Takeaways and Player Grades: Riverhounds’ now control destiny in securing home playoff with convincing win at Monterey Bay

With the USL Championship regular season is winding down to the last few weeks, the Pittsburgh Riverhounds appear to be getting stronger at a point in the season where a lot of teams wear down and limp to the finish.

The Hounds used its depth, showed plenty of stamina and brought intensity from start to finish to carry the squad to one of its most impressive wins of the season, in outlasting a Monterey Bay FC squad, 3-0, on Saturday night in Northern California.

Riverhounds roll to 3-0 win at Monterey Bay to jump into coveted 4th place spot

Pittsburgh weathered a few storms, at the start of the match and again early in the second half, but for the most part was in control of the match.

The win was also the second for acting Head Coach Rob Vincent.  It was first full week of preparation where Vincent, along with assistant coaches Kenardo Forbes, Jon Busch and Sporting Director, Dan Visser steered things along quite well as the Hounds finished the match as a team that looked hungry for more.

Hounds Personnel, Tactics and Formation

The Starting lineup didn’t change at all from last week’s 2-0 win vs Indy Eleven.

The Hounds are keeping a no-frills approach with a three-man backline in front of Eric Dick in a 3-4-2-1 formation that continues to be more comfortable with possessing in longer stretches, staying on the front foot and using the width to bring pressure.

Squad rotation included Jackson Walti and Perrin Barnes coming on as the first subs off the bench for the second match in a row.

Takeaways

Keeping the field tilted in its favor 

There were numerous instances where it looked like one team on the pitch were playing and the other team was playing with more intensity and purpose.  The Hounds are always going to be a team that gets works for second balls and will jump into passing lanes, but they were certainly pushing forward with a bit more ferocity consistently through the first half.

Although it took them some time to register a shot on frame, the Hounds took command in getting on the ball early in the match, while they kept the hosts at Bay in the first half, limiting them to two shots from tougher angles that didn’t test goalkeeper Eric Dick.

After earning a few corner kicks, the Hounds showed a willingness to keep coming, as after Mertz’s second set piece in the 26th minute was initially cleared, they retained possession, finding Augi Williams with the ball at his feet on the right edge.

Typically, a central midfielder with some freedom to roam, Danny Griffin alertly made a wide run and Williams played the ball in space for his captain to get to the end line with room to operate.

Griffin played a sharp, low ball that appeared to be headed for defender Guillaume Vactorwho made a run to the near post.  Vacter, who stayed on the high line following the set piece, appeared to attempt to get a foot on the ball which sailed slightly behind him.  Monterey’s goalkeeper Nico Campuzano and defenders in the box took the bait, moving over to defend the near post side, but either Vacter’s inability to get a quality touch on the ball or his willingness to be the decoy worked out for the Hounds.

Suber, the other center back who comes up very high for set pieces, stayed in the mix as the ball stayed in the attacking third, was there to score for the second straight week after not scoring a goal all season.

Suber easily passed the ball into an open goal second goal of the season.

Quality depth makes a difference in push for extra goals — with Jackson Walti taking the ‘Super Sub’ cape

Holding on to a 1-0 lead, once again, Pittsburgh had a chance to deliver a knockout punch earlier but couldn’t put Monterey Bay away late in the first half or early in the second.

With Monterey Bay pushing for the equalizer, the Hounds worked very diligently in staying organized — proving difficult for the hosts to find room to operate in the final third.

“That was certainly a focus at halftime. We said wanted to go get a second or a third goal, but at the same time, we knew we had to take care of our roles, and if we didn’t concede a goal, we would win the match,” Vincent mentioned after the match.

“I think we were able to limit them to a few chances early in each half and didn’t give them much else.”

keeper Eric Dick had to make a pair of saves to preserve the lead, including a stop of Xavi Gnaulati’s well-hit ball from 15 yards through traffic.

Pittsburgh brought on Walti and Barnes at the right time — providing a spark to get the team over the line.

After Gnaulati’s chance, the Hounds continue to press, and it was Mertz who intercepted a pass then played it over to Walti.

Taking a quick look up, Walti had the presence of mind to play a pretty difficult ball, threading it through the defense and getting it right to the outside of Augi Williams’ right foot with the defender shielded away on the other side.

Williams, who struggled with one goal from March until late June, was provided a splendid ball, but still had to deliver — and the Hounds’ number nine scored his ninth of the season.

Walti wasn’t done doing super sub work.

The former Pitt standout followed up his assist with some clever work in the box, freeing himself up to unleash a shot that beat his college teammate, Campuzano, in the 86th minute.

Vincent was especially pleased that for the second week in a row, the Hounds didn’t stop coming.

“I was thrilled that we were able to not just get the second, but the third goal, as well,” Vincent said.

“Really pleasing that we didn’t have any loss of intensity late in the match.”

Road Improvement leads to potential home playoff match 

Ironically, the Hounds, who were 1W-6L-4D on the road in league matches from March through August, closed out the season winning three of its final four away from home, to complete the road portion of the campaign with a slightly more respectable 4W-7L-4D mark.

