Dans le journal de Rochester de ce matin...(en anglais)

[François]

Rhinos: Rookie Johnson could start
By JEFF DiVERONICA
STAFF WRITER

(September 5, 2003) — It’s not as if Pat Ercoli hasn’t had to defend his decisions before.

So no one should be surprised if he starts Soren Johnson, a Rhinos rookie who has two more starts as a professional goalie than you and I, in tonight’s A-League playoff opener against Montreal.

No one should be shocked if he goes with Johnson, a 22-year-old kid thrown into the heat of an intense rivalry, rather than veteran Billy Andracki, 34, who somehow managed to mask all of his goalkeeping deficiencies during 14 victories this year, a franchise-record 55 wins in his eight-year Rhinos career and while leading two different teams - Atlanta and Rochester - to A-League Championship Games in 1995 and ‘96.

“ People that achieve things or are successful, it’s because they take risks and they don’t look at what people are going to think about what they do,” Ercoli said during Thursday’s practice at Frontier Field, before declining to once again name a starter until today. “ I have to do what I think is best for this team to win, and if that’s a decision that’s going to help us win, I can’t sit there and worry about what (fans are) going to say about my decision.”

He didn’t sound defensive, but you could tell Ercoli knew the question would be coming. And the word “ risks” is a pretty good clue Johnson might be his man tonight. Then again, trying to figure out Ercoli’s riddles has never been easy.

But, to be fair, this is a man who has for years piled up wins (more than 175) and championships (four) and has legions of second-guessers. Critics questioned his defensive style of play, so with some prompting from team management Ercoli relented this season. He let the Rhinos go forward more, play with more creativity. The result? A few too many comeback losses that also have had fans upset.

Talk about a no-win situation.

But you know what wins tonight and throughout the A-League playoffs?

Ercoli’s defensive system that so many fans whined about. It might not matter if it’s Johnson or Andracki in goal, but on Wednesday Ercoli talked about how important it is to have veterans this time of the year, guys who “ have been through it before.”

So you’d think he’ll give Andracki the start tonight. But I don’t think he will.

Every time a player says the Rhinos haven’t lost confidence in Andracki, keep in mind that they speak for themselves — not management.

If the Rhinos brass believed in “ Billy Ball” all along, why would they have flown in a flop all the way from Peru named Rafael Quesada, who looked awful in training camp.

Why would they have brought an MLS backup, Henry Ring, here during the season, then sit him for two matches before an angry Ring bolted and never gave management the chance to unseat Andracki?

Why would they fool around with giving Johnson starts now? Why wasn’t he given minutes earlier in the season? Ercoli said the move was made to “ shake things up” after a 4-3 loss in Pittsburgh that Rochester led 3-1 at halftime. It shook things up all right. Now he’ll have either a largely unproven rookie who has shown great promise in goal - and been put in a difficult situation — or a veteran looking over his shoulder.

Andracki has his shortcomings, but his defense also has left him uncovered a lot more than it did for Pat Onstad and Scott Vallow in the past.

“ I’m preparing right now like I’m going to start, just as I have prepared for the past week,” Andracki said.

Johnson or Andracki?

Either way, Ercoli will have to explain his choice afterward. Just expect more questions if it’s the rookie, not the veteran.
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Rhinos, Impact look for stride


The rivals, heading into the playoffs, have struggled lately


By JEFF DiVERONICA
STAFF WRITER


(September 5, 2003) — The Rhinos and Montreal Impact have limped into the playoffs, a pair of A-League heavyweights staggered by the grind of a grueling season and the relentless pursuit of opponents always bringing their best.

Since July 22, Rochester has gone 3-3-4 and Montreal 4-2-3 with four shutout losses or ties.

“ The net seems to be getting smaller and smaller. We have to work through this,” Montreal forward and ex-Rhino Mauro Biello said after last week’s 2-0 loss to Virginia Beach, not exactly what you want tohear from one of your playmakers. “ We’re playing all right, but that won’t be good enough in the playoffs.”

