Dan Lauletta interviews Britt Eckerstrom: http://equalizersoccer.com/2016/03/23/the-lowdown-britt-eckerstrom/
Did you say you watched this match? If so, how'd my PSU girls-Eckerstrom and Weber-do? Actually my question goes out to anyone who saw the game. Thanks.
Eckerstrom came in at 67 min. She appeared to have a few nerves at first, but settled in, and did everything she had to do. From what I can remember, there were no hard shot stops or tip-overs, but one or two rollers on goal she picked up. Her distribution was fine. Hahn came in for Ayinde at the half and assumed the DM position, Andrade came in for Jeon and took up an attacking midfield spot. Weber came in for Mewis at 73 min and was the other midfielder in front of Hahn. This positioning was not obvious to me from ground level on the sideline, but I figured it out afterward. I did not recognize Weber when she came in (no number), and unfortunately did not observe any of her play. .
The turf is in: The @usl @rochesterrhinos turf is receiving its infill. Get excited for one of the best artificial surfaces in sport…https://t.co/26Wj3N7aYU— Steven (@USLsteven) April 7, 2016 Rochester Rhinos prepping the pitch for the April 23 home opener. Stadium feature the new FieldTurf Revolut... https://t.co/54B3kD3dbg— Steven (@USLsteven) April 7, 2016
RE: Field Lines This has always been a soccer specific stadium, also used sometimes for other sports such as college and high school gridiron football and high school lacrosse [the professional lacrosse team no longer plays there]. When those sports play, those lines are added temporarily and sometimes they are not totally erased by the time the next soccer game plays.
Flash Academy joins ECNL: {Boston Breakers Academy and Seattle Reign Academy are also new to ECNL} http://www.wnyflash.com/news/?article_id=368 “We’ve always strived to compete at the highest level with our professional team who are now in their fourth season in the NWSL,” said WNY Flash Academy Director of Soccer Operations Aaran Lines. “As we have expanded our academy ECNL has always been a goal of ours as a club. Having ECNL in the Western New York area is unparalleled and we look forward to having Western New York players showcase themselves in the best youth soccer league in the United States.” ECNL was founded in 2009 and is best known for its dedication to creating a league where the top female talent can compete against each other in order to further develop elite soccer players while empowering young women http://www.eliteclubsnationalleague.com/home/912108.html In the 2016-2017 season, each ECNL club will compete in five age groups (U14, U15, U16, U17, and U18/19) in regular season conference competition and ECNL National Events.
Democrat and Chronicle article on the Flash from Fri. 4/15. http://www.democratandchronicle.com...wcomers-hungry-make-name-themselves/83076102/
The ticket vendor changed and it mucked things up. April 22 for sure: We're extremely excited to announce our individual game tickets will be available tomorrow starting at 10am ET! ORDER ONLINE Coming soon!ORDER BY PHONE Call the WNY Flash (585) 271-5425ORDER IN PERSON WNY Flash Front Office 664 University Ave. Rochester, NY 14607
Thanks! I caught the delay on Twitter when the original date came. Will be on tomorrow to get my Dash game tickets. 2nd day back after the Olympic break so hopefully several of the players will be back. Luckily the break extends the full week after the final.
So I went to Sahlen's Stadium yesterday to buy a ticket to the Rhinos home opener on Saturday. I want to see the new turf and scoreboard in action and find out what other improvements will be in place, and of course see the defending USL champions play. I saw David and Wendy Dworkin there (the new Rhinos owners) ; but chose not to go up and say hello. Crews were doing cleanup and landscaping around the stadium and a team was out on the far end of the pitch training. On a whim, I also went by the new Flash Rochester Front Office, which is in an arts & cultural hub, as well as a neighborhood of young singles and couples. The storefront office is empty space right now, except for a Foosball table and Kayla Kent sitting at a work table doing business via cell phone. She said the Season Tickets would be sent out in the next couple of days.
Stadium Report from Rhinos game last night. Rhinos 2-1 over Montreal Impact I first guessed attendance at 5,000, revised it to 6,000 – the actual count was 5,124 – given the radio/media push from the new ownership, I expected more. David and Wendy Dworkin were everywhere, acting like the hosts for a party at their own home. I did say Hi and shake hands this time. I like her a lot. Turf. The turf seemed like it should have a “new car” smell. Balls rolled and bounced pretty well – the surface no longer being like an asphalt parking lot. Balls were kicking up rubber infill on the bounce, but the players’ feet generally did not. Footing looked fine – no slipping or catching. Scoreboard. The video quality was fine, but how it was used was rudimentary. Player introductions were done before the teams came onto the pitch with individual photos of each starting player on both teams. Some replays were shown during the game. After the teams came out, presentation of the 2015 championship banner was preceded by reading the story of last season – but no highlights were on the video board. The "Sahlen’s Stadium" permanent graphic at the top of the scoreboard needs refreshing – it looked quite faded. Field level seats. There are new Field Level seats on the east side of the pitch (seemed like oversized, very well cushioned folding chairs with cup holders and snack trays) situated behind the field level advertising signs. The beer stands had primarily local Genesee Brewery products – I did not see any national brands. I had my first Genny Cream Ale in a long time – it was good. Concessions. A major goal of the Dworkins is to greatly improve the quality of food service. Concessions from previous seasons were closed including all of those on the west side of the stadium, (sponsor Salvatore’s Pizza was closed, too). Signs were posted “Coming Soon – New Rochester Rhinos Food Concept” and “Coming Soon – Fireside Wine and Sports Bar” Four of the local food truck fleet were there, - a new thing, - presumably to take up the slack. The returning concessions were Dippin’ Dots and local staples Bill Gray’s and Nancy’s Fried Dough. A beer tent was set up at the south end of the stadium – new feature. In the future, I think entrance will be included in the price for some of the seats, and others can pay an admission fee.
