Wal Fall drove home both penalty kicks in the 78th and 82nd minutes, the first one after taking a foul in the box by Andrew Wiedeman and the second after a handball charged to Kevin Schindler, whose arms appeared to be behind him on the play.
The penalty kicks gave Rochester a 3-1 lead, and Danni Konig's penalty kick in the 86th minute was all FCC could do to answer. Wal Fall had been booed most of the game after also going down on a soft challenge that sent FCC leading scorer Djiby Fall off with a second yellow in the 42nd minute.
“I have more questions than comments,” FC Cincinnati coach Alan Koch said. “There were lots of individual moments in the game that we feel weren’t handled correctly, but I haven’t had the luxury to see if it was a penalty, if it was a handball, if every foul they called was worth a card or a warning. … We’re all expected to come to work in this business and deal with the elements. It’s important (for everyone) to put in a good shift and unfortunately some of those things didn’t happen tonight.”
FC Cincinnati had conceded an early goal after a slow start to the game but quickly settled down after that.
Rhinos midfielder Sofiane Tergou got a head on Bradley Kadem Fewo's cross into the box, and FC Cincinnati center back Justin Hoyte couldn't get a clean clearance, allowing Jochen Graf a chance to finish to make it 1-0 in the 12th minute.
FCC bounced back with an equalizer by Jimmy McLaughlin after Kenney Walker sent a long ball that McLaughlin got a foot on to beat Rhinos goalie Tomas Gomez for an empty-netter in the 29th minute. It was McLaughlin's second goal in as many games.
But not long after that, the game became more about the officiating.
Djiby Fall received his second yellow of the game in the 42nd minute in a soft collision with Wal Fall in which Djiby appeared to make a fair play for the ball. Fans booed Wal Fall every time he touched the ball after that, as well as the officials as they walked off the field at halftime. There were a total of 35 fouls called and 10 cards issued.
“(Head ref Guido Gonzalez Jr.) was very dictatorial,” Koch said. “He clearly came in and wasn’t open to communicating with anyone. He was obviously there to be the show.”
FC Cincinnati had come into the game on a three-game win streak in league play and had a chance to move up to fourth in the United Soccer League Eastern Division standings with a win. Instead, Rochester and FCC flipped spots with the hosts falling to sixth and Rhinos rising to fifth.
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