The Pittsburgh Riverhounds had the Charlotte Independence on the ropes on Saturday night. The match was a pivotal one for the Independence, who trailed the Riverhounds by six points for the final USL Eastern Conference playoff position coming into the match.
The Hounds built a 1-0 first half lead and the Independence were playing with 10 men, but Charlotte continued to push forward, scoring an 85th minute equalizer and escaping Pittsburgh with a 1-1 draw.
“It was not a good feeling, I’ll tell you that,” said Riverhounds head coach Mark Steffens after the match. “It definitely makes it harder on us. We need three points at this time, so going down to Charlotte, it’s just going to be that much harder for us now.”
The Riverhounds will visit the Independence next Saturday in the second half of a home-and-home series.
The match started off well for the Riverhounds, who had a few good early attacks, all of which were foiled by Charlotte goalkeeper John Berner.
In the third minute, Kevin Kerr fed Michael Green through the defense, but Berner came way out of the box to make a save with his chest and what appeared to be his right arm. Referee Jaroslaw Werel did not signal for a handball, despite the Riverhounds protests.
Three minutes later, another Kerr service was slicing toward a streaking Rob Vincent in the six-yard box, but Vincent and Berner collided. A foul was called on Vincent and he was cut on the play, having to momentarily leave the game while being bandaged.
In the 39th minute, the Hounds finally struck as Lebo Moloto took a Stephen Okai feed, made a quick touch and buried a long shot into the upper half of the net to break the scoreless tie.
Immediately upon restart, things started to get chippy. Charlotte forward Dominique Badji was given a red card for an altercation away from the ball with Kerr. A large discussion broke out between the benches, with Independence midfielder Paola DelPiccolo the most vocal participant, angrily shouting and pointing at the fourth official.
After the game was again restarted, Kerr was quickly booked for a caution on a questionable challenge. He will now have to serve a one game suspension next week due to accumulating his fifth yellow card.
In the second half, the Independence played inspired soccer, pushing the pace while playing down a man. The Hounds conceded several set pieces, but goalkeeper Ryan Thompson was up to the task.
Thompson, the Riverhounds’ usual starting goalkeeper, hasn’t played with the team since late May, missing time to participate with the Jamaican National Team in the Gold Cup and Copa America, and more recently, he has been sidelined with a knee injury.
“I’m happy with my performance,” Thompson said. “There’s things that we can work on moving forward. We’re trying to make a push for the playoffs.”
He also said that his knee, which has been a lingering problem for him, feels fine.
In the 85th minute, the Hounds had a golden chance to push the advantage as Amara Soumah, who had come on as a sub for Moloto in the 75th minute, chipped the ball over Berner, but a Charlotte defender cleared it off the line.
The Independence rapidly counterattacked and it took an athletic play by right back Matt Dallman to break up the play, but he conceded yet another corner.
That one finally broke through, as Ryan Finley’s header escaped the outstretched arms of Thompson for the equalizer.
“They’re big, and every set piece, every foul that we committed, we had trouble handling them,” Steffens said. “We’re not the biggest team in the world and they’re really tall, so we knew that we had to try to be real smart and not foul a lot.
We had some fouls in the back half that cost us a lot of free kicks. When you give set pieces, I figured that’s the only way they were going to score a goal.”
The Riverhounds had one last chance to regain the lead with a 30-yard free kick in stoppage time, but Anthony Arena headed Vincent’s service over the bar.
With the draw, the Riverhounds prevented the Independence from gaining any ground, but failed to capitalize on an opportunity to jump over idle New York and Richmond, who had lost earlier in the day, into fourth place.
Notes: Midfielder Ben Newnam, just signed after being released by Colorado (MLS) earlier in the week, made his Riverhounds debut, coming on as sub in the 45th minute. The Riverhounds set a new regular-season attendance record, with 4,297 fans packing Highmark Stadium. Moloto’s goal gives him a point in three straight games. He’s scored two goals and three assists in that span.
Starting XI: GK Thompson; D Willie Hunt, Fejiro Okiomah, Dallman, Arena; M Okai, Moloto, Vincent, Danny Earls, Kerr; F Green
Substitutions: 45’ Newnam for Okai, 75’ Soumah for Moloto, 85’ Miro Cabrilo for Green
Discipline: 43’ Kerr (yellow)
Next match: Saturday, August 23 vs. Charlotte Independence at Winthrop University
Photo credit: Terry O’Neil/Riverhounds.com
