The Pittsburgh Riverhounds played their second game of the season tonight after beating the Harrisburg City Islanders, 5-2, last week in their season opener.
This time, the Riverhounds would be facing a much tougher defense in the Rochester Rhinos. Both teams played incredibly physical for the duration of the match, which made for a great game. Rochester was able to continue this tough play and wear down the Riverhounds at the end to edge out Pittsburgh, 2-1
The first goal came by the Rhinos from a free kick after a foul on defender Tony Walls by midfielder Stephen Okai. The ball popped up and curved into the left half of the net as Riverhounds’ goalie Ryan Thompson was frozen and positioned in the right half of the net.
The 1-0 lead by the Rhinos wouldn’t be touched until the 48th minute where Riverhounds’ forward Max Touloute would chip in a shot past Rochester’s keeper Brandon Miller. The play was set up thanks to a beautiful lob pass to the box by midfielder Danny Earls.
Pittsburgh seemed to get a shot of adrenaline as pass after pass was setup well and the rest of the team began to seem in sync. A few minutes after Pittsburgh scored, Riverhounds’ midfielder Rob Vincent was roughed up bad by midfielder Mike Garzi in the 51st minute. A referee ran to inspect the scene but there was no call or stoppage of play. Simultaneously, the ball advanced up the field in the blink of an eye where Rochester’s midfielder Alex Dixon shot and scored.
The Riverhounds were completely out of position and believed play had stopped after Garzi had slammed into Vincent.
51′ Controversy here as Dixon volleys Rhinos up 2-1. There was a scrap going on off the ball but referee allowed play to continue.
— PghRiverhounds (@PghRiverhounds) April 5, 2015
“We didn’t play well the first half and when we got the goal in the second half we gave one up right after, we can’t win like that,” assistant coach Josh Rithe said in a post-game interview.
The Riverhounds were able to establish a few good offensive possessions and landed a few shots, but to no avail as the Rochester Rhinos would keep the lead and go on to win, 2-1.
The Rochester Rhinos were able to stick to their gameplan all through the match in pressing the Riverhounds and finding gaps in their defense to lob passes for good chances on net. They wore down a speedy Riverhound offense and cashed in on opportunities when inside the box.
The Pittsburgh Riverhounds were not able to keep up the physical play in a loosely officiated game. After the Rhinos score in the 51st minute, the Riverhounds were not able to establish long and pressuring offensive drives until the four minutes in added time at the end of the match.
Pittsburgh will travel to St. Louis to play St. Louis FC next Saturday with a start time of 8:30 p.m.
