USL Championship
Rio Grande Valley FC Toros 1, Riverhounds SC 0
Match Summary
The Riverhounds SC’s struggles continue, as lost for the second consecutive week and for the third time in four weeks on the road at Rio Grande Valley FC Toros, 1-0, on Saturday night.
The match’s lone goal came when RGVFC’s Ricky Ruiz split between a pair of Hounds defenders to get to a long diagonal ball played into the edge of the box by Aldofo Hernandez.
@riiickyruiz giving us the lead at halftime 💪
#RGVvPIT | #JoinThePack⁰ | 1-0 pic.twitter.com/rI1FvbAUdx
— Rio Grande Valley FC (@RGVFC) June 19, 2022
Ruiz beat Hounds’ keeper Kevin Silva with a well-placed one-time shot to the left side of goal.
Pittsburgh held 62 percent of possession through the match, but could not convert on its chances as they outshot RGVFC 11-5 (3-2 on target).
With the loss, the Hounds (7-5-3, 24 points) drop to the middle of the pack in the USL Championship’s Eastern Conference standings as they near the halfway point in the season. Pittsburgh has not won a match since May 14, losing three and earning just two points in a tough five-game stretch of games that included just one home match.
The setback drops the Hounds’ road record to 2-5-2, but three of the next four are at home, where the Hounds remain undefeated.
First half
As one would expect with first-time opponents, the game got off to a cagey start, and neither team recorded a shot in the first 10 minutes.
RGV had the first close chance in the 27th minute, when Isidro Martinez struck the left post after the Toros forced a turnover and moved in transition.
Shortly after, the Toros took the lead when Luka Malesevic launched a high cross from the right side of the field toward the back post. Ruiz got between defenders, though with not much space, he opted to hit the shot on his first touch and found the right corner of the net in the 34th minute.
Second half
The Hounds began the half bringing Alex Dixon off the bench. It was the 200th career USL Championship appearance for Dixon, who missed last week’s match for the birth of his first child.
Traffic flowed the Hounds’ direction for much of the half, as they had 64 percent of the ball and held RGV to one shot. Despite that, the team took until the final 15 minutes to really test goalkeeper Javier Garcia.
Albert Dikwa forced a save at close range after Dane Kelly slipped a pass through to him, and the Toros were able to scramble the ball away with Kelly and Dixon looming on the second chance.
Dikwa momentarily thought he had a stoppage-time equalizer after being played in behind the defense, but the offside flag was correctly raised as the Hounds’ striker put the ball in the net. A last-minute shot by Dixon was saved by Garcia, who made three stops in the shutout.
FULL TIME: Ricky Ruiz scored the only goal as Rio Grande Valley FC took a 1-0 victory against Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC at H-E-B Park on Saturday night, sending the Toros back above the playoff line in the Western Conference.#RGVvPIT | https://t.co/N1cSSfoQQ5 pic.twitter.com/bnUOB4VDl4
— USL Championship (@USLChampionship) June 19, 2022
Match Day Updates
The Riverhounds are in Texas, this time to face RGVFC for the first time ever. Look for match updates/highlights/recap to follow here.
94′ — Attempt saved.Dixon left footed shot from the left side of the box is saved in the top centre of the goal. Assisted by Dane Kelly.
92′ — Dikwa puts it in goal, but was offside
4 minutes of stoppage time added
86′ — long balls to Dikwa not working
As we resume, let's acknowledge a milestone for our man @alexdixon19, now the 15th player with 200 @USLChampionship appearances!
(But his first since becoming a proud papa!)#RGVvPIT #HOUNDTAHN pic.twitter.com/h0hm7z63nH
— Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC (@RiverhoundsSC) June 19, 2022
75′ – hydration break.
67′ — Couple more subs to bring fresh legs and spark a late push for Hounds:
@riiickyruiz giving us the lead at halftime 💪
#RGVvPIT | #JoinThePack⁰ | 1-0 pic.twitter.com/rI1FvbAUdx
— Rio Grande Valley FC (@RGVFC) June 19, 2022
Interesting tonight… Hounds using both Kenardo Forbes and Danny Griffin in the attacking MF line, with Marc Ybarra and Angelo Kelly-Rosales sitting deeper as holding mids in 4-2-3-1. #RGVvPIT pic.twitter.com/EosiUbvRkV
— John Krysinsky (@JohnKrysinsky) June 19, 2022
27′ — Another bullet dodged by the Hounds! Isidro Martinez hits the left post on a nice shot through traffic.
14′ — Hounds get forward. Cicerone with nice layoff for Forbes, but his shot heading into open goal is saved by RGVFC defender!
It was defender Erik Pimentel who saves it off the line for RGV! Great move by Cicerone to draw the defense and set up Forbes for the shot.
11′ –My goodness, Hounds give the ball away, but were fortunate to escape after getting picked apart with a few nice passes as RGV’s Adolfo Hernández completely misses his shot, sending it over the bar. 11′
8′ — Good energy from the jump from the Hounds tonight in the early going. Bringing high press too, which seems to be rattling RGV a bit.
8:25 p.m. — some new wrinkles in the Hounds starting XI…
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