Riverhounds defeat Detroit, 2-0 to extend league unbeaten streak to 13 matches

Riverhounds SC Post Match Coverage on Pittsburgh Soccer Now is presented by The Bulldog Pub

FINAL: Pittsburgh 2, Detroit City FC 0 

Match Stats 

 

Pittsburgh, PA — The USL Championship Eastern Conference leading Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC are amidst an unbeaten streak that has them nearing club history.

With their 2-0 win over Detroit City (4-5-11), the Riverhounds (10-8-2) have now gone 13 matches in USL play without a loss as they now sit two games away from tying the 15-game mark from 2004.

The winning effort at Highmark Stadium capped off an important week for the Riverhounds as they put together two wins, along with a draw against Sacramento Republic FC a week ago to add onto their current first-place positioning.

Head coach Bob Lilley was content with his team’s victory, however, he felt that there were some lapses throughout the match.

“I’m happy the night was successful,” Lilley said. “Hopefully some of the play is just fatigue from the group. We didn’t have much possession and we created very few shots. You’re not going to win many games when you play the way we did tonight.”

Propelling the Riverhounds offensively to double digit wins on the year were Edward Kizza’s early tally in the 8^th minute and a free kick from Burke Fahling in the 51^st minute.

After back-to-back games against Louisville City FC and Sacramento that saw the Hounds’ come out a bit slow, the early goal was important against a Detroit City team that’s known to stick around in tightly contested games thanks to its defense.

In the 8^th minute, Kizza was found in stride by Mike DeShields in the left side of the box and quickly transferred the pass from his left to right foot to beat City goalkeeper Nate Steinwascher.

“The biggest thing for us today was to come out early,” Kizza said. “Against Louisville we didn’t start off good. Today was come out early and put pressure on them.”

Despite an early start for the Riverhounds, they failed to keep momentum going as their offense stalled out, which saw them generate very few opportunities.

“We had some energy right out of the gate,” Lilley said. “I thought that would propel us but it almost seemed that once we scored we were safe. We seemed to lose energy from that point and seemed very predictable.”

While the offensive attack for Pittsburgh staggered, the defense kept Jahmali Waite out of harms way for a majority of the game. Waite was back in goal for the first time in a month after spending time with the Jamaican National Team. In his first competition back, Waite did not see a shot on goal.

“That’s normally how it is here, as a team we defend well,” Waite said. “It’s a good way to ease back into it, but it’s a compliment to how good we are defensively as a team.

Early in the second half, Le Rouge had an opportunity to find the equalizer as Arturo Ordonez picked up a yellow card. The subsequent free kick from Maxi Rodriguez was tracked down by Jahmali Waite for his first true action of the game.

With Waite holding on to the ball, the Steel Army chanted “welcome back” to show their support behind Waite’s cage.

“In my eyes, I think we have the best fans in the league,” Waite said. “They come out every night no matter the weather, so its great to get that warm welcome back from the fans.”

Shortly after Detroit’s free kick chance, the Riverhounds were given one of their own. Fahling lined up from 19 yards out and knocked one in that grazed off of the side of a Le Rouge defender.

The free kick goal gave the Riverhounds the cushion they needed against Detroit City that has only scored 13 goals, which is the worst in league play.

With another clean sheet, the Riverhounds now have a league-leading 10 shutouts.

“We’ve been really stingy and we’ve worked hard to be able to get these shutouts,” Lilley said.

Pittsburgh will have another chance to continue its unbeaten streak when the Hounds’ travel to Charleston Battery on Sat. July 22 with game time set at 7:30 p.m.