Pittsburgh Riverhounds ambush Charleston, ride big first half to 2-0 win

Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC lifted themselves into a playoff spot on Saturday night, jumping all over the higher-seeded Charleston Battery from the opening kickoff and hanging on for a critical 2-0 win.

Edward Kizza scored his team leading 10th goal of the season, on an assist from Bertin Jacquesson, while Robbie Mertz netted his second of the season to give Pittsburgh a 2-0 lead in the first 20 minutes.  While the visitors dominated possession in the second half while the Hounds absorbed pressure, goalkeeper Eric Dick made four saves to earn his 12 clean sheet and improve his standing leading the league’s Gold Glove race.

The win sets Pittsburgh (now 10W-10L-12D) up with 42 points and in playoff position as the Eastern Conference’s No. 7 seed with two matches to play.

Head coach Bob Lilley summed it up nicely when talking about the Hounds’ playoff chances.

“We’re back in the picture frame,” Lilley said.

Having faced almost must-win games for much of the past two months, midfielder Robbie Mertz described the team’s mentality following the game.

“We’ve been playing playoff soccer really for what feels like ten games now, just knowing that there’s been a lot at stake,” Mertz said. “Obviously we’ve left points on the table at times and had some disappointing results late in games. I think we tightened that up tonight.”

Always keeping an eye on his team’s room to improve, Lilley offered his thoughts on the crucial win.

“We played a good team tonight. We found the goals we needed. We were able to keep them off the board. Wasn’t the best second half in terms of creating chances, but we got it over the line,” Lilley said. “We’ve had that weight on our shoulders. We have to go to Loudoun now, and have to find a way to win that game.”  

While Charleston took possession to start the game, it was the Riverhounds who went ahead after a mere 69 seconds.

Forward Bertin Jacquesson took possession near midfield and lofted a pass to Edward Kizza, the rainbow trajectory allowing Kizza to stay onside. Charleston goalkeeper Adam Grinwis raced out to intercept but stopped short as the ball bounced perfectly to Kizza, allowing him to lift a kick over Grinwis and into a wide-open net.

Robbie Mertz doubled the Hounds lead near at the 20 minute mark thanks to another fortuitous bounce. Kizza flipped a kick toward a crowd of three Charleston defenders and the ball trickled out to Mertz, allowing him to deliver a low velocity, bounding kick that skipped past Grinwis.

While the Hounds only maintained possession for roughly 33 percent of the time—and trailed in total shots 10-6—they maintained a 4-3 advantage in shots on goal. Keeper Eric Dick narrowly avoided disaster at 55′ as he tried to clear the ball away. His kick bounced off a Charleston attacker at point blank range but caromed harmlessly out of play.

He then quashed Charleston’s last, best chance from forward Zeke Soto at 85′, leaping up to knock it down and then collapsing to secure the rebound.

Charleston also had one last chance in stoppage time, but Dick was there at the near post to deny former Hound Nathan Dossantos header attempt on frame.

With Hartford escaping with a 4-3 win after a three goal comeback from North Carolina kept things interesting, the Hounds have moved ahead of North Carolina FC, Birmingham and Loudoun United FC at the conclusion of Saturday’s play.

Notes

• Up next, the Hounds will head to Loudoun United FC for a 6pm start time on Saturday, October 19, their penultimate game of the regular season and final road match.
• Filling in the rest of the playoff picture, Birmingham Legion FC (42 points) will host the Las Vegas Lights at 6pm Sunday; Loudoun (41 points) will hit the road to take on Rhode Island at 4pm. Both teams currently sit behind the Riverhounds in the standings, but could knock Pittsburgh down as far as the ninth seed with the proper result. Are the Hounds scoreboard watching as the games go on? “The nature of it is you have to,” midfielder Robbie Mertz said. “You’ve gotta know what the situation is. I don’t ever subscribe to the belief that you should turn off from it. You’ve gotta know situations.”
• Defender Illal Osumanu logged his 11th yellow card of the season late in the first half: although he’s had three forgiven this year, that’ll trigger a one game suspension for next Saturday’s matchup with Loudoun.

Griffin Floyd