{"id":34607,"date":"2015-05-12T10:28:39","date_gmt":"2015-05-12T14:28:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/?p=34607"},"modified":"2015-05-12T15:17:40","modified_gmt":"2015-05-12T19:17:40","slug":"rudy-paying-his-dues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/?p=34607","title":{"rendered":"Rudy Paying His Dues"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Photo<\/a>

Photo credit: Rochester Rhinos<\/p><\/div>\n

It didn’t take long for Tyler Rudy to fully grasp that he wasn’t at Georgetown anymore.<\/p>\n

Four months after his final NCAA match, the Revolution rookie was readying himself for his first pro start with the club’s USL affiliate, the Rochester Rhinos, on Apr. 18. The match pitted the Rhinos against\u00a0 Saint Louis FC at Worldwide Technology Soccer Park in St. Louis. And what awaited him was something he wasn’t expecting at all.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was pretty incredible considering it was my first professional start and there were 6,000-plus fans there, so that\u2019s something I hadn\u2019t really experienced,\u201d Rudy told NESoccerToday.com<\/em> via telephone. \u201cMy sophomore year, we made it to the national championship at Georgetown, and it was very similar in that type of feeling, and that was just a regular season game for Rochester.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rudy has spent the last six months adapting to change, ending 2014 as a senior captain and being named to the second team All-Big East at Georgetown. Not long after, he was invited to Revolution preseason camp as an undrafted trialist. And just like that, he went from the NCAA tournament to fighting for a roster spot with the Revolution.<\/p>\n

For many rookies, the transition of going from the college game to the top flight can be a humbling experience. The speed, quality and talent in MLS is far superior to even the strongest NCAA side.\u00a0\u00a0But to Rudy, it served as a reaffirmation of his abilities.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that made me realize that I have the potential to play in the MLS,” Rudy said. “I think I kind of surprised myself a little bit. I think when I\u2019m determined and put my mind to it, I think I do have the capabilities to play in the MLS, and I\u2019ve been referring back to it to push me and just remember that level that I was at.”<\/p>\n

\"Photo<\/a>

Photo credit: Rochester Rhinos<\/p><\/div>\n

After proving he belonged, Revolution signed Rudy midway through preseason camp. There was just one problem: he joined a team that already had plenty of depth in the middle of the park. With playing time likely to be scarce, the team assigned Rudy to its USL affiliate, the Rochester Rhinos in late-March.<\/p>\n

Under the watch of Rhinos coach Bob Lilley, it didn’t take long for Rudy to realize he was in a whole new environment.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s different,” Rudy said. “It\u2019s every morning, training every morning, taking care of your body a lot more and I\u2019m just learning so much with a lot of veteran guys around me who have been in the MLS and have been with the Rhinos for a few years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rudy\u2019s adjustments included getting accustomed to the higher level of talent, as well as fighting for playing time all over again. His spot in the Rochester lineup is not guaranteed given the amount of depth and quality players on the Rhinos squad, which has brought success early in the form of an unbeaten 6-0-2 record, good for first place in the USL standings.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s 20 guys on the team that could start,” Rudy said. “We switch the lineup a lot and all the guys are fresh and eager to play because everyone\u2019s fighting for a spot.”<\/p>\n

Despite the fight for minutes across the roster, Lilley has been impressed with the way Rudy has taken to the challenge right off the bat.<\/p>\n

\u201cTyler has definitely gotten himself into the flow pretty quickly,” Lilley told NESoccerToday.com<\/em> via telephone. “He earned those starts, based on his play in training. He is a guy that is capable of starting for us, and we also have more than 11 starters so it\u2019s competitive every week.”<\/p>\n

Lilley praised Rudy\u2019s distribution and ability to get out of tricky situations, which is a skill many players have trouble with when adjusting from college to professional soccer.<\/p>\n

“Tyler sees the game well and is very efficient with his passing,” Lilley said. “The decision-making at this level – we\u2019re still working on some of those things, but he seems to be adapting, adjusting quite well.\u201d<\/p>\n

With a successful start to his Rochester career, the midfielder is drawing comparisons to another young Revolution player who is now impressing at the MLS level.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think Tyler is a player that is going to play similar to a Scott Caldwell,” Lilley said. “It\u2019s important he\u2019s in the right spots to disrupt counter-attacks, so we\u2019ll work on him breaking up plays and trying to recognize situations defensively and where to be.”<\/p>\n

Rudy won’t argue that his game is similar to that of his Revolution teammate.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe way that I\u2019ve learned to play since leaving Georgetown and preseason with the Revs is very much like Scott Caldwell in the fact that we aren\u2019t 6\u20192\u201d, strong, and we have to understand that we aren\u2019t the most physically gifted,\u201d said Rudy. \u201cSo it\u2019s very quick one-two touch, smart movements, playing with our brain.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Photo<\/a>

Photo credit: Rochester Rhinos<\/p><\/div>\n

Rudy has made only made two starts and seven appearances so far in the season, and Lilley is very high on Rudy\u2019s abilities on both sides of the ball.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a thinker, so we can see him growing already. His vision-making has gotten better just in the month he\u2019s been here. You see growth in that area. He\u2019s good trailing a play, that\u2019s how he got his assist,\u201d said Lilley. \u201cHe\u2019s had a couple other chances where when we get in good attacking areas, he\u2019s playing a little bit deeper, but either he or the other central midfielder can jump in sometimes late in the attack and get into an area and Tyler is pretty good at recognizing that.<\/p>\n

“He\u2019s got a skill set where, you can get a good strike off from range – even 20, 25, 30 yards – he can get a strike on goal or deliver a telling through-ball, because he\u2019s got that in his bag of weapons.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thanks to those weapons, Rudy has wasted no time aiding his club in during its early-season hot streak. During the Rhinos home opener on Apr. 25, he assisted on the opening goal to help send his squad to a 2-0 victory over the New York Red Bulls II.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was really a great feeling because it was the first time I had seen my family in, probably since they moved me into Scotty Caldwell\u2019s house in Boston (in March),\u201d said Rudy. \u201cIt was really nice to register a point, but more importantly get the win against a good Red Bulls team. It was a little bit of a weight off my back, definitely, but for me it\u2019s not really about statistics, but more so about developing as a player, getting experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rudy hopes that he fulfills the potential the Revolution and Rhinos see in him and one day make it back to the MLS with New England. But for now, Rudy is focused on making the most of his time in the USL and contributing to deep and talented Rhinos squad.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery day that I train, my goal is to get better individually and help make the team get better,” Rudy said. “And I think, so far, we\u2019re on the right track and the team\u2019s undefeated. I think I\u2019m getting better individually, gaining experience, and I\u2019m fighting to get the shot to get back to New England and have an impact on the Revolution as well. But we have to start with short-term goals.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tyler Rudy’s focus on the task at hand in Rochester is already paying off for the unbeaten Rhinos.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":34609,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[1088],"tags":[891,1274,1311,892,936,257],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nesoccertoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/Tyler-11.png?fit=600%2C415","jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34607"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=34607"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34607\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34638,"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34607\/revisions\/34638"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/34609"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=34607"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=34607"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=34607"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}