"Is there anybody that's capable of doing that?" Ercoli asked before the tournament began. "We really want to be the only guys that have been able to. I know it's kind of greedy, but having done something like that and not wanting to share it -- I'm pretty sure all the players feel [the same way]. From a perspective of the league and where we are, it becomes more and more difficult for somebody to achieve."
Rhino Road to ’99 Glory
In 1999, the Rhinos ousted the defending Cup champion Chicago Fire (Round of 16), Dallas Burn (now FC Dallas in the Quarterfinals), Columbus Crew (Semifinals) before dispatching the Colorado Rapids 2-0 in the final in Columbus, Ohio.
"We had chips on our shoulder. We were a pretty unusual group, including the coach," Ercoli said with a chuckle. "We had a load of confidence. When we went to Columbus to play Colorado, we just felt we're winning."
USA pro soccer was at a different level then than it is now. MLS had but a dozen teams. And many A-League sides had players who could play at that level – but chose not to.
"Most of the teams were certainly stacked with great talent," said Ercoli, whose Rochester NY side now face a tasty test against MLS champions New York City FC in the Round of 32. "Their budgets were larger. Over the course of a season we probably wouldn't have fared as well, but on a one-to-one, do-or-die situation, we had a lot of gamers."
Sharp Cup Return for Rochester
RNY FC began their Open Cup account against Lansdowne Yonkers FC in a Second-Round clash at Monroe Community College on Thursday, April 7. A goal from Gibran Rayo was enough to move the side through to the Third Round, where, in a date with FC Motown, Rayo turned provider for Pedro Dolabella to open the scoring in a game littered with physicality and cards and, eventually, won via a penalty shootout.
Dolabella and captain Lamar Batista were both shown red in a contest in which the home side were forced to play the entire 30-minute extra-time period with only nine men.
