The Rochester Rhinos capped a nearly-perfect season with a 3-1 win over the Minnesota Thunder Oct. 17 before a season-high crowd of 13,772 at Frontier Field. Rochester’s top scorer, Darren Tilley, had a hat trick to earn MVP honors for the match. The England native ended the playoffs with a record 18 points (seven goals and four assists), breaking former Milwaukee Rampage (and current Miami Fusion) forward Dan Stebbins’ old mark of 16 points. “Tilley’s been lethal all year long,” said Rochester coach Pat Ercoli. “He doesn’t miss many opportunities.” Rochester pressed from the game’s start, and Jimmy Glenn and Lenin Steenkamp saw headers just miss the mark in the opening 15 minutes. Minnesota’s Morgan Zeba curled a left-footed shot toward the far post in the 18th minute, but Rhino keeper Pat Onstad dove and parried the ball away. That set the stage for Tilley’s opener. In the 20th minute, he corralled a pass from defender Tim Hardy, beat a Thunder defender inside the box and slipped a shot under the legs of Minnesota keeper John Swallen for a 1-0 lead. Just minutes later, Rochester midfielder Yogi McKay sent a short corner to Glenn, who laid the ball across the box to the onrushing Tilley, who drilled it into the net for a 2-0 lead. The Thunder cut the lead in half in the 34th minute, when Romanian midfielder Constantin Stanici crossed a ball into the box and Hardy inadvertantly knocked it past Onstad for an own goal. Tilley wrapped up the match in the 60th minute, when he tapped home the rebound of a Glenn shot. “We knew coming in that they were a very strong team,” said Minnesota coach Buzz Lagos. “We knew we needed to play our best. Unfortunately, I don’t think we did. To Rochester’s credit, they force mistakes and make you do things you don’t want to do.” The win gives the Rhinos their first A-League championship. “I thought our fans deserved it, our team deserved it and this city deserved it,” said elated Rhino defender Scott Schweitzer. “We’ve strived to be the best team in the league all year. It’s an outstanding feeling. I’m so ecstatic I can hardly even talk.” The city of Rochester will honor the Rhinos with a parade beginning at noon on Oct. 19. It will conclude at City Hall, where city and county officials and Rhinos players and management will address the fans. In addition, the Rochester Riverside Convention Center will host a victory celebration for the Rhinos from 6:30 to 9:00 p.m. (ET) on Oct. 19. The event will be free and open to the public.