He’s right.

Tonight we’ll find out which of these rivals will find their postseason legs first. Game 1 of their two-game, total-goal series is at Frontier Field. The series shifts to Montreal for the decisive Game 2. It’s their fourth playoff meeting, following Rochester’s Impact dismissals in 1996, ‘98 and last year.

“ It’s the best rivalry, I think, in the league,” Rhinos midfielder Kirk Wilson said before Thursday’s workout at Frontier. “ We’re the two best teams.”

Not that they played that way recently. Montreal led the league with just 21 goals allowed - 15 fewer than Rochester - and goalie Greg Sutton had a league-leading 11 shutouts. But since forward Eduardo Sebrango was lost to a season-ending knee injury on July 23, the Impact has struggled to score consistently. They scored only 10 times in their last nine matches.

Coach Bob Lilley has started Mark Rowland, Ali Ngon — acquired in a late-season trade from Toronto — and Martin Nash alongside Biello, who leads Montreal with seven goals and six assists. But Nash started the last two matches. He has four goals and six assists. Nash, Sebrango and defender Gabriel Gervais are all ex-Rhinos.

“ You can’t compare Sebrango (six goals) to any other forward. He started everything up front for them,” said Rhinos defender Bill Sedgewick, who played for Montreal in 1997. “ He caused havoc by closing down our defenders, but whenever you have a Nash or Biello you can still get productivity.”

Montreal won the season series 2-1-1, including a 3-2 comeback in Rochester on June 20 and 2-0 loss at Frontier on June 28. In two matches in Canada, the Impact benefitted from a Rhinos own-goal in a 1-0 win on June 22 and only managed a 0-0 tie on Aug. 13 — the teams’ last meeting. Like Rochester, which went 8-2-4 at Frontier, the Impact was far from a sure thing at home. After starting 4-0-2, it went just 2-3-3.

“ They’re obviously a different team (without Sebrango) because of his work rate,” Rhinos coach Pat Ercoli said. “ But that doesn’t mean they’re not as good.”

Montreal did go 10-3-1 on the road, so a win tonight wouldn’t be as shocking as in years past when Frontier was where playoff opponents came to die. Starting in 1998 - when the Rhinos won their first of three league titles - Rochester won 17 straight playoff home matches.

Rochester is 17-1-2 all-time at home in the postseason, but that one loss - of course - was to Montreal, 3-0, back in 1996.

“ When I was with Montreal,” Sedgewick recalled, “ it felt like insurmountable odds playing against Rochester. And since I’ve been here, we’ve built so much confidence playing in the playoffs. We’ve almost demoralized teams when they come here.”


JDIVERON@DemocratandChronicle.com



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Game night
Matchup: The Rochester Rhinos (15-7-6) play the Montreal Impact (16-6-6) in the first round of the A-League playoffs. When/where: 7:35 tonight/Frontier Field. Game 2: 4 p.m. Sunday in Montreal. Radio: WYSL-AM (1040), WBER-FM (90.5), www.wysl1040.com. Format: Team with the most goals after both games advances. If goals are tied after both, a 30-minute, sudden-death overtime period will be played. If still no winner, penalty kicks decide who advances. Rivalry: Montreal leads the season series 2-1-1 and is 15-10-2 in the regular season, but Rochester is 5-1-1 in the playoffs, eliminating Montreal in 1996, '98 and last year. Tickets: Remain. Call (585) 423-9464. Ticket deal: First 2,000 fans get free water bottle courtesy of Hoselton. Wear anything with your school name on it, receive a bleacher seat for $5.

[Bxl Boy]

Très intéressant

Deux articles assez long
Un sur chaque équipe

Et pas des banalités habituelles

M. Pratt...
(et les autres)

[Y]

Leçon en provenance de Rochester

Non, non, L’Impact ne recevra pas une leçon de soccer ce soir – du moins on le souhaite.

Je parle plutôt d’une leçon journalistique. Voir l’article plus bas au sujet du duo des gardiens Andracki, le vétéran, et Johnson, la recrue.