Heading into September, if you were to guess that Pittsburgh would take nine of possible 12 points on the road, most would have taken it.  Even in the one loss, they were thoroughly dominant in the first half at Miami, only to play its worst half of soccer this season in the second.

Still to rebound with two straight wins including a dominant performance against a struggling team on the West Coast was a very positive sign for this club.

This is clearly a huge confidence builder for a team that will have to eventually go on the road in the playoffs.

The Hounds now control their own destiny in securing a home playoff match 

One more match to go in the regular season. After what looked like an impossible feat, the Hounds waited until the end of the season to finally get to fourth place.

They had a lot of help, but even before they stepped on the pitch, the door swung wide open on Saturday.

North Carolina tied Rhode Island, Hartford stumbled at Tampa Bay as did Loudoun United against Indy.  The lesson here for those teams — don’t take desperate teams battling to get into the playoffs for granted as Indy and Hartford are fighting to keep its seasons alive.

With a win and three points, the Hounds (now on 43 points) jumped ahead of North Carolina and Loudoun United FC and into fourth place.

• • North Carolina FC (42 points) split the points in its match vs Rhode Island
  • Indy Eleven defeated Loudoun United FC (42 points)
  • Hartford Athletic (44 points) were defeated by Tampa Bay Rowdies, 3-2.

It now comes down to next Saturday, as Pittsburgh controls its own destiny.

With a win vs Phoenix, they’ll secure at least fourth place, and with some help (Hartford would have to lose or draw at Louisville) they could finish as high as third place.  (Also, North Carolina FC and Loudoun United FC will face each other)

“I think it removes some of the narrative and some of those auxiliary thoughts you can have in the final week,” Vincent said.

“It’s a clear goal: Win and we get the home playoff game. It’s always messy on the last day when you’re looking at other results. But even without the other results going our way tonight, we knew we had to maximize our points by getting wins in these last two matches.”

Player Grades

Starting Eleven

1	Eric Dick	GK — 7 — Two saves and another clean sheet.
23	Guillaume Vacter ‎	DF — 6.5 — did he touch that ball, or not? Bottom line he drew a crowd, leaving Suber open on the back side. Part of another clean sheet
5	Sean Suber ‎	DF — 7.5 — another quaiity two-way performance, completing the most passes (58) in the match. with 84 total touches, winning 6/9 duels and of course — being the man on the spot with goal.
16	Beto Ydrach 68‎‘‎	DF — 7 — a lot of minutes this week — showed few signs of lag as made his usual defensive contributions including five recoveries. Had two shots, 16 passes into the final third and drew two fouls
13	Luke Biasi	MF — 8.5 — created two chances, had nine defensive contributions. Won 9/10 duels and was fouled a couple times. Missed one big chance from close range but was persistently dangerous in the attacking third and was solid as always defensively
8	Junior Etou 76‎‘‎	MF — 6 — drew a foul, won 5/6 duels, had five passes into final third but wasn’t necessarily getting as deep into the box and didn’t create any chances this week.
2	Danny Griffin (C)	MF — 7.5 — The captain continues to steer this team along at the right pace and working well with freedom especially when things break down for the second straight week, making a goal contribution and had three chances created.  That’s the two-way Danny Griffin this team needs every week.
15	Bradley Sample	MF — 7 — continues to play well in the deeper spot and working well with Griffin to cover the central part of the field with 10 passes into the final third and four defensive contributions.
9	Augi Williams ‎’89‎	FW — 7.5 — never any doubt about his work rate at the forward spot and proved his continued worth with a key late match strike that doubled the lead.
12	Charles Ahl 68‎‘‎	FW — 7 — at one point, he took about four shots, drew a few fouls and was giving MBFC defenders fits.  Had 36 touches (three in opposition box) with six passes into the last third while making four recoveries.
14	Robbie Mertz 89‎‘‎	FW — 7.5 — Created three chances to keep his team lead. Also, it was Mertz who picked a MBFC pocket to get the ball to Walti in the sequence that led to Williams’ goal.

Bench 

31	Randolph	DNP
3	Barnes 76‎‘‎	Sub — NR — a fully healthy Barnes means extra depth on the flank
17	Larsen 89‎‘‎	Sub — Continues in this role and coaching staff should be encouraged with a pair of shot attempts
28	Osumanu 68‎‘‎	Sub — 6 — nice to have reliable depth to spell Ydrach who had played his third match in eight days
18	Garcia 89‎‘‎	Sub — NR — Vincent mentioned it was good to get Garcia on the field.  A player who hasn’t seen as much action later in the season.
42	Walti 68‎‘‎	Sub — 8 — played a 21-minute shift off the bench, and his impact was immediate with an assist after four minutes, followed by the game-sealing goal. He also connected on 13 of 14 passes while in the match and won possession twice, with one of those turnovers created leading to his assist.
7	Boone	DNP