March 8, 2024

EAST ROCHESTER, N.Y. - The Rochester Lancers find themselves a victory away from clinching the East Division title.

Scoring almost at will, the Lancers registered an emphatic 15-2 triumph over Atletico Orlando in a Major Arena Soccer League 2 contest at Total Sports Experience on Friday night.

The Lancers (8-0-0) can clinch the division crown with a win over Orlando at TST on Saturday at 7:45 p.m.

Eduardo Figueroa, who entered the match with two goals, scored four times in the first half. Matt D'Amico tallied four goals as well, and Ali Alomari recorded a hat-trick. Taner Bay added a brace, and Alex Harling and Isaac Bourne contributed single tallies for Rochester, which has scored at least 10 goals in each of its eight matches.

Head coach Jake Schindler assisted on four goals, including three in the opening quarter.

The Lancers' 15 goals equaled their season-high output. They registered a 15-5 win over Baltimore Arsenal on Feb. 24.

Orlando, which hadn't played in more than a month, dropped to 1-4-0.

The Lancers fired at will at the visitors' goal in the opening quarter as they rolled to a 5-0 lead.

Only 51 seconds into the match, D'Amico scored at the far post off an Alomari's right-wing feed past goalkeeper Ricardo Atencio. Schindler then set up three successive goals off free kicks. After Alomari was fouled, the veteran defender shuffled off a pass to Harling, who tallied off a left-side blast to double the lead. Schindler set up Alomari on the left side for a 3-0 margin at 12:24 before doing the same for Bay on the same side at 13:20.

Figueroa closed out the scoring, converting a turnover into a goal with 37 seconds remaining in the period.

It was more of the same in the second quarter as Rochester continued to pour it on and left the field with an 11-1 halftime advantage.

Orlando gave the hosts a goal on a silver platter as defender Marco Atehortua, trying to stop an Alomari pass from the right side, slid the ball into his own goal. Alomari got credit for the goal at 4:14. Figueroa then tallied the next two goals. He put in a Jakeb Mitchell feed at 4:52 and put away a Joe Balls assist at 7:01. Then Rochester found the next on back-to-back power plays. Bourne tallied his first goal of the season off a counterattack at 8:38. and Bay, off a Schindler feed, ripped a shot from the left side to reach double figures at 10:16.

Alberto Ortiz solved Mitchell by connecting for Orlando's first goal, from the right side, at 11:01. Figueroa, however, restored the Lancers' 10-goal advantage by slotting home a Konrad Zydowicz pass at 13:21, for his fourth goal.

The visitors replaced Atencio with Jorge Ortiz at the start of the third period. Alomari solved the new netminder for his hat-trick as he drilled home his own rebound off the boards for a power-play score at 5:28for a 12-1 advantage. D'Amico put home a Bourne feed at 6:54 to take a 13-1 margin into the final period.

D'Amico secured his hat-trick, nutmegging Ortiz on the left side, at 1:27 of the fourth quarter. Gianpaolo Sirizzotti scored Orlando's second goal at 7:35 as Hector Medina got the assist. D'Amico closed out the scoring with his fourth tally and the Lancers' 100th goal of the season. Daniel Reger stole the ball on the right side and found an open D'Amico, who put home a short-handed goal at 11:21.

Rochester outshot Orlando, 51-31.

The Lancers have only three games remaining in the regular season.

They hit the road for their final away game at Baltimore Arsenal on Saturday, March 16 at 2 p.m.

Rochester then returns home to host United Elite Krajisnik FC for a pair of weekend matches, on Friday, March 22 and on Saturday, March 23. Both games kick off at 7:45 p.m.

The Lancers will participate in the M2 playoffs the first weekend of April in Wichita, Kansas.