UNIONDALE, N.Y. – Forward Jack Stainrod struck a brace and scored for the fourth consecutive time to lead the Long Island Rough Riders men to a 2-0 victory over 10-man Morris Elite FC in a USL League Two match at Mitchel Athletic Complex on Sunday night.
The win kept the Metropolitan Division leaders unbeaten at 3-0-1 and 10 points while Morris Elite dropped (4) to 1-1-1.
The visitors were forced to play the final 31 minutes of regulation and stoppage time with 10 men after forward Francesco Pagano was sent off after receiving his second yellow card of the match in the 59th minute.
The game was a tight and physical affair.
The hosts almost drew first blood in the 14th minute when defender Max Voigt headed a corner kick off the crossbar.
Some 11 minutes later, Morris Elite nearly had a goal celebration, but Long Island goalkeeper Ethan Wood denied Peter Tolkin at the far-right post.
Slowly, but surely, the Rough Riders gained some momentum and took the lead on Stainrod’s penalty kick in the 32nd minute after a teammate was fouled in the box. Stainrod fired a shot into the lower right corner as goalkeeper Matias Molina dove in the opposite direction, to give the Rough Riders a 1-0 lead.
Stainrod almost found the net again in the 38th minute as he headed Justin McLean’s free kick wide right.
A couple of non-calls could have changed the game in the 48th minute. A ball hit the arm of Morris Elite player in the visitors’ penalty area. but the referee did not call for a penalty kick. Seconds later, Francesco Pagano, off a fine individual run, was knocked down in the Rough Riders’ box by a defender, but there was no penalty ruling as well.
Playing with a man advantage after Pagano’s dismissal, the Rough Riders tried to nail down the win with a second goal.
Robert Lovelace almost gave the hosts a valuable insurance goal, but Molina managed to tip his shot from the top of the box away for a corner kick in the 64th minute.
Then it was second-half substitute Bennett Leitner’s turn to come close to giving the Rough Riders a two-goal margin, but his shot just went past the post in the 71st minute. Only a minute later, Lovelace tested from distance, but the keeper snared his bouncing 30-yard shot.
After winning the ball in the attacking third, Stainrod fired an attempt from the top right of the box, but it sailed wide left in the 79th minute.
Second-half substitute Thomas O’Rourke had his opportunity in the 89th minute, but Molina produced a fine save.
But only seconds later, Stainrod secured his brace, slotting a right-wing feed from six yards for that all-important insurance goal.
During pre-game Alumni Night ceremonies, the Rough Riders honored former defender Dahir Mohammed, who passed away last year at the age of 51. The team presented his wife, Gina Prinzevalli, and two children, a framed uniform of Mohammed’s number six. Mohammed was a beloved member of the team and the Long Island soccer community. The current men’s players and former Rough Riders men and women’s players then got together to take a group picture.
Mohammed’s best-known goal came in the Rough Riders’ 4-3 comeback win over the host Revolution during the 1997 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. Overcoming a 3-1 deficit in the second half, Mohammed headed home a Jim Rooney corner kick to lift Long Island to the Golden Goal and an improbable 4-3 triumph in the 108th minute.
At halftime, the club honored 10 former men’s players who helped laid the foundation for the team over the past three decades. That included members of the 1995 U.S. Interregional Soccer League championship squad and of the 2002 side that was crowned USL Pro League champions. Each player received a Rough Riders scarf.
In the first game of the doubleheader, the Rough Riders women dropped a 2-0 decision Morris Elite FC in USL W League action.
The Rough Riders men return to action at Mitchel Athletic Complex against FC Motown on Sunday, June 8 at 6 p.m.
For the latest news on both squads and the entire organization, keep posted to www.LIRoughRiders.com.