Godoi scores season-high 4 times, Miller a milestone goal in Lancers’ defeat

March 6, 2020

NEWS RELEASE

 HENRIETTA, N.Y. (March 6, 2020) -- Not even a superb performance by Rafa Godoi and a milestone goal by Doug Miller could help the Rochester Lancers overcome the Florida Tropics on Friday night.

Godoi recorded a team season-high four goals and Miller became the first American soccer player to perform and also score a goal in four different decades as the Tropics recorded a 10-7 win in a Major Arena Soccer League game at the Dome Arena.

Guilherme Dos Santos scored four times himself and added two assists to lead Florida (17-3), which moved closer to clinching the Eastern Division title by winning the season series, 3-0.

Diego Mayanga and Tim Crawford also found the net for Rochester (0-21).

Only 18 seconds into the match, the visitors made their mark as Lucas Teixeira scored with a shot from distance after a pass from former Rochester Rhino Drew Ruggles past a screened goalkeeper Brian Wilkin into the far right corner. They doubled their margin on the first of two Dos Santos' power-play goals, as he tucked in a Lucas Montelares feed at the right post at 6:33. Stephen Deroux tallied his first goal of the season at 9:32, drilling one home off a Victor Parreiras assist from the penalty line.

Rochester climbed within one as Crawford scored his second goal of the season, converting from a difficult angle on the left side past goalkeeper Brett Petricek with five seconds remaining in the period and an unmarked Godoi's tally near the right post 78 seconds into the second quarter.

Those goals seemed to wake up the Tropics, who struck for two consecutive goals within 57 seconds as Dos Santos scored his second man-advantage goal at 2:17 and Ruggles rifled home a shot from distance at 3:14 for a 5-2 lead. Godoi's second from a tough angle gave Rochester more life before Dos Santos hit for his hat-trick at 6:46.

The Lancers wouldn't go gently into the night and into the locker room. After Teixeira took down Anthony Rozzano just outside the penalty area, Miller converted the ensuing shootout attempt, roofing a hard shot into the upper right corner at 12:51for his 511th career indoor goal and first MASL score since the 2015-16 season. Mayanga rifled a long-range shot with two seconds left in the quarter to slice the deficit to 6-5 at the half.

Ricardo Carvalho gave Florida some breathing room at 7-5, scoring from close range at 10:42 of the third quarter. The Lancers, however, stormed back behind two more Godoi goals against keeper Hugo Silva, who came on at the half. The first came one off a Miller assist at 12:11 and the equalizer at 7-7 via a back heel at 13:20, his fourth of the game. Montelares lifted the visitors back into the lead with a power-play goal with nine seconds remaining in the period.

Dos Santos restored the Tropics' two-goal margin at 6:58 of the fourth quarter before Carvalho's second of the match turned into the final score of the night at 12:20.

With 2:40 remaining in the contest, Rozzano put on a green jersey as the sixth attacker, but Rochester could not find the net.

The Lancers will host the Kansas City Comets in their final home game of the season on Saturday at 7 p.m. The club will honor midfielder Gary Boughton of Buffalo, who will retire after this season.

Tickets for the match are available via RLancers.com and at the Dome box office on game day.

MASL Match Report
Match: Rochester Lancers vs. Florida Tropics
Date: March 6, 2020
Venue: Dome Arena, Henrietta, N.Y.

Kickoff: 7:15 p.m. ET
Attendance: 2,642
 

Scoring Summary

ABOUT THE MAJOR ARENA SOCCER LEAGUE
The Major Arena Soccer League represents the highest level of professional arena soccer in the world. The MASL features teams across North America, with teams playing coast-to-coast in the United States, Canada and Mexico. The MASL is currently incorporated as a 501(c)6 not for profit corporation formed to promote the business and sport of arena soccer.

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