Takeaways and Player Grades: Foul-riddled start holds Riverhounds back in yet another draw

The Pittsburgh Riverhounds paid the price for subpar first half performance, even with a revived, dominant effort in the second half, they walked off the Highmark Stadium field with another draw, this time in a battle with Western Conference foe Orange County SC that ended in a 1-1 result at Highmark Stadium before a sellout crowd.

“We did not participate fully in the first half,” Bob Lilley, Riverhounds Head Coach, said after the match.

“This team (Orange County SC) was in form. We were much better in the second half, but disappointed with how we played in the first half. This was not going to be an easy game.  We have to carry that intensity the whole game.”

Though shots were at a minimum, the visitors put the Hounds under pressure in the early stages of the match.  As a result, the Hounds picked up three yellow cards in the first 33 minutes and 16 total fouls before the break.

Eventually, the Hounds would pay in the 40th minute, Zubak elevated to meet a cross from Stephen Kelly on the right side to open the scoring with the first shot on target by either team.

From the start of the second half, the Hounds were the better team.

It would be a set piece which would get the Hounds on the board.

In the 67th minute, Robbie Mertz’s corner kick was intended for Sean Suber, who was making a near-post run. The center back redirected the ball cleverly to the back post, where his defensive partner Guillaume Vacter was waiting to get his first goal after twice hitting the post earlier this season.

Despite owning all of the advantages in the second half, playing most of the time in their attacking side of the field, the Hounds could not find a game-winner.

And here we are again.  The Hounds earn a draw for the fifth time in the last six matches in all competitions and four of the last five in league play.

“It’s disappointing,” Lilley said of his team’s struggles to put together a complete performance.

“That’s how you end up with draws and not wins.  Today’s a game where we needed a good, solid 90 minutes, and we get three points against a good team.  Instead, it’s them, getting a point on the road.”

Hounds Personnel, Tactics and Formation

The Hounds only made one change to the starting lineup.

Robbie Mertz was back in the starting group — earning his 158th career start.  He now surpasses club Hall of Famer and fellow Upper St Clair native, Gary DePalma for the most appearances for a Pittsburgh-born player.

The Hounds remained in the same formation from the previous week, with a 3-4-1-2 (or 5-2-1-2).

Lilley needed to make a halftime sub because of all of the fouls (see more on that below), so Charles Ahl came on at the start of the second half.

The Hounds would use all alloted subs, bringing on Brigham Larsen, Junior Etou, Bradley Sample in the 76th minute, then a very late sub came when Jason Bouregy checked in for Mertz.

Match Takeaways

Emergency Defending is Not Good Defending

This match was clearly a tale of two halves.  It couldn’t have gone any worse for Pittsburgh in the first half.

To say that forward Augustine Williams had one of his most eventful halves of soccer without scoring a goal would be an understatement.

On one hand, Williams showed some positive work to extend a possessions a few times, particuarly in the eighth minute, then becoming the primary man on the end of chances in the first half,  registering three of club’s four shots in the first 45 minutes, along with four touches in opposition’s box and five passes into the final third.

All of his aggressive play didn’t pay off though, as the striker was caught out of position, where he got caught for committing four fouls, including earning a yellow card in the 32nd minute.

Williams wasn’t alone — as Beto Ydrach and Bertin Jacquesson also were booked while the Hounds committed a whopping 16 first half fouls (while Orange County had just one).

For the second straight week, the Hounds lined up in a formation with both Jacquesson and Williams at the top of the attack, and Mertz playing as an inverted, false nine below them, while Danny Griffin and Jackson Walti were deeper in the central midfield.

Orange County saw this — deciding to play mostly through the width, as the Hounds struggled to rotate to effectively get its high press working to pin back Orange County.

Lilley cited that when playing with two forwards, one of them should have been rotating over to get into proper position, but they were constantly being compromised — both laterally and vertically.

“We were standing and leaving all that space,” Lilley pointed out.

“It leads to yellows. It leads to multiple fouls. I felt that some of the fouls were minimal contact, but if you foul that much, you’re going to pick up yellows.  We were our own worst enemy in the first half. We didn’t work off the ball. Defending wasn’t nearly good enough.  We had to make more desperate recoveries.”

This all culminated with Orange County’s goal, coming in from the free kick after Williams’ fourth foul.

It was after another foul in the 40th minute, when Williams started to bring his leg up to challenge for a ball, but instead knocked Nicola Ciotta to the ground.

On the ensuing set piece, Orange County made the Hounds pay.

OCSC forward Ethan Zubak came crashing into the center of the box, heading in a Steven Kelly service past a diving Hounds keeper Eric Dick.

“Really bad for us to give up a free header at that time in the half,” Lilley added.

“We’re bigger. We’re not always bigger, but today, we were overall. They were getting up early. They were attacking every ball. They were competing in the air.”

Additionally, even as the Hounds were on the ball more and generated more shots in the first half, Lilley pointed out that there were restarts in the first half where Orange County were winning some of the key battles in a match where each team looked to get forward quickly on the counter.

