A Saturday night thrashing against Inter Miami II, ended 4-1! With roughly 838 fans in attendance, Rochester was the team that wanted this game more from the beginning, and earned the second consecutive league win. Rochester moved up to 7th in the table, now just three points out from the final playoff spot. For Miami, they are now on a three-game slide, but still sit just one point from playoff position.
First Half: With Milan Vanacker out, Jacob Akanyirige earned the nod at Right Wing Back. Playing a modified 3-4-3 which allowed Akanyirige and Garrett to come back when needed to form a five man front on the defensive side of the ball, and to overlap the wingers when joining the attack. Rochester dominated the flow of the game in the first half, with the only real chance of the half, being sent over the bar by Kobi Thomas early on. Rochester jumped to an early lead as Edward Williams scored from way out of the box on a free kick in the 10th minute. Just ten minutes later, Gibran Rayo passed it through the defense to Pedro Dolabella in a perfectly timed run that saw Dolabella score in his second consecutive game! Rochester would continue the pressure, attempting four more shots in the half while Miami attempted zero.
Halftime Score 2-0 Rochester
Second Half: Despite being up by two, Rochester came out of the half firing shots on goal, with four shots in the first five minutes of the half. The last of those shots, happened to be Jacob Akanyirige's first ever professional goal for the twenty-year-old. He scored after Gibran Rayo's shot was blocked and then popped into the air, where Rayo was able to nod it over to Akanyirige who the cut in and smashed the ball into the bottom corner. Only a few minutes later, Rochester again scored, this time on a fast-break that allowed Rayo to cross it into a wide-open Jesus Batiz (The Player to Watch for this game) who then tapped it in to make it 4-0 Rochester. Inter Miami II did get one back in the 60th minute with Kobi Thomas making up for his miss early on, to make it 4-1 Rochester. That shot, ended up being the only one on target for Miami II throughout the match, as Rochester began to take the foot off the gas, using all five substitutes. While their were a couple missed chances for both sides, the game quietly ended 4-1 with a Rochester victory!
Stat of the game: Rochester limited Inter Miami II to a mere one shot in the first half, which came in the first 10 minutes of the match. Miami II, ended with only six shots, with the goal by Thomas being the only shot on target.
North Star Ultras' Player of the Game:
This matches North Star Ultras' Player of the Game is Edward Williams! Williams scored an absolute beauty to put Rochester on the board, and helped keep the offense flowing with his crisp passing.
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