Focused on preparations leading up to the new season which is scheduled to begin next Saturday at Charleston, the Riverhounds stayed focused with a pair of weekend victories over two of the more accomplished college programs in our region, West Virginia (2-1) and Pitt (2-0) on Saturday.
In Saturday’s match against Pitt, the Hounds broke through for a pair of goals from team captain Danny Griffin and Eliot Goldthorp shortly after the start of the second half, then clamped down for the shut out win. On Friday, the Hounds also took a two goal advantage to start off the proceedings as Jorge Garcia and Jackson Walti each found the net.
“Getting almost everybody the full-90 was huge,” Rob Vincent, Riverhounds SC Head Coach said after Saturday’s contest giving almost every player on his roster the opportunity to get important full match game action.
“You can’t replace that in training or running, you just have to do it. Most of the guys over the past couple weekends have played 70, 80 and now 90 minutes. They’re at a point now, where, we’re ready for next week.”
As far as what he saw on the field, Vincent believes there’s a lot of positives to build on but also acknowledged there’s a lot to work on while he and the coaching staff are still figuring out how the team will lineup for the opener.
“We’re starting to see the identity come out,” Vincent said.
“There’s room for improvement. Today were a little bit less tidy in possession than I would have liked. But we’re continuing to make progress.”
Also hanging over the match was Friday’s news that revealed that USL Players Association based on unanimous voite, authorized players to strike unless an agreement is reached with USL Headquarters.
Across the board, Griffin, Albert Dikwa, Robbie Mertz in addition to Vincent, acknowledged the situation, but each remain committed and focused to the task of being ready for the start of the season, next Saturday night in Charleston.
“We’re in a spot right now where we need professional standards and that’s going to continue to be put forward by the players,” Mertz, who sat out the match as he’s still nursing a knee injury.
“We’re not going to change our preparations,” Vincent shared.
“Train, get ready for the game. We’ll handle it as it comes.”
In Saturday’s match vs Pitt, the Riverhounds appeared to put out what may look closest to what could be the starting lineup to what we might see in Charleston next week, though Vincent acknowledged that things remain very much in flux when it comes to competition for starting spots.
In Saturday’s starting lineup, the Hounds came out in a familiar looking 3-4-2-1, with three center back grouping that included two returnees, Beto Ydrach and Guillaume Vacter, along with newcomer Victor Souza — in front of Nico Campuzano in goal playing against his former school.
Talented newcomer Sam Bassett was paired in the central midfield with Danny Griffin, while another new Hound with USL Championship experience, Eliot Goldthorpe started in one of the attacking midfield spots with Charles Ahl, while the two players who started in the wings through the postseason run last season, veteran Junior Etou and Perrin Barnes were out in the wide two-way spots.
The best early chances for the Riverhounds against Pitt were limited to set pieces, with Beto Ydrach flashing a header just over the crossbar from a 15th-minute corner kick. On the half-hour mark, Goldthorp sprung Junior Etou to the goal line with a clever backheel, but no Hounds were able to get on the end of a ball chipped by Etou toward the middle of the 6-yard box.
Pitt’s defensive resistance was finally broken down in the 50th minute with a fortuitous bounce.
Etou again worked the left side and went for goal, and his effort struck the upright. The rebound came directly to Griffin standing near the penalty spot, and the Hounds’ captain tucked the ball home for his first goal of the preseason.
Less than a minute later, the Hounds were on the board again after Ydrach played the ball forward to Charles Ahl. Ahl sent a pass across goal from the right side, and Goldthorp made the back post run to touch home his second goal this preseason.
Vincent also thought that playing Jay Vidovich’s Pitt squad in its first full match of the Spring, regularly rotating fresh legs in and out of the lineup, while he was committed to giving almost all the starters a full 90 minute run, proved to be a good test.
On Friday night, the Hounds started a completely different line-up.
Signed players who were in the first 11 included a backline that featured Lasse Kelp, Owen Mikoy, Illal Osumanu, midfielders Max Viera; Jackson Walti, Bradley Sample; along with Jorge Garcia, Trevor Amann and Brigham Larsen making up the front line attacking group. Other playerrs included in the starting line-up were only identified as trialists (former Philadelphia Union 2/Academy and Villanova goalkeeper Michael Sheridan and Neto).
All of Friday’s scoring came in the first half.
The Hounds needed only four minutes to get on the board after Trevor Amann found Garcia darting toward the box on his left. Garcia drove a hard shot that bounced off the goalkeeper’s outstretched glove and into the net.
The lead was doubled in the 31st minute when Walti made a foray forward from his holding midfield role. Owen Mikoy’s long ball over the top from the center circle hit Walti running clear behind the defense, and the former Pitt midfielder placed the ball home against his old school’s rival.
Garcia nearly potted a second goal two minutes later with a free kick from 22 yards, but a touch by the keeper’s glove pushed the ball off the crossbar and kept it out.
West Virginia got on the board with the final kick of the first half. Hogben worked his way to the 18 with a give-and-go passing sequence, and the new Mountaineers player hit a well-placed shot into the top of the net.
Following both matches, Vincent shared that he’s still trying to figure out his lineup selections for next week.
“We have a lot of guys who stepped up played well. With the returning guys, you know what to expect. One or two rookies can step in right away. We’ve been happy with Eliot (Goldthorp), Sam (Bassett) and Chico (Albert Dikwa) because you don’t know how things are going always go when you add to the group,” Vincent said.
“We have lot of options. We’ve made a lot of progress.
The team captain offer his assessment after the last preseason match too.
“We had some good tests in preseason,” Griffin said.
“We’ve shown resilience. We’ve grown as a team the way we want to play on the ball. The defensively we’ve been strong, given up a few goals, two in Lexington and one in Loudoun, but we’ll look at the film, but things are coming together. We’re excited for the year to come and ultimately to defend our title.”
Preseason Match Notes
- Mertz said that he’s made good progress in rehabbing his knee injury, but all but admitted he won’t be ready for next week’s opener.
- Vidovich was regularly mixing players in and out of the lineup as he has a mix of returnees but also numerous new faces. The two former Pitt players on Riverhounds squad, only Campuzano played on Saturday. Walti played on Friday, ironically scoring a goal that would make Pitt fans proud — against West Virginia. After the match, Campuzano and his former coach (Vidovich) had some time to get caught up. Campuzano and Walti were part of Pitt’s squad that reached the College Cup in 2021.
- Caught up with both Danny Griffin and Albert Dikwa for a full length interview. Look for more from that to drop later this weekend and early next week. In the interim, here’s a clip with Dikwa.
- In goal on Friday for the Hounds was Michael Sheridan, who’s still listed as a trialist. To learn more about Sheridan, check out our partners with Philadelphia Soccer Now’s feature on the former Villanova and Philadelphia Union 2/Academy keeper.
Ridley native Mike Sheridan’s journey to Philadelphia Union II goalkeeper far from typical
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