MONTREAL, Quebec – FC Montreal lost 3-0 in its second USL game of the season on Saturday afternoon, against the Rochester Rhinos, on the synthetic turf at Stade Saputo.
Rochester scored the first goal on a counter attack. On the play, Jonny Mendoza took an accurate shot in the top of the net to beat goalkeeper David Paulmin at the 35th minute.
Substitute Christian Volesky then scored a brace in the second half. Both times, Alex Dixon was alone on the left wing and found Volesky, unmarked, in the box. Without any opposition, he easily found the back of the net in the 68th and the 71st minutes.
Both goals came after a red card was given to defender Franck Zoue in the 66th minute. Zoue pulled down Kenardo Forbes, who found himself alone in front of Montreal’s goal.
“Compared to the first game, it was better in the first hour,” explained FC Montreal head coach Philippe Eullaffroy. “We felt like we had much of the control in the first 60 minutes of the game. The red card changed everything and the result is really disappointing.”
In the first half, FC Montreal imposed its pace, switching sides often to catch the opposition off guard and get scoring chances.
In the 25th minute, after playing down the left wing, Victor Omar Ndiaye cut to the centre, dribbling past two defenders, before taking a strong shot that just missed the net.
After Volesky’s two goals in the second half, the Rhinos continued to dominate until the final whistle. Alex Dixon got away twice, beating Montreal’s defenders with his speed and finding himself alone against Paulmin. Both times, the Bleu-blanc-noir goalkeeper closed the door.
“Even if I didn’t have a bad game, the result is not good,” said Paulmin. “I don’t want to think about my personal performance in these circumstances. It’s disappointing to lose at home.”
FC Montreal will play its next game on the road on April 18, at 7pm, against the Harrisburg City Islanders at the Skyline Sports Complex.
The game will be available for streaming on www.impactmontreal.com/fcmontreal
LINEUPS
FC Montreal
David Paulmin; Franck Zoue, Mitchel Bringolf, John Dinkota (Mélé Temguia 82’), Janouk Charbonneau; Nazim Belguendouz (Jonathan Vallée 74’), Louis Béland-Goyette (Mastanabal Kacher 71’), Zakaria Messoudi (Yacine Ait-Slimane 80’); Victor Ndiaye, Fabio Morelli, Frédéric Lajoie-Gravelle (Alessandro Riggi 71’)
Rochester Rhinos
Brandon Miller; Vasileios Apostolopoulos, Onua Obasi (Drew Ruggles 65’), Patrick McMahon, Grant Van De Casteele; Jonny Mendoza (Marcos Ugarte 79’), Mike Garzi (Christian Silva 59’), Tony Walls, Kenardo Forbes (Tyler Rudy 75’); Alex Dixon, Colin Rolfe (Christian Volesky 53’).
GOALS
ROC: Jonny Mendoza 35’
ROC : Christian Volesky 68’
ROC : Christian Volesky 71’
CAUTIONS
ROC : Colin Rolfe 7’
MTL : John Dinkota 59’
MTL : Frédéric Lajoie-Gravelle 62’
ROC : Pat McMahon 89’
MTL : Janouk Charbonneau 90’
EJECTION
MTL : Franck Zoue 66’
