Riverhounds Danny Earls Gets 8-Game Suspension From USL

The USL dropped the hammer on Wednesday, issuing an eight-game suspension of Pittsburgh Riverhounds Danny Earls, who was involved in an ugly incident on Saturday at Harrisburg in the final edition of Keystone Derby.
In a 1-1 game in the 75th minute, Earls committed a hard foul at midfield in the 75th minute.

Immediately, City Islanders players took exception to Earls’ aggressive play. Both teams started pushing and shoving, and Earls was in the middle of the scrum — and he pushed referee Paul Ciaramitaro and had to be held back by his teammates before leaving the field.

Ciaramitaro didn’t waste any time, even as the teams were still in bit of a scrum, pulling out red card, sending off Earls.

After the match, Riverhounds Head Coach, Dave Brandt acknowledged to me that Earls’ actions were unwarranted and uncalled for — and was disappointed in his veteran player.

FROM USL DISCIPLINE REPORT (8/31/16)

The Pittsburgh Riverhounds’ Danny Earls will serve an eight-game suspension for his physical altercation with a referee after he was sent off during the 74th minute of Pittsburgh’s match against the Harrisburg City Islanders on Saturday. He was suspended for three matches for the initial challenge on the Harrisburg player, and then the USL Disciplinary Committee added five games for the altercation with the referee. Earls’ suspension will cover the remaining five regular-season games and the first three games of the 2017 USL season.
Because the Riverhounds still are mathematically in the hunt for the postseason, if they should qualify, Earls will begin serving his additional three matches during the 2016 USL Playoffs.