À quand un truc semblable à Montréal? Pas sur nos gardiens, car à part un truc du genre ‘Sutton joue tous les matchs jusqu’à ce qu’il se blesse’, il n’y a plus rien à dire.

Pour ce qui est des Rhinos, j’espère que Ercoli choisira Johnson, mais je suis presque certain qu’il choisira Billy boy (l’ancien de Rugters U. où évoluait aussi un certain Alexi Lalas, tous deux finalistes de la NCAA div. 1 en 1991 – défaite contre UCLA qui avait Brad Friedel, Chris Henderson, Cobi Jones, Joe-Max Mooreet 4-5 autres internationaux US). Voir l’article.

J’ai hâte de voir un article de position de la part d’un journaliste moumoune-rialais. Un truc du genre est-ce que l’Impact et en particulier Lilley se donne vraiment toutes les chances pour gagner? La saga des attaquants à Montréal pourrait faire l’objet d’un livre, mais aucun soit disant journaliste n’a eu le culot de mettre en cause les décisions de Lilley. Et Dieu sait qu’il en aurait long à écrire. Encore Darko, ben oui. Comment l’entraîneur peut-il ignorer sa performance contre les Rhinos? Il n’y a rien d’autres à dire qu’il faut tout simplement être stupide. Ou que quelqu’un m’explique alors pourquoi il n’a plus jamais rejoué? Il a été trop bon, trop divertissant, il ne défendait pas? Est-ce que c’était trop difficile de lui foutre un micro sous le nez et de lui demander c’est quoi le problème avec Darko? Il n’est pas assez bon durant les pratiques peut-être?

Mais pour pouvoir faire une critique, faut-il encore comprendre ce que l’on couvre, non? Et ça j’espère ne pas vous surprendre en vous disant que nos ‘namis’ ne savent pas ce qu’ils font. Alors ils rapportent des faits, souvent avec erreurs. Ou ben si ça ne leur tente pas, on cut ‘n’ paste les trucs de Banfi. Jamais ô grand jamais n’y a-t-il d’analyse. Il y a quand même Matt, ici, qui doit certainement venir d’une autre planète avec ses reviews critiques. Seul endroit au monde où une analyse (critique) est faite sur l’Impact, c’est dommage. LaPresse, le journal de Montréal, the gazette et RDS en particulier doivent se réveiller.

À mon avis, le plus connaisseur des autres journalistes est F. Millien (quoiqu’il n’est pas un vrai journaliste car Québec Soccer est publié une fois par mois). Et il n’a même pas osé expliquer les lacunes de Lilley et de l’Impact – pire même, il l’a vanté (voir son article sur l’Impact bien préparé et qui joue avec brio dans la dernière édition de Québec Soccer). Jamais ô grand jamais quelqu’un ne fera croire, même avec torture, qu’il croit réellement ce qu’il a écrit. Impossible.

Au contraire de ce que pense M. Platte de LaPresse, ce n’est pas parce qu’un journaliste a couvert les JO qu’il est compétent pour couvrir l’Impact (…avec un œil critique). Martin Tyler, qui décrit des matchs de la EPL et de la coupe du monde en particulier depuis plusieurs années devient-il par conséquent compétent à couvrir les activités des Expos? Ben, y’a une expérience sportive internationale plus qu’impressionnante, non? Bordel, que pourrait-il demander au coach des Expos, dont j’ignore le nom? Rien car il aurait l’air idiot. Voilà donc la raison pour laquelle il n’y a jamais de questions pertinentes et de mise à M. Lilley (15 morceaux de robot…).

M. Platte, toujours, répondait (à Daniel, je crois) qu’il ne pouvait pas engager Gounelle ou autres pour couvrir l’Impact car un interne peut faire le travail – convention oblige. Une seule question : cet interne commence quand son travail au juste…?

Si un jour vous devenez sérieux M. Platte et les autres dont j’ignore les noms, vous savez où cogner…



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