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Takeaways and Player Grades: Legit Loudoun United FC release Riverhounds’ tight grip

Photo courtesy Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC

Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC came up short on Saturday– losing only for the second time ever to Loudoun United FC, 2-1, in a match where they started off looking like they would have their way, but as the match evolved, they lost their almost always seemingly tight grip over Loudoun.

While it’s too early to hit the panic button following two-straight league losses, to teams that will likely be at or near the top of the table this season, there are certainly legitimate concerns that Riverhounds fans may have with a team that has not been playing well on the road and are not generating enough dangerous scoring chances despite their ability to control play in the middle of the field for long stretches.

Saturday’s result proved to be a statement win for Loudoun United FC, a club that’s going through some organizational disarray, but Head Coach Ryan Martin has guided to a strong start on the field early this season.

At this point, they are the better team than the Riverhounds, and for the first time, they backed it up against a team that has dominated them for a good part of the last half dozen years.

Hounds’ Personnel / Formation / Tactics

Entering the match with four players on the injury report, all listed as questionable, Head Coach Bob Lilley opted to keep them out of the lineup selections.

Instead, with the team’s third match in eight days, Pittsburgh opted to go with a lineup that included the core group that’s been playing majority of matches and minutes thus far this season — with one exception.   With Junior Etou out — Perrin Barnes made his first start in USL Championship match and his second straight start following up on his appearance in Tuesday’s Open Cup match win vs Columbus Crew 2.   Barnes started in the right outside back position, while Luke Biasi moved over to the left side, where Etou’s been playing most of the season.

Among the options for the wide, attacking midfield spots, the Hounds went with Danny Griffin in the central spot, while Jason Bourgey roamed on the left side while Robbie Mertz was on the right.  Once again, starting in the target forward position was Augustine Williams.

With an emphasis on squad rotation — the Hounds used all five alloted subs:  Beto Ydrach, Jorge Garcia, Max Broughton, Pablo Linzoain and Aiden O’Toole.

Match Takeaways

Can’t play with fire against a hot scoring outfit

As mentioned, the Hounds had control of the match in the early portions, but that wasn’t saying that much in the first half hour where chances were scarce for both sides.

The first half stood in stark contrast to a back-and-forth second half.   Sure, the Hounds had more of the ball — 60 percent in the half, including 73 percent in the opening 15 minutes — but once again they were not doing a good job of breaking down their opponents in the final third.

There were numerous times when they had the ball on the edge of the 18, but the next pass turned into a dud.

As the Hounds meddled around — they were playing with fire — doing so against the league’s top scoring outfit early this season.

Sure enough, it was Loudoun who struck first, against the run of play.

After clearing a Hounds corner kick, the hosts worked the ball down the left side to Zach Ryan, who struck a cross to the back post from the goal line. The pass was perfectly placed for Wesley Leggett to rise and head the ball into the net, scoring on Loudoun’s first shot of the game in the 33rd minute.

Watching the replay, there’s no doubt the Hounds were stretched and didn’t rotate quickly enough as the group — as Leggett was left on the back post unmarked as midfielder Bourgey came running in too late in an effort to challenge Leggett’s header.

It was still a brilliant ball over from Loudoun’s leading scorer last season, Ryan.

Ryan’s solid run to the end line forced center back Suber out of the middle of the box, which put the Hounds at a disadavantage in the box.

Loudoun on front foot, while Hounds can’t connect early in second half

By the end of the first half — despite the 1-0 lead from Loudoun, the Hounds had outshot, outpossessed and were dictating terms enough to bring plenty of confidence into the second 45 minutes.

Instead of reclaiming the match entirely, what transpired was a reversal of sorts early in the second half.

Loudoun came out early on and looked like they were going to double the lead a few times.

Florian Valot forced an early save from Hounds goalkeeper Eric Dick with a quickly taken shot in the box.   This would be the only shot one frame during this stretch, but the Hounds were on their heels.

The Hounds on the other hand, couldn’t get out of their own way — despite pushing up higher in the pitch and bringing an aggressive high press at times.

It didn’t help matters for Pittsburgh when Luke Biasi was called for a bad foul in the 56th minute.

Then, within a few minutes, there were a few sequences that summed up the Hounds’ inability to execute in the final third, as they kept trying to force Loudoun into mistakes and had a few chances to do so — but fumbled them each time.

  • In the 59th minute, Mertz came forward into arc, then played a ball to open space on the right side of the box for Barnes, but even a slight hesitation cost precious time, and Barnes’ attempted shot was blocked.
  • Moments later, a wonderful bit of short, one-time passes through the middle looked to be something special — but the final ball didn’t connect with Williams, who took a step inside instead of making a wider run into space.
  • Then, when it finally appeared the Hounds high press resulted in a costly giveaway — as Walti intercepted a pass on edge of box, he took a touch forward but as he went to take a shot it was blocked from behind for a corner.

Garcia strike gives Hounds life

Despite that run of frustrating play, the Hounds were rescued, thanks to Jorge Garcia’s brilliant strike in the 71st minute.

Garcia was one of the players to enter the match, and in the 71st minute, he made his mark in a big way.

