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Riverhounds pull off Cupset

Photo courtesy Ed Thompson

The Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC hadn’t scored many goals of late — but they sure picked a heck of a time to finally put a ball into the net.

The Hounds capped a dramatic Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup victory with a Beto Ydrach goal in stoppage time that broke a scoreless affair that appeared to be headed to extra time, defeating Major League Soccer side, New York City FC, 1-0, to advance to the National tournament’s Round of 16.

PSN’s Colton Coreschi was at Highmark Stadium to provide the instant recap.

US Open Cup Round of 32 Match Day Live: Riverhounds SC vs NYCFC, 7 p.m.

The game winner was Pittsburgh first goal off a set piece all season and it couldn’t have come at a better time, as Ydrach got on the end of a Robbie Mertz corner kick.

The Hounds conceded possession but did enough to keep New York on its toes — as the teams shot totals were fairly even (11-10, 5-4, NYCFC held slight edges).

Hounds goalkeeper Eric Dick made four saves including two diving stops early in the second half.

Coming on as a late sub, Hounds midfielder Bradley Sample got through with a clear path towards goal after Strahinja Tanasijević stripped and yanked down him down in the 79th minute — which resulted in the Serbian getting sent off.

Playing with a man advantage, Pittsburgh stepped up the pressure in the final 10-plus minutes of the match, but still had to evade a few dangerous NYCFC chances.

The visitors failed to put away a pair of late scoring opportunities as Agustin Ojeda fired a shot off the crossbar in the 82nd minute and an open Julian Fernandez — with a clear path — missed on the right side of the penalty area in the 87th.

The Hounds will now face Philadelphia Union in the Round of 16 in a rare all-Pennsylvania showdown.

REACTION FROM HOUNDS’ BOB LILLEY, ERIC DICK & BETO YDRACH PLUS NYCFC’S PASCAL JANSEN

Bob Lilley on the late push, mixing up his starting lineup and rotating subs in the second half 

“We got our teeth into the game and that’s what we were trying to do the first half.

The guys we selected did a pretty good job getting us into the game. Obviously the subs that came on, some did quite well.”

The Hounds veteran coach, who is now 2-0 vs MLS clubs at Highmark Stadium and won his 24th Open Cup game, which now ranks 5th most in the Modern Era (1995-present), was elated to finish this match in regulation

“I thought we had a pretty good first half. And then to win it like that, at the death, and not have to play another 30 minutes, was great.”

“We were fortunate. I thought we had a pretty good first half, we knew that they’d have stretches with the ball. I think early we let them around the edges and they put some dangerous balls in the box, we allowed them to create a few 2v1 situations… once we got that cleaned up, we kind of grew into the game… I felt like we were tough to break down and we were playing a solid game and looked like we had a goal in us.”

“We were competing and we had some chances as well, but they missed chances. We could have given up four or five goals in the second half.”

Lilley was pleased to get the game-winner on a corner kick

“We haven’t been as good on set pieces as of late. Robbie did a great job. Their keeper did a good job with crosses all night. We had two active runners on the backside.”

Photo courtesy Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC

For Ydrach, it was a dream come true…

“I’ve been thinking about doing that since I was 3-years-old when I first started playing soccer.”

“We all work really hard for moments like that and, to be able to do something like that in your career is something special.”

…and an important result for the club

“I think we needed a result like this. It was gritty until the last minute, but we dug it out, and hopefully we can take that into league play and get a result on the road this weekend too in Louisville.”

Pascal Jansen’s thoughts on how things changed after the Red Card 

“Tana takes the risk. It’s the bouncing behavior of a ball on turf. It’s unpredictable once you let it bounce, and you could see that the striker was anticipating this move as well, which is on us. It’s lack of concentration and lack of understanding what this pitch will do when you let this ball bounce. And he was the last defender, so if you make the foul, it’s a red card.”

“All of a sudden there was urgency in the team. When we went a man down, the energy was there like it should have been from the start. Even in possession, we created situations where we should have scored.”

Jansen: This is a question of discipline

“If you slack one moment, like we did in the second half going into overtime, because this is a question of discipline. You know what’s being asked in this situation from the corner kick? And we just didn’t do it. So that’s when you concede. And it fits perfectly in in the whole game of the night.”

Eric Dick made two great, diving saves, but counted his blessings in the late stages when NYCFC’s Julian Fernandez missed when he had an open look after breaking into the right side of the box unmarked…  

“I went low and, once he lifted it, I heard the netting. Then I heard the crowd cheering and I knew he must have missed it. I was fortunate — that’s soccer.”

SOCIAL MEDIA REACTION TO HOUNDS CUPSET

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