effort over the crossbar. Though Rochester converted the remainder of their kicks, Erie made all five with their spot in the Open Cup getting wrapped up when Casey Bartlett-Scott stepped up and buried his past Banahene for the win.

Erie’s triumph meant a lot to the team considering their looming opponent, the USL’s Pittsburgh Riverhounds, has a connection to the club.

“The big motivation was to bring the Riverhounds here next week,” Commodores manager Dale White said post-game. “There’s one of our own boys, Andy Lubahn, who plays for the Riverhounds now so we were already in touch as soon as the draw came out and saying it would be nice to bring him back.”

The Commodores’ looming showdown in the second round of the tournament with a professional side just a few hours drive down I-79 takes place on Wednesday, May 16.

2018 Meet the Underdogs: River Dogz using Doug Miller's US Open Cup championship recipe

May 4, 2018 by Matt Ralph

Rochester River Dogz pose for a team photo before their 2018 US Open Cup qualifying match against Stegman's SC. Photo: Domenico Vella | Rochester River Dogz — Rochester River Dogz pose for a team photo before their 2018 US Open Cup qualifying match against Stegman’s SC. Photo: Domenico Vella | Rochester River Dogz

Nineteen years after hoisting the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup with an unlikely band of underdogs, Doug Miller is back in the competition with a group of players who have grew up with the legend of the Rochester Raging Rhinos.

The head coach of the amateur Rochester River Dogz, a “farm team” for the National Premier Soccer League’s (NPSL) Rochester Lancers, Miller doesn’t mind using his former team’s historic run as the last non-MLS team to win the competition as motivation for his players.

“I bust my team and my players’ chops and say I won the Open Cup as a player and I’m undefeated as a coach so the least you can do is make some national news out of it,” Miller said in a recent interview. Miller not only helped the Rhinos win the 1999 US Open Cup title, but he came off the bench in the Final at Columbus Crew Stadium and scored what would prove to be the game-winning goal in a 2-0 win over the Colorado Rapids.

While the circumstances are much different — the River Dogz are an amateur team — Miller said the approach isn’t all that dissimilar to what he and his Rhinos teammates in the late ’90s took entering the competition.

“You saw a little bit nationally with Christos FC last year, which is the same boat we fall in as ex-pro and other high level amateur players who want to go and compete on the national level against teams that do this for a full-time living,” Miller said, referring to the only amateur team to advance to the Fourth Round in 2017. “Nobody believed we could do it back in 1999. I want to give my players the same belief we had.”

Belief for the River Dogz or any of the other amateur teams in the competition doesn’t mean entertaining ideas of winning it all. Simply advancing to take on a top level team like Christos FC did last year when they played D.C. United in the Fourth Round can be a dream fulfilled.

“To play into the Fourth Round or Fifth Round and actually set foot in an MLS stadium, that’s something that’s possible and that’s fun to always dream about,” said River Dogz defender and captain Jake Schindler.

A 30-year-old who grew up in Rochester, Schindler is fully aware of the history and the present state of soccer in his city. Ten days after the RiverDogz qualified for the Open Cup with a 2-1 win over Stegman’s SC in the freezing rain, the Rhinos announced that they would go on hiatus for the 2018 USL season.

“This community has such a rich history, it’s inspiring just to have an opportunity to step on a somewhat familiar stage,” Schindler said. “And because of what happened with the Rhinos, it feels like the local community is getting a second chance.”

Qualifying wasn’t just historic for the young club founded in 2015. The River Dogz became the first open division amateur team from Western New York to qualify in the Modern Era of the of the competition (1995-present). Rochester only needed to win two games to punch their ticket to the 105th edition of the tournament. They edged the Tartan Devils Oak Avalon (Greater Pittsburgh Soccer League) 2-1 in the Steel City before getting a free pass into the final round when Ann Arbor FC had to forfeit.

