You're not going to read this from the Riverhounds, who I'm sure are trying to stay professional about the result, and you won't here it from the Rhinos who know that their first round victory was tainted. However, you will hear about it here, the truth, the skinny...

In all my years of playing, watching and following sports, that was the worst case of clearly biased officials affecting the outcome of a game.

The Hounds fell to the Rhinos 4-2 in penalty kicks after 120 minutes of complete crap. We took the lead half way through the first on a T-Bone goal. The Hounds continued to dictate the game and deny the Rhinos any space. Justin Evans, Niko Katic and T-Bone Bonseu were solid down the middle in front of keeper Danny Waltman. Jerome was playing alone up top again in the 4-5-1 formation, holding up the ball well and allowing wingers Tommy Gray and Jason Kutney to make runs. Things looked very promising until the 72nd minute... After realizing that Rochester couldn't muster many quality chances, the refs decided to eject T-Bone for an alleged dangerous play. This left the Hounds to defend a one goal lead with ten men. Even the home-grown announce team in Rochester agreed that the call was horrific! Minutes earlier, Kutney was pulled down from behind in the penalty area after being sent in on a pinpoint pass from Jerome. No foul was given. The Riverhounds played with heart and desire as the lead held through 90 minutes. The officials then announced four minutes of added time. Four minutes! Like it was scripted, the Rhinos tied the game off a corner with about thirty seconds to play. The officiating was more than inconsistent, it was criminal.

The Riverhounds had seven cautions to the Rhinos three, including the ejection.

So, I did a little research on the officials, here's the breakdown on those refs:

Jason Krnac, a native of Cleveland Ohio, 35 years old and an official member of the USSF Futsal Assistants
Michael Farmer, Streetsboro Ohio (just outside of Cleveland)
Brian Miller, listed as a resident of "Northern Ohio"

(see a fucking pattern here? well, it gets worse...)

Bill Engel, native of Rochester New York

Well, there you go, three Pittsburgh-hating Cleveland scumbags and a native Rhino. What else could we have expected? It's pure and utter bullshit, end of story.

btw, here's Brian Miller's email address, be sure to drop him a line about the game...

brianmiller@cox.net

notice the domain there, fitting to say the least...