The Rochester Rhinos are an American professional soccer team based in Rochester, New York, United States. Founded in 1996, as the Rochester Raging Rhinos, the team plays in the United Soccer League in the second tier of the United States soccer league system. The club is currently on a one-year hiatus from the league. They changed their name to Rochester Rhinos to start the 2008 season.
The team plays its home games at Capelli Sport Stadium, formerly known as PAETEC Park, where they have played since 2006. The team's colors are black, white and green. The team was coached by veteran head coach Bob Lilley. On November 30, 2017, the team announced that they would not play in 2018 while additional funding was sought.
The club is the only non-MLS team to have won the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup since the league's formation.
Video Rochester Rhinos
History
Rochester Raging Rhinos was founded in 1996 and played in the now-defunct original A-League until it merged with the USISL for the 1997 season, creating the new A-League. After reaching the championship game in 1996 they won their first league championship in 1998.
In 1999 the club made it to the final of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, where they defeated MLS club Colorado Rapids 2-0, becoming the first team from outside MLS to win the national cup since MLS's inception. This win was followed by two further A-League titles in 2000 and 2001.
A year after the A-League's renaming to the USL First Division in 2005, the Rhinos moved into the newly completed PAETEC Park, a 13,768-seat soccer-specific stadium and again made the championship game. he Rhinos were considered a candidate to be an expansion team at the MLS level when PAETEC Park was in the planning stages.
The team was declared insolvent in 2008 after defaulting on their stadium agreement, and PAETEC Park was seized by the city of Rochester. After a brief search for a new owner and investor who could improve the team's financial outlook, in March 2008 the club was taken over by Utica businessman Rob Clark. Clark changed the team's name to the "Rochester Rhinos," and assured that the financial situation of the team was stable and it would be able to play the next year. After two seasons under Clark the club joined the new NASL for its 2010 season. The United States Soccer Federation refused the NASL's application for sanctioning, and instead operated its own temporary second-division league for 2010. The Rhinos were part of that temporary USSF Division 2 Professional League league. The Rhinos switched leagues again before the 2011 season to the then third-division USL Pro league, who considered themselves equally competitive with the second-division NASL.
The 2011 season ended with the Rhinos first in their division followed by a playoff season that lasted 2 games. The Rhinos saw off the Pittsburgh Riverhounds 4-0 in first round of the playoffs and then lost 2-1 at home to the Harrisburg City Islanders to finish the season. At the end of the season, head coach Bob Lilley was replaced by Jesse Myers, most recently an assistant coach of the Richmond Kickers. On October 12
In January 2013, the Rhinos became the official USL Pro affiliate of the New England Revolution. Following a 1-6-1 start to the 2013 season, on May 19 Myers was dismissed and Pat Ercoli named Head Coach. They missed the playoffs for the first time ever, finishing with a 6-10-10 record.
The league revoked the Clark family's ownership of the club in January 2016, citing the revocation of the lease on Rochester Rhinos Stadium by the City of Rochester. The league took over operations of the club until it could be sold to a new ownership group. David and Wendy Dworkin, minority owners of the Sacramento Kings basketball club, were identified as the Rhinos' new owners later in the month. The Dworkins were officially announced as the new owners on March 10, 2016. On November 30, 2017, the Rhinos announced that they will be on hiatus.
Maps Rochester Rhinos
Stadium
- Fauver Stadium at the University of Rochester; Rochester, New York (1996)
- Frontier Field; Rochester, New York (1996-2005)
- Capelli Sport Stadium; Rochester, New York (2006-present)
Club culture
Media
2017 Rhinos home and away games were broadcast "live" on WBGT Ch.18 TV in Rochester, NY and on-demand on ROCSportsNetwork.com
Supporters
The Oak Street Brigade is the supporters groups for the Rhinos. Occupying section 101 at Capelli Sport Stadium, the Brigade stands and sings for 90 minutes every game and usually 30 minutes before and after. Best known for their "1 ton bass drum" and a flurry of streamers and smoke bombs following every Rhinos goal. Their biggest rivals are the Montreal Ultras and Pittsburgh. The name Oak Street Brigade refers to the address of Capelli Sport Stadium.
Notable former players
- See also All-time Rochester Rhinos roster
Rochester Rhinos Hall of Fame
- 2011: Lenin Steenkamp
- 2012: Craig Demmin, Doug Miller, Pat Onstad
- 2013: 1999 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Team
- 2014: Yari Allnutt, Scott Vallow
- 2015: Darren Tilley, Mali Walton
Retired numbers
- 19 - Doug Miller
Head coaches
- Pat Ercoli (1996-2004)
- Laurie Calloway (2005-2007)
- Darren Tilley (2008-2009)
- Bob Lilley (2010-2011)
- Jesse Myers (2012-2013)
- Pat Ercoli (interim, 2013)
- Bob Lilley (2014-2017)
Achievements
- United Soccer League
- Championship
- Winners : 2015
- USL Regular Season
- Winners: 2015
- Eastern Conference
- Winners (Playoffs): 2015
- Winners (Regular season): 2015
- USSF Division 2 Professional League
- Regular Season Champions (1): 2010
- Champions, USL Conference (1): 2010
- USL A-League
- Winners (3): 1998, 2000, 2001
- Northeast Division Champions (3): 1998, 1999, 2002
- U.S. Open Cup
- Winners (1): 1999
Record
Year-by-year
References
External links
- Official website
Source of article : Wikipedia
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