Near misses haunt Riverhounds in 1-1 draw against Birmingham

Photo courtesy Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC

PITTSBURGH—Riverhounds SC failed to gain any meaningful ground in the postseason race on Saturday, playing to a 1-1 draw with Birmingham Legion FC at Highmark Stadium.

While it was the Riverhounds who took an early lead, they failed to net that crucial second goal, seeing prime chance after prime chance fall away harmlessly early in the second half before Birmingham’s Stefano Pinho netted the equalizer with just over 12 minutes to play.

“The first 25 minutes [of the second half] we had so many chances to get a second goal. That’s been a big problem,” head coach Bob Lilley said. “We lacked quality. I mean, we had moments where I think we rushed the shot and we just had to hit the target, or we could’ve controlled the ball rather than trying to shoot one time.”

It was just one of those games… but with four weeks remaining in the season and the Riverhounds three spots out of the playoff picture, they’re running out of chances.

“It was close to a must-win,” Lilley said, adding later that “our ability to manage the 90 minutes has not been good enough this year.”

Edward Kizza continued his dominance against Birmingham, scoring his eighth goal of the season—three of which have come against Legion FC—21 minutes in. Robbie Mertz poured a free kick towards the net, and Kizza leapt for the header, beating Birmingham goalkeeper Matt Van Oekel.

Legion FC nearly netted the equalizer ten minutes later, with Birmingham sustaining an extended volley down low. None of their shot attempts (or opportunities) went on target, however, and the Riverhounds somehow escaped unscathed.

Missed Opportunities

Pittsburgh returned the favor in the waning moments of the half, with a pair of corner kicks that looked dangerous but fell away harmlessly.

Hounds’ goalkeeper Eric Dick faced his first shot of the night early in the second half, a diving stop near the right post. From there, Pittsburgh saw a series of near misses. Kizza had a chance at a brace but sent his kick directly at Van Oekel.

“I knew we needed to get a second goal, because we weren’t defending great,” Lilley said. “They didn’t get a ton of shots, but they were getting it through our midfield line.”

A goalpost did Van Oekel’s job for him at 62′, with a bouncing kick rebounding harmlessly away. Then it was Pinho’s chance to come up clutch with a looping kick past his defender and Eric Dick.

“It’s a tough one on the angle, because I didn’t want to cheat too far to the right because he had the ability to go near,” Dick said. “He placed it well, a curler’s never easy.”

Bradley Sample and Sean Suber both came close to putting the Hounds ahead at 88′ and in stoppage time, respectively, but Birmingham—comfortable owners of a playoff spot—were content to take it slow and let time run out.

“They [Birmingham] were okay with a draw,” Lilley said. “I don’t think we should ever be okay with a draw at home, and certainly not at this time of year.”