The Pittsburgh Riverhounds played the D.C. United to a draw over 90 minutes, but to advance in the U.S. Open Cup, there must be a winner.
In extra time, the size, legs, and experience of the Major League Soccer side took over, as the United score a pair of goals in the additional period to earn a 3-1 victory and advance to the fifth round of the tournament.
The United took the advantage early on with success on set pieces. In the fourth minute, a D.C. corner bounced around and hit the post to the right of Riverhounds goalkeeper Calle Brown, but stayed out.
Four minutes later, the Hounds wouldn’t be so lucky as Luis Silva’s corner kick was deflected by Conor Doyle right to a wide-open Facundo Coria, who sent it home to give the visitors an early lead.
“They’re big boys,” said diminutive Riverhounds midfielder Kevin Kerr. “It’s one of the reasons we probably struggled a little bit on the set pieces. They had a lot of big boys coming in and great service all night.”
After giving up the lead, the Riverhounds seemed to settle down a bit, and had the better of the play through the middle of the first half.
Kerr, in particular, was relentless in his pursuits on the right side. He was rewarded for his efforts in the 24th minute, when he was fouled in the penalty area by United defender Kofi Opare. Rob Vincent took the penalty kick for Pittsburgh and deposited it past United goalkeeper Andrew Dykstra to even the score at 1-1.
“I thought that maybe he saw a video of my last penalty, so I thought to go the other way,” said Vincent. “As long as you hit them hard, they have a good chance of going in. I was confident, especially with the Steel Army behind the goal, we always feel confident there.”
The Steel Army was in full voice for all 120 minutes, and they roused the the season-high crowd of 3,988 as they tried to will the Hounds to victory.
The Riverhounds continued to drive the play forward, forcing Dykstra to make three saves in the first 45 minutes, the best of which came in the 31st minute. Mike Green took a pass from Stephen Okai and raced past the D.C. defender on the left side, but Dykstra was up to the task to keep the match level.
In the 45th minute, the United again threatened on a corner kick, but Green, back from his forward position, was able to clear Jalen Robinson’s shot off the line with a header.
The second half was dominated by the United, but they were unable to beat Brown in regulation.
“I was happy with the second half, right on through,” said United head coach Ben Olsen. “I thought we pressed the game and our commitment to get in behind was better. Miguel (Aguilar) changed the game. We started making them get think about getting in behind, which opened up space underneath.”
In extra time, it was again the set piece that led to the Riverhounds’ demise, as the United earned back-to-back corner kicks in the 92nd minute. Opare buried the crossing feed on the second D.C. opportunity to give his club the lead for good.
Nick DeLeon gave the United an insurance marker in the 104th minute, as he was left all alone in front of Brown and lofted a header into the net.
The Riverhounds [4-4-4] return to USL play this Saturday with a home match against FC Montreal [1-8-2] at 7:00 p.m.
Photo credit: Brian Mitchell
