Rhinos miffed that A-League spreads blame
Jeff DiVeronica
Staff writer
(September 2, 2004) — A-League officials say lax security at Frontier Field contributed to two incidents during Friday's Rhinos match with rival Montreal in which two Impact players were ejected and another was caught on videotape punching Rochester midfielder Lenin Steenkamp.
As a result, expect at least a few changes in how things are run Friday at Frontier in what is expected to be a heated first-round playoff match between the Rhinos and Impact. Game 2 of their two-match, total-goal series is Sunday in Montreal.
"Both teams made a lot of mistakes," said David Askinas, chief executive officer of the United Soccer Leagues, which oversees the A-League. "We want to make this rivalry about the games rather than what goes on off the field."
Tim Holt, the A-League's director of operations, will attend the match.
That'll be difficult because what happens on the pitch has usually ignited what transpires off it.
Bad blood has been a staple of Rochester-Montreal matches since the Rhinos knocked the regular-season champion Impact out of the playoffs in Rochester's 1996 inaugural season. Both sides also have felt they've been treated unfairly by officials when playing on the opponent's home field.
The suspensions and fines handed out by the A-League as a result of Friday's fracas didn't sit well with either team.
"I guess that means we did our job," Askinas said.
The Rhinos are upset because they feel Nevio Pizzolitto, who punched Steenkamp en route to the locker room for halftime, isn't being punished severely enough, fines to their own players were too steep, and they are being accused of provoking Montreal and having shoddy security.
Montreal is miffed that Pizzolitto, who was given what amounts to a one-game suspension because the league allowed his absence from Sunday's meaningless regular-season finale to count as a game served, has to miss Game 1 because it felt the defender was provoked, a claim the league believes.
"In our opinion, both players played a part," Askinas said. "We think Steenkamp deliberately timed his exit so he could get into it with the Montreal players to mix it up. That is consistent with the videotape we saw when (Rhinos bench) players were going after Adam Braz after he was red-carded. There was no need for Rochester players to get between Braz and the exit. That escalated the affair."
Braz was ejected for a hard tackle on Noah Delgado. Late in the match, Montreal's Mauricio Vincello also was red-carded for a tackle from behind on Chris Carrieri.
Each team has designated exit areas at halftime and after the match. The Rhinos are supposed to leave through the third-base dugout and opponents in the tunnel behind home plate, but a few Rochester players usually exit behind the plate.
"I've seen guys go that way before. It's not a big deal," said Montreal midfielder Yuri Lavrynenko, who was released by the Rhinos earlier this season. "Security can be as tight as they want. If guys want to get into it, they'll find a way."
Steenkamp said he and Pizzolitto were arguing about the proper exit and how Steenkamp and Montreal's Gabriel Gervais, another ex-Rhino, were involved in a similar halftime-exit altercation last year.
"We thought it was provocation," by Steenkamp, Askinas said. "Did it mean he should have gotten hit? No. That never should happen."
Pizzolitto was given a red card and three-game suspension earlier this season for elbowing an opponent during a match at Virginia Beach. He missed Montreal's next match, as per FIFA rules after a red card, then was allowed to play in 1-0 wins over the Rhinos on July 7 and July 9 because Montreal appealed. He served the final two games in losses to Syracuse on July 14 and July 16.
"We didn't think it would be fair to have a playoff series decided without one of the best players on the field," Askinas said, explaining why Pizzolitto's absence Sunday was applied to the suspension. "There's ample precedent for that. We didn't create that for Montreal."
The Rhinos still think Montreal got off easy.
"Our players didn't punch anybody. We didn't get any red cards," Rochester general manager Chris Economides said. "What did we do?"
It's what the team didn't do, Askinas said.
Rhinos players shouldn't have been allowed to berate Braz as he tried to exit, Askinas said. Economides also shouldn't have been at field level near the action, Askinas said. That's a league rule for owners. Security also was asked by an official to make sure the teams used the proper exits at halftime, Askinas said.
But Economides said security wasn't available because it was busy near midfield, where Montreal coach Nick DeSantis had charged out to talk to officials.
The league has told the Rhinos to move the opponent's bench so it isn't so close to fans, a problem for teams such as Pittsburgh and Hershey.
JDIVERON@DemocratandChronicle.com
Go Impact Go!!! 