Rochester Rhinos

IN BRIEF Coach: Pat Ercoli. Division/Finish: Eastern/1st. Regular season record: 24-4. Playoffs, First Round — Rochester 3 Charleston 0. Quarterfinals — Montreal 2 Rochester 3 (SO), Rochester 4 Montreal 1. Semifinals: Rochester 3 Hershey 1, Hershey 0 Rochester 1. PLAYERS TO WATCH Yari Allnutt: 1992 Olympian contributed 14 goals and was ninth in the league in scoring. Led Carolina to 1997 A-League final, where the Dynamo fell to Milwaukee. Craig Demmin: Trinidadian anchored defense that allowed a league-record low of 15 goals. Led Rhinos in minutes played and was voted team MVP. Four-time all-America at Belhaven College. Was captain of the PDSL’s Jackson Chargers from 1995-97. Jimmy Glenn: Former Clemson star spent a month with MLS’s Columbus Crew during the World Cup, but still put up excellent numbers (10-7-27) for Rhinos. Pat Onstad: His 16 shutouts set a new A-League record. Also led the league with 0.50 GAA. Joined Rochester after spending 1997 with the Toronto Lynx. Has earned 14 caps for Canada, including a 1-0 win over Macedonia in May. Darren Tilley: England native was Rhinos’ top scorer (21-7-49) and also led the team with nine gamewinning goals. Spent time in England, China and Hong Kong before joining A-League (Toronto and Montreal) in 1997. ROSTER
Pos. No. Player Country College
GK 1 Billy Andracki USA Rutgers
GK 25 Pat Onstad Canada British Columbia
D 2 Mauro DaSilva Brazil —
D 3 Craig Demmin Trinidad & Tobago Belhaven
D 4 Scott Schweitzer USA N.C. State
D 6 Mali Walton USA Oakland
D 9 Mike Britton USA Syracuse
D 27 Tim Hardy USA Indiana
MF 8 Tommy Tanner USA N.C. State
MF 10 Yari Allnutt USA Portland
MF 12 Michael Kirmse USA Clarkson
MF 13 Yogi McKay USA Catawba
MF 20 Nate Daligcon USA Seattle Pacific
MF 23 Lenin Steenkamp South Africa Lynn
MF 58 Carlos Zavala Mexico CS Los Angeles
F 18 Jimmy Glenn USA Clemson
F 19 Doug Miller USA Loyola (Md.)
F 26 Darren Tilley England —

Minnesota Thunder

IN BRIEF Coach: Buzz Lagos. Division/Finish: Midwest/2nd. Regular season record: 19-9. Playoffs, First Round: Minnesota 5 Milwaukee 1. Quarterfinals: Minnesota 2 Seattle 1, Seattle 1 Minnesota 2. Semifinals: Minnesota 2 San Diego 1, San Diego 1 Minnesota 2. PLAYERS TO WATCH Kevin Anderson: Joined Minnesota after spending four seasons with Long Island, where he helped the Rough Riders beat the Thunder in the 1995 USISL final. Recovered from potentially serious back injury to score seven goals and earn All-Star honors for Minnesota. Don Gramenz: Was Minnesota’s highest-scoring defender (3-4-10) and led the team in minutes played. Selected by the Chicago Fire in the 1998 Supplemental Draft, he was one of the MLS squad’s final roster cuts. Amos Magee: All-Star forward was third in the league in scoring (15-9-39), and is Thunder’s all-time leading scorer. He’s joined up front by former Richmond Kicker forward Gabe Garcia and veteran Gerard Lagos. John Swallen: Thunder keeper was third in the A-League with a 1.09 GAA and added seven shutouts. Along with defender John Menk and Gerard Lagos, has been with Minnesota since the team’s inception in 1990. Morgan Zeba: Swedish midfielder played with Malmoe in 1997. He was discovered at Thunder’s free-agent combine and is second on team with seven assists. ROSTER
Pos. No. Player Country College
GK 1 John Swallen USA Ripon
GK 18 Joe Warren USA St. Thomas
D 3 William Alvarado Costa Rica —
D 8 John Coughlin USA Vermont
D 10 Mark Abboud USA Macalester
D 12 John Menk USA Wisc.-Milwaukee
D 14 John Sylvester USA Bethany Lutheran
D 21 Don Gramenz USA Wisc.-Milwaukee
MF 4 Constantin Stanici Romania —
MF 5 Stoian Mladenov Bulgaria —
MF 6 Morgan Zeba Sweden —
MF 9 Tim Foster USA San Diego State
MF 11 Garfield Shaw Jamaica —
MF 13 Kevin Anderson USA So. Connecticut
MF 19 Aaron Leventhal USA Drake
MF 20 Serguei Gotsmanov Belarus —
F 7 Amos Magee USA Wesleyan
F 15 Istvan Horvath Hungary —
F 17 Gabe Garcia USA UNC Charlotte
F 25 Gerard Lagos USA Wisc.-Milwaukee