In a game that took 120 minutes to get a result Dante Leverock and his Harrisburg City Islanders teammates were knocked out of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup after losing 3-1 to the Rochester Rhinos on City Island.
Despite opportunities for both sides in the first 105 minutes of the match the Islanders were not able to finish until the 106 minute of play.
It was a slow start to the game, as Rochester took the first shot in the 11th minute but it was shoved aside by Kyle Renfro. Harrisburg failed to register a shot on goal in the first and their only real chance came on a Danny DiPrima cross that went begging through the box.
The best scoring chance for Rochester came during the first half came from Dos Santos when he received a trough ball on a breakaway but failed to convert on the chance. Minutes later Steven Dos Santos took down Yann Ekra from behind and was given his second yellow card of the game and was ejected. Despite only playing with 10 men the Rhinos had the majority of the chances during the first half.
The second half played out much like the first. No team was able to really break through and chances were only coming off of set pieces.
Jose Barril had one free kick sail just over the bar and Miller just got a finger on the second one that came during the waning minutes of the half. City threatened a few times but couldn’t figure out the tough Rhino defense that has only given up four goals all year.
The first extra time was a mirror image of the previous 90 minutes. Until Brett Jankouskas put a rebound chance in the back of the net, off of a shot by Eric Bird, to break the scoreless tie and put the Islanders on top in the 106th minute. Rochester would answer right back in the next series of play with a shot that just snuck passed Kyle Renfro.
However, Rochester had other plans. They went right down the field and Kenardo Forbes put one behind Renfro the very next minute. Ten minutes later a shot ping-ponged around the box and eventually fell to the feet of Samuel Asani who struck it home to put Rochester up for good.
Harrisburg had a chance right at the end of the 120 minutes on another rebound shot with the Rhino goalie lying on the ground. Ekra’s shot hit a Rochester player in front of the goal and time expired.
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