Rochester Raging Rhinos: 1999 US Open Cup champions

To get the party started, they’ll travel to Erie on May 9 to take on familiar NPSL rival Erie Commodores. The teams split their home and home series last season, each winning their game at home. While the River Dogz compete in the Rochester District Soccer League, their team that travels to Erie will feature several players who also play for the Lancers.

“We’re going to go with the same attitude,” Miller said. “We’ll go there with the goal of not conceding a goal.”

To prepare for the match, Miller was able to get an early start on training, utilizing the indoor facility that also houses the Lancers youth programs he oversees, to build chemistry among a large pool of players, something that is needed at the amateur levels because of jobs, families and other commitments that can limit participation from game to game.

“When you’re talking about trying to compete on a national level, you need to have a big roster pool,” Miller said. “We bring them in, 35-40 guys in training each day, competing for opportunities. The ones that are playing well at that time will get the opportunity to showcase themselves.”

Doug Miller of the Rochester Raging Rhinos scores an equalizing goal against the Chicago Fire in the 2005 US Open Cup Quarterfinals. Photo: Rochester Raging Rhinos

Schindler, who is an optical engineer by day and plays at the professional indoor level through the winter, said the training sessions are where the dedication of the team — some players drive in several nights a week from Buffalo, Syracuse and other areas outside Rochester — really shines.

“It’s no longer a drink beer and go play soccer kind of environment,” he said.

While Schindler is the seasoned veteran at age 30 (“If you come to practice there’s probably two voices you’re going to hear, mine and Doug’s), there’s another even more seasoned player on the sidelines who could be called upon in a pinch. He’ll turn 49 a few days before the game and he last laced up his boots for the Syracuse Silver Knights in indoor soccer in 2016 but he did win an Open Cup once.

“Most likely no,” Miller said when asked if he’d complete the Open Cup circle by subbing himself into the game. “But you never know.”

As road teams huddle in bathrooms, warehouses, what are venue standards for US Open Cup qualifying?

November 28, 2017 by Matt Ralph

Players from Motagua of New Orleans gather in a warehouse in Balch Springs, Texas, the site of their 2018 US Open Cup qualifying match against NTX Rayados. Photo: Motagua of New Orleans Facebook page

Like all knockout competitions, open division qualifying for the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup is a grind that often has a charming edge to it lost in the later rounds when professional teams enter the fray. But there’s hardly anything romantic about a coach giving his team a halftime talk in a public bathroom or another team finding shelter from the cold in a storage shed only to be kicked out by a groundskeeper.

That’s the situation a couple of amateur teams found themselves in when they went to great lengths to travel and play in unsuitable venues for the final round qualifying two weekends ago.

For Stegman’s SC, the parent club of the NPSL’s Minneapolis City SC, that meant flying to Rochester, New York to play in 30-degree weather at a venue that didn’t have suitable locker rooms. Instead, the team had to huddle in a bathroom during halftime while it was actively in use by the public.

“They definitely weren’t prepared to host us, which was particularly disappointing considering how far we had to travel,” Stegman’s SC player Daniel Warner said.

But hey! We got to wait in the cold while they got ready in a heated room until we demanded access to it to get dressed. #Hospitality pic.twitter.com/p1WmvljGZK

— Minneapolis City SC (@mplscitysc) November 20, 2017

Sarah Schreier had an even more difficult time as a member of the team’s staff, noting that because the facility was locked when they arrived there were no restrooms available.

“I was told I could go into the woods or drive into town,” she said. “I’m a staff member of Stegman’s City, traveling with a skeleton staff, so I couldn’t just leave for 25 minutes just to use the bathroom. After the guys had checked in, and about 15 minutes before kickoff, I took a van ‘into town’ about 15 minutes away so I could finally go to the bathroom. I missed kickoff and our first and only goal.”

Would thank them for their hospitality but… pic.twitter.com/DZnreIFgQv

— Minneapolis City SC (@mplscitysc) November 19, 2017

Motagua of New Orleans traveled more than seven hours to Balch Springs, Texas, where they claim to have had an interesting encounter with a groundskeeper.

