Rhinos stumble, fall

Hot Riverhounds capitalize on miscue

LAKE FONG PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE Rhinos forward Neathan Gibson challenges Mario Gori in the second half of Wednesday night's A-League playoff game. Game 2 is Saturday at Frontier Field.

Democrat and Chronicle

BETHEL PARK, PA. (Thursday, September 27, 2001) -- In the first round of the A-League playoffs, 12th-seeded Pittsburgh rallied from a goal deficit in Game 1 to beat No. 5 Charleston, and last night it took the same path to victory over No. 4 Rochester.

Second-half goals by Welton and John Jones lifted the Riverhounds to a 2-1 win in Game 1 of the quarterfinals at Bethel Park Stadium. Game 2 is at 7:35 p.m. Saturday at Frontier Field, when the defending champion Rhinos face elimination.

The series is a two-game, total-goal format, so the Rhinos need to win by more than one to advance. If they win by one, 30 minutes of sudden-death overtime will be played. If that doesn't decide a winner, penalty kicks will.

If the Rhinos (16-7-4) tie, their season would end for just the second time without reaching the title game. Rochester won the final in 1998 and '00 and was runner-up in '96 and '99.

"We've got 90 minutes," coach Pat Ercoli said. "If we can't score we don't deserve to be where we are."

Who could have predicted the 'Hounds (12-13-4) would be where they are? The lowest playoff seed, they've won five straight.

The Rhinos took a 1-0 lead in the 25th minute when Stoian Mladenov buried a penalty kick after being tackled in the area. It was his fifth goal in four games against Pittsburgh.

The Riverhounds tied it in the 62nd minute when forward Welton converted on a misplay by goalie Billy Andracki. A ball played back to Andracki just wide of the goal was headed out of bounds, which would have given Pittsburgh at corner kick. Andracki tried a sliding boot to clear it but didn't get much on it.

"The field was kind of slick and it was played back at a tough angle," Ercoli said. "He lost his footing."

Pittsburgh went a man up in the 75th minute when Nate Daligcon was whistled for his second yellow card (automatic ejection). The midfielder had a total of one yellow card in 22 regular-season matches.

The Riverhounds capitalized in the 81st minute when ex-Rhino Henry Gutierrez served a corner kick that Jones converted from about 10 yards.

Rochester caught a break in the 88th. Alfredo Ulloa hit the post with a shot. A two-goal hole would have been much tougher.

"To come out of here 1-0 under the circumstances we put ourselves in, I'm happy with it," Ercoli said.