Pre- Home Opener Flashpoints: On Saturday, Rich Randall and Sam Mewis were on WHTK 1280 Radio’s Kick This! http://www.kickthis.com/media/audio/20160423.mp3 >> General Flash Talk from about 3:40 to about 14:20 >> Sam Mewis from about 18:00 to about 24:20 I expect the Flash will be on Soccer is a Kick in the Grass radio at 6:30 tonight http://www.soccerisakickinthegrass.com/ Catherine Zimmerman was waived and Meredith Speck was signed and started vs. Chicago. Laura Liedle is apparently still in town. Per Rich Randall, she was going to do the ceremonial tip-off for the Rochester Razorsharks PBL basketball championship game on Sunday in Rochester- which they won……My comment: with Hinkle’s injury and Eddy’s poor play at right back – she may get a shot to make a game day roster. IMO D’Angelo’s 84th minute save of Press’s attempt (see 4:50 of the highlight video) was way better than Harris’ widely acclaimed save of Beckie’s shot. The Flash are starting the media campaign to get people to the game Friday . This morning, I missed Sam on 98.9 The Buzz radio and I missed Sam and Abby D. on live TV- Fox Rochester. I plan on going to the open practice in Rochester tomorrow: After the practice, Sam Mewis will host Soccer Without Borders Free Clinic for youth, ages 6-16. Donations are suggested and special edition t-shirts will be available to purchase with all proceeds benefiting Soccer Without Borders! Includes: 1 free ticket to the WNY Flash home opener on Friday, April 29 for all participants in the clinic Courtesy of TSE Gates. Family/Friends are able to purchase additional tickets at a discount of $10.
I went to the open practice this afternoon and watched some of the clinic afterward. They were indoors. Today was rainy and below 45 most of the day, so that was good. I did not see any wraps or bandages. Some of the players wore tights, so I wouldn’t know. Jaelene Hinkle took part in the warm-up exercises and I did not observe that she limped or favored one foot at all – she bent either foot the same way. During hops, she landed on either foot just the same. She did not participate after warm-ups; everything was with a ball the rest of practice. Jess McDonald and Jeon Gaeul were not there. I asked about Jeon, and found out she had gone back to South Korea, and was expected to be back in town within the next couple of days. I didn’t ask about Jess. I did see Laura LIedle and there was one other non-roster player who I could not identify. Vallow ran the warm-ups and drills and helped with the small-sided games. Someone else worked with the keepers. The keepers did not warm-up with the rest of the team. They played an 8 v 8 game the width of the field, only X players could be in the attacking half until Y number of passes were completed. Then they did a 5 v 5 with a rover game with goals and keepers between the halfway line and goal line, full width. Three teams of 5, team that scored stayed and the other teams swapped. I thought the team of Williams, Kennedy, Eddy, Niemiec and Andrade spent the most time playing. Jeff DiVeronica and TVChannels 8 and 13 did interviews afterward. Riley spent a lot of time with them – easily more than 10 minutes. Abby D was interviewed and then Sam. After the TV guys left, Jeff stayed a while and had a conversation with Sam. I’ll tune into the 10 and 11 o’clock news. This is too long, but I will mention that Sam assigned the age 6 and under kids to Sabrina D’Angelo, and she was great. Also I thought the red tee shirts were very nice. Soccer without Borders logo on the front and WNY on the back with “playing for change” above the flash logo. No Sahlen’s branding.
Discounted tickets for Friday night - New York State West Soccer .....includes all the USSF youth and adult teams in Western NY. Discounted Tickets Available to NYSW SOCCER FAMILIES General Admissions: $10 Reserved: $15 Club: $20
RE: Stadium Naming Rights and Jessica McDonald interview. On Monday, during WYSL Radio's Soccer is a Kick in the Grass, the Rhinos Chief of Soccer Operations, Pat Ercoli said that "As of right now, Sahlens has not renewed naming rights, so it is 'Rhinos Stadium'" Our local Media are calling it Rhinos Stadium and only the Flash are calling it Sahlen's Stadium. Previously naming rights were negotiated between the Flash and the City of Rochester, but now tthe Flash need to negotiate with the Rhinos Owners - David and Wendy Dworkin. Since the Dworkins have spent $500-600,000 on the new turf and other improvements which benefit the Flash, I suspect they are looking for a substantial fee for the naming rights. - i assume that it is also linked to any rental fees the Flash need to pay in order to play there. The Sahlen's Stadium signs are still up, which is a clue that the Dworkins have not found another sponsor. Jessica McDonald was interviewed at the beginning of the program, between about 3:50 and about 13:05 on the Podcast: http://www.soccerisakickinthegrass.com/
Some encouraging words from Paul Riley yesterday: It may have been an "off" week, but #WNYF were still on it! ⚡️https://t.co/4CdxOi3uLE— WNY Flash (@WNYFlash) June 6, 2016
New York State West State Cup/National Championship Series May-June 2016 WNY Flash Academy teams WON the State Cup: Flash Girls Under 13 with three wins: 2-0, 3-0, and 6-2 [Head Coach: Aaran Lines]; Flash Girls Under 17 with three wins: 11-0, 3-0, and 11-0 [ Head Coach: Aaran Lines]; Flash Girls Under 19 with two wins: 9-0 and 1-0 [Head Coach: Lew Potter]