“Well, we had to go into a warehouse just to keep warm last night,” a post on the club’s Facebook account reads. “To add insult to injury, the groundskeeper kicked us out stating we could not utilize said space. Not to say this was reason we lost but after traveling long hours, to find out we have no where (sic) to rest, change, prepare for a very important match, is very unacceptable.”

The argument from both teams is that they were better equipped to host the match, but instead had to travel. Stegman’s also traveled to Illinois in the second round and won by forfeit in the first round. Motagua traveled to Missisippi in the first round and to Lafayette, Louisiana for Round 2.

Host sites for the qualifying rounds are determined by “a random draw or coin flip” but there is a process by which teams have to submit up to two potential venues should they be selected to host.

While there are extensive requirements for suitable venues once the “US Open Cup proper” begins, the responsibilities of the home team are limited to providing a safe playing field a minimum of 100 yards by 65 yards, regulation-size goals and corner flags, at least three properly-inflated match balls and making sure the officiating crew is paid at the end of the match. Beyond that, it’s on the host team.

Tito Salas, a player/coach/manager for NTX Rayados, was surprised to hear of the complaints from CD Motagua, a team he has become well-acquainted with in regional competitions and for whom his brother-in-law Reece Wilson plays.

Both Salas and Wilson missed the game that sparked the complaints, which the Rayados won, because they were away on a family vacation but Salas said the two teams played at the same facility in the second round last year and he didn’t hear any complaints. The weather was a factor, however, this year as the wind chill was in the 40s.

“I think locker rooms for me are very much an extra,” Salas said. “I get it, they expect more and they want more and that’s fine but there are a lot of reasons, financial and availability, that we can’t play in a stadium that has all of those things for qualifying.”

Elizabeth Sánchez, a spokeswoman for the US Open Cup, organized by the US Soccer Federation, said the looser venue standards for local qualifying are designed to enable more teams to participate.

“We want as many amateur teams as possible to participate in Open Cup qualifying,” she wrote in an email to TheCup.us. “The venue requirements for this phase of the tournament are meant to allow for this. In all practicality, only an adequate field marked for soccer, goals, nets, corner flags and balls are needed. This is not unlike most amateur-level leagues.”

Rochester River Dogz, which beat Stegman’s SC 2-1 in their game, did not respond to a request for comment.

2018 US Open Cup qualifying: Rochester River Dogz make history by qualifying for first US Open Cup

November 21, 2017 by Brendan Doherty

On a blustery afternoon amid chilling winds and freezing rain in Rochester’s suburb of Pittsford, NY, the Rochester River Dogz earned a place in the 2018 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup. Hosting Stegman’s Soccer Club, a local amateur side and the parent club of Minneapolis City SC of the National Premier Soccer League, the River Dogz are themselves related to the NPSL team founded under the same name and since re-branded to the Lancers.

The River Dogz would defend their home turf, prevailing 2-1 to become the first open division amateur team from Western New York to qualify for the US Open Cup in the Modern Era (1995-present).

The River Dogz entered the competition through the Rochester District Soccer League, an elite amateur circuit recognized by USASA, but used the players and kits from the NPSL side. Similarly, Stegman’s, a member of the Minnesota Amateur Soccer League, fielded much of its NPSL roster and suited up in MPLS City’s jerseys.

The visitors struck in just the first minute of play, before the Minnesota-style weather took hold.

Nicholas Hutton sent dangerous service into the area from the right wing. Forward Ben Wexler did well to meet the cross but his strike whistled off the crossbar. Stegman’s Timothy Wills reacted first and poked home the rebound to take the early lead.

After conceding, the River Dogz regrouped and mounted some chances of their own. The hosts appeared to notch a goal in quick response after the right winger cut inside and fired a shot on his left that fell nicely to a teammate for an easy rebound. The assistant referee has raised his flag, however, and the score remained 1-0 for the Minnesotans.

