If last week’s home draw against the Charlotte Independence dealt a body blow to the Pittsburgh Riverhounds playoff chances, Saturday’s 2-1 loss to the same Independence at Ramblewood Soccer Complex in Charlotte, North Carolina, may have been a knockout punch.
The Riverhounds, in a fierce battle for the final playoff position in the USL’s Eastern Conference, again missed an opportunity to move up the standings in a match against a lower-ranked side.
Charlotte had scored the late equalizer at Highmark Stadium last weekend on a corner kick from the left side to the near post, and they took an early lead on a similar play in the sixth minute, as Danny Jackson headed Carlos Alvarez’s service past Ryan Thompson to give the Independence the early lead.
A minute later, the Riverhounds thought they had a quick equalizer, as Max Touloute found an opening in the Charlotte defense and let loose a drive that got past Independence goalkeeper John Berner, but his shot hit the goal post.
For much of the first half, the Riverhounds had trouble moving through the midfield in the absence of usual attacking midfielder Kevin Kerr, who was forced to sit out the match for accumulating his fifth yellow card.
In the 38th minute, Charlotte added to their lead when another nice pass from Alvarez sent Enzo Martinez through the Riverhounds defense, and he found the far side of the net beyond the reach of Thompson to give the Independence a 2-0 lead.
In the second half, the Riverhounds finally started to get some traction offensively. In the 60th minute, Touloute used his speed to get free down the left side, and he tucked the ball back to Rob Vincent for one of his patented long drives from outside the box. Vincent had the range, but his shot clanged harmlessly off the crossbar behind Berner.
The Hounds finally got on the board in the 89th minute, when wing back Willie Hunt came forward on a Danny Earls free kick and the 5-foot-11 defender muscled his way to the hotly-contested ball and headed it home to put the Riverhounds back on the chase.
As the game neared stoppage time, the Riverhounds again were able to press the attack and had the Charlotte defense scrambling, but their momentum was undone when Earls made a late, hard challenge from the back side of Independence midfielder Paolo Del Piccolo.
Del Piccolo and his teammates took exception to the tackle, and a shoving match broke out, with both Earls and Charlotte forward Ryan Finley sent off and Riverhounds midfielder Ben Newnam receiving a yellow card.
Vincent got one last chance in stoppage time, but it went wide of the net and the frustrated Hounds will return to Pittsburgh with out a point.
STARTING XI: Goalkeeper Thompson; defenders Hunt, Anthony Arena, Fejiro Okiomah, and Matt Dallman, midfielders Earls, Newnam, Tyler Pasher, Vincent and Lebo Moloto; forward Touloute.
SUBSTITUTES: 45’ Amarah Soumah for Pasher, 69’ Miro Cabrilo for Okiomah, 72’ Boris Zivanovic for Touloute
DISCIPLINE: 34’ Moloto (yellow), 87’ Vincent (yellow), 90+’ Earls (red), Newnam (yellow)
NEXT MATCH: 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, August 29 at Louisville City
Photo credit: Timmy Robinette.
