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Pittsburgh Riverhounds

Final: Riverhounds SC 3, New York Red Bulls II 0

FINAL: Riverhounds SC 3, NY Red Bulls II 0

USL MATCH CENTER

Match Summary

Box Score

The Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC made amends for its earlier season loss in New Jersey with a convincing 3-0 victory against the New York Red Bulls II at Red Bull Arena on Saturday afternoon.

With the win, the Hounds (8-3-1, 25 points) put a significant amount of distance between themselves and the next closest competitors including Hartford and the Baby Bulls (3-7-0, 9 points) in the USL Championship Eastern Conference Group F standings.

“It’s a big run for us,” Riverhounds head coach Bob Lilley said. “Hopefully with the rest, we’ll have a little more time to get ready for another big game against Hartford next Saturday. We battled well in the first half. The goal before the half was a big moment for us. I felt we had a good second half, and guys were up for it. It was one of the better 90-minute performances we’ve had. Hopefully, this will help us going into the last four games with the momentum we have.

Ropapa Mensah (45′) and Robbie Mertz (59′) each scored, and the Hounds also benefited from a Red Bulls II own goal in the 50th minute when Red Bulls II defender Preston Kilwien had tried to clear the the ball coming at him near the top of the box, and the ball skipped and floated in the air over goalkeeper Wallis Laspley, who was off his line.

Danny Vitiello, starting his second consecutive match in goal, earned his third clean sheet in four starts.  The Hounds extended its streak of not allowing a goal to 303 minutes(approximately three and a half games).

“Today, we defended well. We’ll have to be solid on both sides of the ball and stay aggressive moving forward. We got our goal and we still looked to attack in the second half. There were a lot of good performances today across the board, and I thought the subs were quite good when they came into the game. It was a good team win.”

Lineups:

Riverhounds SC – Danny Vitiello; Ray Lee, Thomas Vancaeyezelee, Skylar Thomas; Ryan James, Robbie Mertz (Dani Rovira 87’), Danny Griffin (Lukas Fernandes 87’), Mark Lindstrom (Patrick Bunk-Andersen 61’), Jordan Dover; Steevan Dos Santos (Anthony Velarde 66’), Ropapa Mensah (Albert Dikwa 62’)

Subs not used: Tomás Gómez, Mark Forrest

New York Red Bulls II – Wallis Lapsley; John Tolkin (Boima Cummins 81’), Preston Kilwein, Roy Boateng (Joseph Fala 62’), Edgardo Rito; Barry Sharifi (Tapiwa Shumba 62’), Chris Lema, Caden Clark (Kenan Hot 68’), Jake LaCava (Omar Sowe 68’), Cherif Dieye; Dantouma Toure

Subs not used: Alex Bobocea, Samad Bounthong

Scoring Summary:
PIT – Ropapa Mensah 45’ (Ray Lee)
PIT – Preston Kilwein 51′ (own goal)
PIT – Robbie Mertz 58’

Misconduct Summary:
NY – Preston Kilwein 11’ (caution)
NY – Roy Boateng 16’ (caution)
PIT – Mark Lindstrom 23’ (caution)
NY – Cherif Dieye 26‘ (caution)
NY – Edgardo Rito 45’+2 (caution)
PIT – Jordan Dover 86’ (caution)

Gameday Updates

86′ – HOUNDS SUB

IN – Lukas Fernandes

OUT – Danny Griffin

66′ – HOUNDS SUB

IN – Anthony Velarde

OUT – Steevan Dos Santos

61′ – HOUNDS SUBS

  • IN – Albert Dikwa and Patrick Bunk-Andersen
  • OUT – Ropapa Mensah and Mark Lindstrom

59′ – GOAL – RIVERHOUNDS 3, NYRBII 0

Robbie Mertz — as Dos Santos pass attempt is deflected — Mertz is there to put it in on the back post.

All the bounces going the Hounds way.
Mertz always in the right place, isn’t he??

51′ – GOAL – RIVERHOUNDS 2, NYRBII 0

An own goal, and a very, very strange one too! Preston Kilwien’s deflection goes way up in the air, and beyond the reach of NYRB keeper.

HALFTIME — RIVERHOUNDS 1, NY RED BULLS II 0

 

45′ – Goal! Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC 1. New York Red Bulls II 0, Ropapa Mensah

Mensah’s right footed shot from the left side of the box to the bottom right corner. Assisted by Raymond Lee.

Starting Lineups:

Game Notes

This is the third and final match between these two squads in the regular season. The first game back on July 26 resulted in a loss for the Hounds. A penalty kick goal in the 90+5 minute gave Red Bulls II the 2-1 victory at Red Bull Arena. On Aug. 8, Red Bulls II came to Highmark Stadium. This time it was a different story, as the Hounds dominated New York, winning 4-1.

In both of these teams’ last games, they each defeated Loudoun United FC. Red Bulls II defeated Loudoun first on Aug. 29, winning 3-2 to break their four-game losing streak. Fast-forward to Sept. 1, the Hounds collected a clean sheet with a 3-0 win against Loudoun at home.

Currently, the Hounds are enjoying a lead in Group F. Pittsburgh has put a significant six points between itself and second-place Hartford Athletic. New York sits in third place with only nine points in the group, which is 13 points behind Riverhounds SC.

On Saturday, the Hounds will also look to continue their streak of 213 minutes without giving up a goal.

PSN Riverhounds Coverage this week: 

Riverhounds SC captain Kenardo Forbes out 4-8 weeks with leg injury

Takeaways/Grades: On strange night, Hounds show true mettle

Hounds’ Ryan James named USL Championship Player of the Week; Dover earns Team of Week honors

 

Glory on the Grass

Riverhounds MF Kenardo Forbes

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