The Rochester River Dogz (white) and Stegman's SC square off in a 2018 US Open Cup qualifier at Pittsford Thornell Farm Park in Pittsford, NY. Photo: Domenico Vella | Rochester River Dogz — The Rochester River Dogz (white) and Stegman’s SC square off in a 2018 US Open Cup qualifier at Pittsford Thornell Farm Park in Pittsford, NY. Photo: Jameson Pester | Rochester River Dogz

Despite some flowing passing moves, Rochester’s equalizer came from another rebound. Rochester forced a turnover in Stegman’s third with coordinated pressure from midfield. Center forward Austin Gerber received a through ball that split Stegman’s defense and hit a heavy strike that goalkeeper Matt Elder reacted quickly to kick away. Unfortunately for the visitors, the balled popped out to attacking midfielder Stefanos Stamoulocatos and the former U.S. youth international buried the follow-up from a tight angle with his left foot to tie the match in the 26th minute.

Stegman’s number 11, Whitney Browne was active throughout the game. He forced Rochester’s Will Banahene into a diving save from a set piece in the opening 15 minutes and was not shy about unloading shots from distance either.

Rochester held court for much of the remainder of the first half. The River Dogz tried to build measured attacks through midfield, probing for an opening between defenders, while still effectively using the long ball upfield for Gerber to chase. In contrast, Stegman’s kept several players deep even when in possession in the final third.

In the second half, Stegman’s pushed forward more often looking for a second goal but left themselves more vulnerable to counterattacks. A quick break chance almost put the hosts ahead early in the second half but the shot from Anthony Rozzano’s cross bounced off the crossbar.

Rochester’s utility defender Alex Harling, having played center back, right back, and left back on Sunday preserved equity in the middle of the second half. Stegman’s capitalized on a poor pass from Rochester’s No. 14, who had just entered the match as a substitute, and attacked quickly through the middle. The visitors may have thought difficult part of the move was over when a Stegman’s attacker rounded Banahene, but Harling recovered expertly to clear the eventual shot off the goal line.

Shortly after nearly conceding on one end, Rochester grabbed the go-ahead goal at the other. Gerber received another well-timed through ball that put him through with Elder and set himself up for a right-footed instep shot curled low to the far post. To his credit, Elder got a touch on the shot but could not prevent the game-winner from dribbling over the line.

Facing elimination after an unforgiving qualification process, Stegman’s rose to the occasion. The visitors moved the ball around the field well while pressing forward with urgency, peppering Banahene’s goal with efforts.

“Stegmans came to play that’s for sure,” said River Dogz general manager/assistant coach Marc Mandell. “After an early goal a minute into the game, our players had to buckle down and focus on how to get back in the game. I was very pleased that we were able to come back being a goal down to win 2-1. Our goalkeeper Will Banahene was definitely the man of the match coming up with some huge saves and Austin Gerber came through with the game-winning goal for the second game in a row.”

Perhaps an effort to run the clock down, two Rochester players received bookings in the final minutes of the match. The first was to Rochester’s No. 11 for his part in some shoving and gesticulating during a fracas near the Stegman’s goal and the second was to Rozzano for time-wasting after he cleared a ball past the bleachers once it had already crossed the sideline.

Stegman’s players showed well and can be proud of their efforts (after raising the funds to cover their airfare), but it was Rochester that came away with the 2-1 victory.

With the win, the River Dogz will qualify for the 105th edition of the US Open Cup that will begin next May. Their head coach, who has plenty of US Open Cup experience as a player with the Rochester Rhinos, was proud of his team’s performance.

“Rochester has a ton of local talent and I am happy to see the community rally around these guys,” said Doug Miller, who scored the game-winning goal for the Rhinos in the 1999 US Open Cup Final. “This cup means a lot to me and my ex-teammates and to be a part of it again is exciting”