“Today it was more of a transition game,” Lilley said.

“They’re as good as anyone. We were able to void it, but they drew fouls. We’re doing good job with emergency defending. But that’s not good defending.  There’s so many moments that we’re still vulnerable to red card. To a breakaway.”

Lilley had good reason to be disappointed in his defenders for allowing the goal.  However, the Hounds did limit Orange County, a very good transition team and one of the top scoring teams in the league, to one shot on frame all night.

Even before the half ended, the Hounds veteran coach had his mind made up that one of the forwards would have to come off because they both had yellow cards.

On this night, it would be Williams, who has scored three goals in the past five matches

Lilley wasn’t in position to be gambling with having two forwards out there with yellow cards.  The Hounds’ gaffer cited that Williams was ‘raising temperatures for the other team’s defenders and for the refs’.

As the player on the most thin ice of all of the Hounds’ players, Williams would be the one to come out of the match.

“We sacrificed him to try to clean that up.”

Vacter Factor

Pittsburgh added more fire to their fury in the second half — intent on finding the equalizer — playing on the front foot throughout.

Not quite a true forward, Charles Ahl replaced Williams, forcing Lilley to move Mertz into one of the two forward positions, while Ahl slid into the inverted nine.

The Hounds flipped the switch with a barrage of pressure that included a 12-2 shots advantage (3-0 on target) and they had 58 percent possession in the final 45.

The pressure would pay off on a set piece.

In the 67th minute, Mertz lined up a corner kick, sending it to the middle of the box, where defender Sean Suber got a head on it, redirecting the ball to the far post, where  Guillaume Vacter was there to head it into the back of the net for the equalizer.

It was Vacter’s first goal as a Hounds, as the rookie from France who played at UConn, acknowledged that it was a play the Hounds work on.  Suber made a good run and an effective move on the ball to set up the goal.

“Every game, Sean (Suber), Beto (Ydrach) and myself, we rotate our runs, and Sean was first and I was on back post,” Vacter said.

Despite pushing for another goal and having significant statistical advantages, Pittsburgh could not find the game-winner.

While the Hounds had Orange County pinned back plenty in the second half, they were making runs mostly to the middle and near post.

What Pittsburgh were lacking, were getting bodies at the far post.

“We have to frame our runs. We talk about this all the time.  He got there for the goal, but there are balls were dropping, there,” Lilley pointed out.

“There’s rebounds. We’re looking for handballs every time the ball’s played in hitting (a defender) in the midsection.  I’d rather see someone come slashing in, getting a toe on the next ball. We have to be able to get rebounds.”

Credit to Orange County in this match, as even when the Hounds were bringing tons of pressure, they were a team that remained dangerous and one transition moment away from turning the match on its head.

It won’t get any easier for the Hounds as they look to finish off this current four-match homestand by taking on one of the top two teams in the league, Charleston Battery, next Saturday at Highmark Stadium.

 Hounds Player Grades

Starting XI

1	Eric Dick	GK — 5.5 — didn’t register a save as Hounds kept OC limited to one shot on frame.
3	Perrin Barnes	DF — 6 – had 43 touches, was busy with two-way play, generated a chance with quality run to endline
13	Luke Biasi	DF – 6 — pushed into more defensive work in 1st half (six defensive actions, four recoveries) but did generate seven passes into final third and created one chance
23	Guillaume Vacter	DF — 7.5 — had the goal, but also team-leading five clearances and won 6 of 8 aerial duels (8 of 12 duels overall).
5	Sean Suber	DF –6.5 — had the assist on the goal. Created the most chances (3) in the match. and was lone positive spot in winning balls in air (7/10)
16	Beto Ydrach	DF – 6 — was playing cautiously with the yellow card; completed the most passes (43) in the match.
14	Robbie Mertz	MF – 7.5 – two chances created, 86% passing, one shot and drew three fouls
42	Jackson Walti	MF – 5.5 — one shot, committed foul, quiet match as far as touches, with just 26, as OC opted to play wider and not through middle
10	Bertin Jacquesson	MF — 4 –  lost the most duels (15) in the match. committed a pair of fouls, created one chance but didn’t register a shot
2	Danny Griffin (C)	MF – 6 – had two misses that I am sure he would like to have back
9	Augi Williams 12‎‘‎	FW – 4.5 – the fouls really piled up even as he appeared to show he was playing more intently and aggressively as he’s played all season.

Bench

31	Randolph	DNP
6	Broughton   ‎	DNP
8	Etou‎	76′ — been an effective in role as second half sub
17	Larsen  ‎	76′ — most minutes in league match for big fella
18	Garcia‎	DNP
15	Bradley Sample	76′ — clearly key part of the central MF rotation
14	Charles Ahl ‎	46′ – 6 – two chances created but didn’t generate or get on the end of any shots/chances
	‎Jason Bourgey	89′