Inspired Rhinos win for 'Mickey'

Democrat and Chronicle

FRANKLIN, WIS. (Friday, October 5, 2001) -- When the Rochester Rhinos scored in the second minute yesterday, coaches and players pointed toward the sky.

"For Mickey," coach Pat Ercoli said.

One day after teammate Mickey Trotman died in a car accident, the fourth-seeded Rhinos won an emotional playoff match at No. 8 Milwaukee, 3-2, to take the lead in their A-League semifinal series.

The second and decisive game is 7:35 p.m. tomorrow at Frontier Field. The team with the most goals after both games advances to the Oct. 13 title game. Rochester has played in four of the past five and won twice. It is 29-1-3 since May 2000 at home.

"If we want to accomplish this for Mickey, it's not over with," Ercoli said.

The Rhinos (18-7-4) are dedicating the rest of season to Trotman, 26, who died in his native Trinidad. He was there training with the Trinidad & Tobago national team. Using a silver marker, the players wrote "14" -- Trotman's jersey number -- on their black armbands.

Midfielders Lenin Steenkamp (second minute) and Nate Daligcon (15th) staked Rochester to an early lead, but Milwaukee (16-12-3) tied it on goals by All-League midfielder Philippe Godoy (24th) and reserve Matt Bobo (62nd) -- both off free kicks.

"They take their chances and go forward, so they're going to get opportunities," Ercoli said of the offensive Rampage.

But his team, known for defense, gambled a bit, too.

The Rhinos tried to switch fields with the ball quickly to counter attack. That's how Daligcon scored.

The Rhinos found Bill Sedgewick with a long pass and he fed Daligcon with a through ball. He tucked it inside the right post from 15 yards.

Gibson's winner was just his second goal in 15 starts, but he has now scored in back-to-back playoff games. It came off Stoian Mladenov's corner kick that midfielder Martin Nash headed into the middle of the box.

"They have some really tall players," Ercoli said of Milwaukee, which upset No. 1 Richmond in the quarterfinals by winning Game 2 in overtime on the road.

"So we said, 'Let's make sure we deliver to the near post because we're not going to win it at the back post.' "

Goalie Scott Vallow started for Rochester. Nash and Daligcon each have a goal and assist in the playoffs.