Riverhounds SC Head Coach Bob Lilley, goalkeeper Kevin Silva and forward/winger Russell Cicerone met with the media following the club’s 1-0 victory against El Paso Locomotive FC on Saturday at Highmark Stadium.
Lilley, in particular, was not happy with this team’s collective performance and effort, primarily in how they closed out the match, at one point stating “We almost gave it away” in a meet-up with the media which lasted more than 20 minutes.
“We have an experienced team who should be able to close out games more efficiently than we did tonight.” LIlley explained.
Russ CIcerone scored the Hounds lone goal, but admits that they didn’t capitalize enough on their chances.
“The last couple of games, we’ve been creating our chances, but not putting them away,” Cicerone said. “Definitely need to put our chances away, then we don’t have to worry about that penalty at the end.”
Silva was happy to escape with another victory after making a big penalty kick save in the 89th minute.
“It’s huge,” Silva said. “Especially when you look at the table right now. We’re just trying to get better every single day. We probably weren’t as solid as we wanted to be today defensively. Just to make that save, helps us all. We have to be cleaner, including myself. We’re going to have to keep working to close the gap.”
Lilley also took a page out of PSN’s Takeaways/Player Grades feature.
“Last week, when assessing players., out of 10, we had a lot of sevens and eights,”
“Tonight, we had a lot of fours and fives.”
#PITvELP Twitter Reaction
@RiverhoundsSC that was a great game. Thanks for making my night. This was a great first pro game pic.twitter.com/lhbUVKrjJ5
— Jahmali Waite Fanclub Leader (@jay_stu412) May 15, 2022
78' – 3,749 in attendance for tonight's game. @pghsoccernow @JohnKrysinsky @soccer_rabbi @PopchockSays
— Jordan Smith (@JSmith_1187) May 15, 2022
My recap of this evening's @RiverhoundsSC–@eplocomotivefc match is now up at @TheStrikerTexas!!! GO. READ. NOW. #VamosLocos
Cc: @8thNotchEPhttps://t.co/byNcFdW7DE
— Joe A. Rodriguez (@jrodin915) May 15, 2022
The night’s heroes chat with the media after the big win. pic.twitter.com/bS72bdGiIE
— Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC (@RiverhoundsSC) May 15, 2022
Rivermuts rule!! pic.twitter.com/Y9dQqgKsHi
— MOJO (@mjro1105) May 15, 2022
.@RussellCicerone blasts a shot into the back of the net 🫣@RiverhoundsSC strike first!#PITvELP pic.twitter.com/gzAvVAiMlK
— USL Championship (@USLChampionship) May 15, 2022
Not ☝️ but ✌️ BIG saves from @NewtonEvan13! #VamosLocos #PITvELP pic.twitter.com/x6CdcXtHns
— El Paso Locomotive FC (@eplocomotivefc) May 14, 2022
@NewtonEvan13 INCREDIBLE double save! @eplocomotivefc’s bacon saved. Riverhounds opportunistic and getting wide. @JohnHutch07 with some work at halftime. #PITvELP https://t.co/IIBe9dGfig
— Duke Keith (@dukekeith) May 14, 2022
There you go!! THE BEST; no actually, THE ONLY soccer coverage in the Burgh. Pittsburgh’s HOTTEST and BEST team right now; the @RiverhoundsSC are rolling through all their competition with the @USLChampionship in sight. @pghsoccernow #USL. https://t.co/pbzm1mAsj9
— Ed Thompson (@ThompsonFoto12) May 15, 2022
📷 Best seat in the house.
Photog Soccer Rabbi… https://t.co/FaTzRldah9— John A. Babiak, a 1st generation 🇺🇦/🇺🇸 (@Photog_JohnB) May 15, 2022