Post Match Buzz: Riverhounds still ‘need to find another gear’ following 13th match this season without a goal

Photo courtesy Alan Saunder / Pittsburgh Soccer Now

The Pittsburgh Riverhounds ended a busy stretch of play that included three matches in eight days with a second straight scoreless draw, this time at home against San Antonio FC at Highmark Stadium on Saturday night.

Riverhounds have to settle for another scoreless draw

The good news for Pittsburgh soccer fans is that the Hounds have extended its unbeaten streak to six games.  

The bad news is that the Hounds are starting to revert to having issues with generating and finishing on quality scoring chances.  

Despite dominating possession and 15-5 shots advantage, the Hounds were only able to put one shot on frame, while goalkeeper Eric Dick picked up his third straight and ninth clean sheet of the season despite not making a single save.

Pittsburgh Sports Now’s Alan Saunders waited patiently along with other members of the media for the the post match press conference with Hounds’ Head Coach Bob Lilley and defender Pat Hogan — as they were a bit delayed as Lilley held court with his players on the field immediately after what was a disappointing result for the Hounds team sorely in need of more wins.  (**Videos from PSN’s YouTube Channel are posted below — including the full 28 minutes from Lilley’s debriefing)  

After the smoke cleared into by early Sunday morning in Pittsburgh, as USL Championship Eastern Conference rivals the Hounds are battling with completed their matches on the West coast, Pittsburgh (6w-9l-10d — 27 points) are still in 10th place still looking to break through and over the playoff line (8th place or greater), with just 10 matches remaining.

They’re still trailing the pack, though with the draw inched one point up, but now trail 9th place North Carolina FC by two (29 pts – won 4-1 vs Co. Springs), 8th place Loudoun United FC by three (30 pts – loss at Oakland) and Detroit City FC (31 pts – draw at Las Vegas) by four points.  Rhode Island FC moved ahead of the rest and into 6th place by virtue of its 3-0 win vs Hartford.  

On the verge of his 400th win as a professional coach, Lilley will have to wait until next week when the Hounds host Colorado Springs.  On this night, the veteran coach stepped up to the mic for an extended interview (that lasted 28 minutes) to answer questions following the 13th game this season that his Hounds did not score.    

The veteran coach acknowledged his players’ effort, but once again, the squad’s execution, especially in the attacking third, where they  is where they fell short.  

“I’m proud of our guys, but we still need to find another gear,” Lilley said.

“We came out firing, got behind them, pushed the issue and created lots of chances. We didn’t score, but we needed to maintain that throughout the rest of the half and into the second half. We lost the last 15 to 20 minutes in the first half and the game evened up.

“In the second half, we played more in their half and there were positives in our play, but we didn’t have urgency until the last 15 minutes. There’s a 50-minute void in the middle of the game where we needed to be more productive.”

Fifth year pro and in his second season with Pittsburgh, Hogan also fielded questions from the media, following yet another impressive defensive performance in which the opposition could not post a single shot on frame.  

“It’s reassuring that our defense is doing the work,” Hogan said. 

“It just sucks that we couldn’t come away from (the last) three games with all three points after each, as we could really use them right now, but we’re in the right direction as far as getting clean sheets, but hopefully we can get the goal to get us over the edge.”  

“I was a little shocked that (San Antonio) didn’t come out in the second half and go for it, but I thought we did a good job of moving the ball back and forth and making them move a little bit,” Hogan said.

“We just couldn’t find that clear-cut chance to finish or get a guy open in the box. We had one or two runners and they had five or six in the box. It’s a numbers game. You have to get more numbers in the box if you want to have a better chance at scoring.”

POST MATCH INTERVIEWS WITH BOB LILLEY & PAT HOGAN