Rochester rocking a slightly modified 3-4-3 formation, with Paulo Soares making his first start of the season, playing in the Right-Wing Back Role. Dante Brigida also took the right-wing spot from Edward Williams, who started in midfield in place of Bubacar Djaló. Rochester continued its counter-attacking ways from the second half of last match, as they scored four goals while only having the ball for 39.2% of the match. Rochester's win streak is now an MLS Next Pro League longest four games, as they stopped the 7-game streak held by Columbus Crew 2. Rochester is also now tied with NYC FC II for the final playoff spot, who play Inter Miami II tonight at 7:00 pm EST.
First Half
Rochester started the game with a little fire, with a flurry of chances culminating with a Gibran Rayo goal set up by a long ball from Caíque (who should have been awarded the assist here). That score made it 1-0 for Rochester, who then couldn't get much going for the rest of the half as Crew controlled the ball much for the rest of the half. However, Rochester's stout defensive line blocked five shot attempts in the first half, with Caíque saving the two shots on goal. Rochester went into halftime up 1-0!
Second Half
Rochester came out of the half, more aggressive on both sides of the pitch, with a more committed counter-attacking style. Rochester had several good chances early on in the second half, but they were either sent wide or stopped by Crew 2's keeper Patrick Schulte. Rochester would finally crack open the lid on goal, in the 62nd minute, as Ian Garrett scored his first goal for Rochester. After a beautiful through ball from Edward Williams, Garrett scored to make it 2-0 Rochester! Rochester added another just nine minutes later, with substitute Preston Popp finding Gibran Rayo open in front of the net for his second goal of the game. After another wonderful Caíque save, Rochester would bring on Ryan Firestone to play as the Left Wing-Back, as he made his professional debut! It was a big step for Firestone and RNY FC as a whole, as he became the first amateur designated player to make an appearance since the rebrand. Another personal milestone would be made before the end of the match though, as Rochester's Gabriel Costa scored his first professional goal, after a pass from Edward Williams to make it 4-0 Rochester!
Stats That Matter
Although Rochester favored a counter-attacking style of play, they left Sunday's match with a second-consecutive clean sheet. This was largely due to Rochester's nack to win the ball back, as they won over 58% of the duels and successfully completed ten tackles compared to Crew 2's four. Furthermore, while Rochester and Crew 2 had the same amount of shots with 15, Rochester had ten shots on goal while Crew 2 only had four. Thus, Rochester was able to test the opposing keeper much more than Crew 2 did, despite having the ball for only 39.2% of the match
North Star Ultras' Player of the Game:
This matches North Star Ultras' Player of the Game is Gibran Rayo! Rayo lead the charge on offense, as he completed 77.3% of his passes, and scored a brace for Rochester. Rayo's goal came from some great timing with Caíque and Edward Williams, as he blitzed his way pass the defense for perfectly-timed through balls. Rayo then converted those opportunities into goals.
Photos from Ric Kruszynski: https://twitter.com/RicKruszynski
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