After a week of exciting news regarding new players, tournament games and star goal keeper Ryan Thompson being called to his national team, the Pittsburgh Riverhounds [2-3-2] looked to prove themselves on the field against the Richmond Kickers [4-1-3].
The Riverhounds would end up drawing with the Kickers 1-1 and came up short after not capitalizing on turnovers. The Kickers had just came off of the first loss in their early season. While the 3-0 loss was unusual for this intense team, they looked to rebound and play at the high level they’re used to.
Richmond would do exactly that by completing pass after pass and really threading the needle. In the 23rd minute the Kickers took advantage of a slip by central defender Anthony Arena.
Former Houston Dynamo and Riverhounds teammate of Arena midfielder Brian Ownby drilled a ball past Hounds keeper Calle Brown, giving Richmond an early 1-0 lead.
The Kickers found themselves keeping the 1-0 lead all the way through into the second half. However, in the 36th minute, Arena created a great opportunity that almost brought the game to a tie.
In the second half, the Hounds’ offense began to crank it up a gear and establish constant pressure in the Kickers’ box. Finally, after numerous opportunities on net by midfielder Tyler Pasher and Arena, a goal was scored to tie Richmond, 1-1.
The goal was setup by a corner kick from midfielder Rob Vincent to Arena, who headed the ball right past Kickers’ keeper Ryan Taylor.
Pittsburgh would keep on the pressure, finding good scoring chance after another. The defense was able to separate the ball from the Kickers which led to some outstanding scoring chances by the Hounds.
Although there were no goals to show it, the early stages of the second half were packed with chances from both sides.
In the 73rd minute, newly signed Serbian midfielder Boris Zivanovic was substituted in for forward Vini Dantas. The Riverhounds second substitution of the game came in the 78th minute, when midfielder Mike Green was substituted for defender Drew Russell.
Just minutes after the Hounds substitution midfielders Kevin Kerr and Rob Vincent connected for a shot on goal that was headed just a little too soft.
Going into the last ten minutes, the game intensified even further. Richmond found two late scoring chances but Brown smothered any ball that he could get his hands on. Pasher and Russell were set up multiple times, but missed the goal by a matter of feet.
Unfortunately, for the Riverhounds none of these chances translated to goals. While Richmond is a quality team, the Hounds came off the field disappointed knowing they were not too far away from stealing a few more points from the third place Kickers.
The Pittsburgh Riverhounds will face the West Virginia Chaos in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Tournament this Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. in Highmark Stadium.
Photo credit: Pittsburgh Riverhounds/TKO Photo
