The Pittsburgh Riverhounds (1-1-2) hosted Toronto F.C. II (1-2-1) at Highmark Stadium on a gloomy and chilly Pittsburgh Saturday evening. The Hounds would finally breakout offensively since their first game of the season, crushing Toronto F.C. II, 5-1.
Last week, the Riverhounds missed a huge opportunity in drawing with Louisville City F.C.,a game in which the Hounds lost a 1-0 lead in the last few moments of added time. On Saturday night Riverhounds would look to continue playing tough defense; however, their offense would need to start getting more chances if they expected to beat a fast and efficient Toronto team.
Pittsburgh started out with heavy ball possession but little of it translated into real chances on the net. Their offense seemed in rhythm early and tested a subpar Toronto defense, wiggling their way past defenders.
The Hounds were able to keep Toronto F.C. II off the board for the first 17 minutes until a great possession by forward Molham Babouli danced past hesitant defenders and capitalized by whizzing the ball right past Pittsburgh goalie Ryan Thompson.
Toronto F.C. II’s goal seemed to kick the Riverhounds into another gear. In the 32nd and 35th minutes, they were given opportunities to tie the game.
In the 32nd minute midfielder Mike Green was fouled and the Hounds were given a free kick. On the ensuing kick and a bit of trickery between Riverhound players, midfielder Stephen Okai was able to get a shot on goal but Toronto keeper Quillan Roberts was able to bring the ball in without breaking a sweat.
Moments later, in the 35th minute, the Hounds created a fantastic chance after a Toronto corner kick was blocked away from the net by defender Willie Hunt. Eventually, the ball was gathered by midfielder Rob Vincent who booted it down field and would find midfielder Tyler Pasher’s foot where he narrowly missed putting the ball on net.
Pittsburgh finally found the equalizer in the 39th minute where Kevin Kerr smashed the ball past Toronto’s keeper on a penalty kick, scoring his fourth goal of the season. The penalty by Toronto would be costly due to a red card being drawn, giving the Riverhounds a one man advantage.
And here's the @SteelArmy reaction to Kerr's goal. #PGHvTOR pic.twitter.com/AWwab61dDe
— PghRiverhounds (@PghRiverhounds) April 26, 2015
The game would go into the half tied 1-1 with the Riverhounds showing a lot of momentum and confidence in their offense. This poured over into the second half where Pittsburgh began to dominate on both sides of the ball.
With a huge and loud crowd of 1,639 fans on hand at Highmark Stadium, the Riverhounds repaid them with a fantastic second half.
In just the first ten minutes after the break in play, the Hounds had multiple fast break chances on net with bursts of offensive dominance from Green, Vincent and Pasher.
After multiple chances, at the 56th minute, Kerr setup Vincent right in front of the box who drove the ball to the right of the net past Roberts.
A little over 10 minutes later, Vincent scored his second goal of the game with a beauty. Vincent turned the corner on the right side of the box, passed a Toronto defender and plastered the ball to the back of the net, just out of the reach of Roberts. This goal would give the Riverhounds a 3-1 lead.
Three minutes later midfielder Danny Earls booted a perfect ball in the upper right corner from at least 20 yards away, giving the Hounds another goal and leading 4-1.
Toronto F.C. II had no answer for an unstoppable Hounds’ offense and it certainly didn’t help that they were a man short for the entire half.
Unable to match the Riverhounds, Toronto’s defense gave up yet another goal in the 89th after Pasher was set up by a perfect pass from Kerr, shooting the ball just above Roberts.
Pittsburgh absolutely dominated Toronto in almost every aspect of the game. Offensively, Vincent and Kerr played outstandingly. Kerr, specifically, was very unselfish by setting up players left and right. Vincent’s big boot came up stronger than what we’re used to in scoring two goals tonight and would lead the Hounds to a well deserved victory.
Defensively, while only having to defend 10 men as opposed to 11, Pittsburgh continued to play great. This defense has yet to allow more than two goals in a game this year and has held it’s opponent to one goal or less in their last three games.
Pittsburgh will head to New York and face the New York Red Bulls II next Sunday at 2:00 P.M.
Photo credit: Pittsburgh Riverhounds