Biasi passed from the left flank to Garcia near the top of the box, and the first-year pro out of Villanova took a first touch to open toward goal before striking a powerful, curling shot that rippled the top right corner of the net.

This was the type of moment and goal that the Hounds have been missing this season.  When on the edge of the box so many times, players appear to be thinking about that next pass and giving up chances to put shots on goal.  That makes sense a lot of times, as Lilley wants his teams to be breaking down opponents and getting players making runs behind last lines of defenders.

However, if there are opportunities to send one on target — they also have to strike while the iron is hot.

If you watched Garcia in the preseason and some of his play in college — this strike was not a huge surprise as he certainly has a talent for hitting some deadly shots.

He wasn’t done there.

Later in the match, he also lined up for a free kick — sending another blazing chance near goal — but that one missed — just barely to the left of the post.

The Hounds need someone who can provide some spark on free kicks and getting some shots off from distance that will draw attention.  It will be interesting to see if Garcia can keep this momentum going into the next few matches.

Legit Loudoun release Hounds’ tight grip

Loudoun made sure that they wouldn’t be haunted by the Hounds yet again.

This time, the hosts turned the tables on the match quickly.

The Hounds were reduced to 10 players after Biasi was issued a red card after being the last defender and catching Loudoun substitute Ben Mines with a boot high near the head.

It was a tough foul for Biasi to take because the ball was coming over the top and it appeared that he had good position to be able to shield Mines away from the ball with his box, but instead opted to reach out carelessley with his boot instead.

In the 81st minute, Loudoun using solid quick passes and build up play, made their numerical advantage pay off when Aboukoura, the USL Championship’s leading scorer — was simply left with room to shoot just inside the box.

Loudoun proved they are not a team that that Hounds should expect to beat simply because they’ve dominated the series in recent years.

“This was a tough test, but it shows the resiliency and passion our guys have. We rebounded from our loss this week in a big way,” Ryan Martin, Loudoun’s Head Coach said.

“Good teams don’t let one loss become two, and so on. The key is just not getting ahead of ourselves, learning from both wins and losses, and building off this for our next match.”

The Hounds continue to struggle on the road — and will have one more road match at Detroit City FC — in the opening round of Jagermeister Cup next week.  When they return to league competition — they’ll be back at home vs North Carolina.   This is a club that is missing some key players but that should still not be an excuse for losing the way they have in the past two league matches.

There’s plenty of time to fix things — but for now the Hounds are in a very unfamiliar place — playing second fiddle to Loudoun United FC.

Player Grades

Riverhounds Starting XI

Danny Griffin (Captain) MF —  6.5 — solid two way play (won 5/8 dues, had ton of defensive actions, drew two fouls) but maybe could be more involved in the final third?

Robbie Mertz MF – 6 – 91 percent accurate passing, created two chances with 47 touches

Augustine ‘Augi’ Williams F – 5 –  this is a guy who needs more touches — 22 through 90-plus minutes is not going to cut it.

Eric Dick GK – 5 – two saves, two goals conceded

Jackson Walti  MF – 6 – carrying a lot of play forward.  Had nine passes into final third.

Luke Biasi MF / D –  4 – boy that was a costly red card.

Sean Suber D – 6.5 – completed the most passes (59) in the match was 8/8 in duels.

Jason Bourgey MF – 4 – late rotating over one Loudoun’s first goal.  Won 2/7 duels.  Five recoveries and three passes into final third but 0/2 on crosses

Illal Osumanu D – 4.5  – won 2/4 duels, six defensive actions and three recoveries

Bradley Sample MF – 5.5 – was 4/8 duels, five defensive recoveries — with six passes into final third and 43 touches overall

Reserves Used

Beto Ydrach D (62′) – 5 – had 25 touches — with one pass getting into final third and three defensive actions and recoveries.

Aiden O’Toole MF (88′) – N/R

Jorge Garcia MF (62′) – 7 – scored his first pro goal on brilliant strike from top of box.  Nearly pulled off a double with a close call on free kick.

Max Broughton D (79′) – N/R

Aiden O’Toole – (88′) – N/R

Did Not Play

Jacob Randolph GK unused sub

Ben Martino GK

Bertin Jacquesson F (Injury)

Charles Ahl (Injury)

Perrin Barnes D (injury)

 

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John Krysinsky has covered soccer and other sports for many years for various publications and media outlets. He is also author of 'Miracle on the Mon' -- a book about the Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC, which chronicles the club, particularly the early years of Highmark Stadium with the narrative leading up to and centered around a remarkable match that helped provide a spark for the franchise. John has covered sports for Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, DK Pittsburgh Sports, Pittsburgh Sports Report, has served as color commentator on Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC broadcasts, and worked with OPTA Stats and broadcast teams for US Open Cup and International Champions Cup matches held in the US. Krysinsky also served as the Head Men’s Soccer Coach at his alma mater, Point Park University, where he led the Pioneers to the first-ever winning seasons and playoff berths (1996-98); head coach of North Catholic boys (2007-08), associate head coach of Shady Side Academy boys (2009-2014).

Riverhounds MF Kenardo Forbes

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