Riverhounds head to Detroit for key USL Eastern Conference ma
A battle for third place in the USL Eastern Conference will take place at 7 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 19, when the Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC travel to Michigan to play Detroit City FC.
Detroit (10-6-7) currently sits in fourth place, one point behind the third-place Riverhounds (11-9-5), who are slowly climbing in the standings and are only two points out of second place.
Detroit’s leading scorer is Darren Smith, who comes into the match with 12 goals, tying him for second in the USL. Pittsburgh defeated Detroit 2-1, on April 18 in the Steel City.
On a rainy Sept. 12, in front of a sellout crowd at F.N.B Stadium, the Riverhounds defeated Loudoun United FC for the third time this season in a 1-0 victory.
The Hounds went on the offensive early. Charles Ahl, who has set up several goals this season, found Sam Bassett with a pass at the top of the Loudoun box. Bassett found space and unloaded a powerful kick from long-range that beat goalkeeper Jordan Farr to the right side, giving the Hounds a 1-0 lead at the eight-minute mark.
Bassett’s goal was his sixth of the season and placed him in a tie with Albert Dikwa for second on the team behind Trevor Amann’s seven goals.
The Hounds kept the early pressure on when Bassett found Amann in front of the Loudoun net at the 19-minute mark. Amann scored, but the goal was disallowed due to an offside call. Hounds’ goalkeeper Nico Campuzano kept Loudoun off the board and the score remained 1-0 going into the break.
The second half action was slowed by the heavy rain, and neither team was able to generate much offense. Dikwa made his first appearance in several games in the second half and immediately created an opportunity for the Hounds when he sent a header toward the Loudoun crossbar, but Farr made a nice save by pushing the ball over the net to keep the match close. Campuzano was called into action later in the half and was up to the task in establishing his ninth clean sheet of the regular season.
Loudoun led in total shots 14-10 and owned the time of possession, 59% to 41%, in dropping to 3-9-11 for the season.
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