Originally posted to Voyageurs Soccer Talk message board.
CP article: Rhinos Advance to A-League Final
by Winnipeg Fury
Rhinos advance to A-League final
ROCHESTER,
N.Y. (CP) -- Defender Craig Demmin headed in his first career goal
with
Rochester in the 80th minute Sunday to move the Raging Rhinos into
the
A-League soccer final with a 1-0 win over the Toronto Lynx.
Demmin, a native of Trinidad, rose above a pair of Lynx defenders
to head home a
Carlo Zavala free kick
The teams had tied 1-1 on
Friday night in Toronto in the opening game of the two-leg
Eastern Conference
final. The Rhinos benefitted from a 75th-minute goal by Dan
Stebbins to tie
that game.
Rhinos goalkeeper Scott Vallow recorded his third
shutout of the playoffs. Toronto's
Theo Zagar was the busier of the two
'keepers, facing 16 shots to seven for Vallow.
There was no
shortage of action in the game with 15 corners, 10 of which went
to
Rochester.
"I'm pleased with the season," said Toronto coach
and GM Peter Pinizzotto. "We did
much better than people gave us credit for
and the players were great all year."
The Rhinos will meet the
Minnesota Thunder in the A-League championship game on
Saturday.
It marks the third consecutive season the two clubs have met for
the title, with each
team winning once. The Rhinos defeated the Thunder 3-1
in Rochester in 1998 while
the Thunder won 2-1 in Minnesota last season.
The Thunder, top playoff seeds in the West, finished the regular
season at 20-4-4.
The fourth-seeded Lynx were 13-11-4 during the
regular season before knocking off
Long Island and Richmond in the playoffs.
The fourth-seeded Rhinos were 17-9-2 during the regular season.
"We take our hats off to the Lynx," said Rochester coach Pat
Ercoli, a Toronto native.
"They had a lot of injuries and we were surprised
they went this far."
Posted on Sep 24 2000, 8:25 PM
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