After a four-year hiatus, soccer is making big strides back into Rochester with the RNY FC Soccer Club. Head coach Bruno Baltazar hopes to bring the spirit of soccer back.

“So Rochester was always a soccer town, with really passionate fans,” Baltazar said. “Back in time there big crowds in the stadium.”

Before coming back as the RNY FC Soccer Club, Rochester’s original team, known as the Rhinos, were the only non-Major League Soccer team that won the open cup. After the four-year break from the game, community members decided it was time to get Rochester back on the field.

“People decided that it could be a great restart of the club, bringing back the Rhino spirit, but with a new name a bit more adaptive to modern soccer,” Baltazar said.

The team came back with a slow start this season due to a lack of time for preparation, but as this season nears its end the team has picked up the pace.

“The start wasn’t great, but after that step by step we found our way,” said Baltazar. “We are doing pretty well.”

The team is doing well enough to be atop their division and are only one win away from qualifying for the playoffs.

"It’s a home game, we have to win in front of our fans,“ Baltazar said.

Baltazar says he feels the fans are important part of the team.

“Our fans are a crucial part of our development and our path,” he said.

As long as the support continues, Baltazar believes so will the spirit.

“We wanted to keep that heritage that the Rhinos left, with a new restart with a new rebranding, but the spirit is the same,” he said.