Riverhounds drop season-opener to old rival, face Loudoun United Saturday in Virginia

The Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC will hit the road to battle Loudoun United FC in Leesburg, Va., at 3 p.m. Saturday, March 14.

The United, which made their first playoff appearance a season ago, will be playing their first game of the season in their home opener. They feature key players such as Pedro Santos and Abdellatif Aboukoura under new manager Anthony Limbrick.

The United’s March 7 scheduled game against Rhode Island FC was postponed due to severe winter weather in Pawtucket, R.I.

In their first defense of last season’s United Soccer League (USL) Championship crown, the Riverhounds lost to their long-time rival, the Charleston Battery, 2-1 Saturday, March 7, in Charleston, S.C.

The rivalry game, which dates to 1999, began with a one-minute silent protest by both teams in recognition of the ongoing negotiations between the USL Players Association and the USL Championship for a new Collective Bargaining Agreement for improved player standards.

Neither team could generate offense through much of the first half, which featured some key saves by the Hounds’ goalkeeper, Nico Campuzano, and the Battery’s — and former Hounds’ — goalkeeper Luis Zumudio.

The Battery, typically one of the best scoring teams in the USL, finally broke the stalemate with a header goal off a corner kick by another former Riverhound — defender Sean Suber. Suber’s goal at the 45-minute mark was the first goal scored against Pittsburgh in over 677 minutes of play, dating back to last season.  The first half ended with Battery holding a 1-0 lead.

The second half began with the Battery on the offensive, forcing Campuzano to make two key saves. The pressure continued and Wilmer Cabrera scored from the top of the box at the 52-minute mark to extend the lead to 2-0.

The Riverhounds began to generate pressure of their own, as Beto Ydrach’s shot missed from 25 yards out, but Charles Ahl’s pass to Albert Dikwa was inadvertently knocked into Charleston’s own goal by defender Nathan Messer, making the score 2-1 at the 62-minute mark.

Key saves by the Hounds’ Campuzano, and one by Sam Bassett when Campuzano was out of position, kept the game close.  Pittsburgh’s Travor Amann generated good scoring chances, but the Battery hung on for the win, their fourth straight in the series.

The Battery won the time of possession 55% to 45% and outshot the Hounds 13 to 10.  Campuzano had four saves for Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh was without the services of two key offensive players in Robbie Mertz and Eliot Goldthorpe, neither of whom played because of injury.