USL showdown: Riverhounds face top team at home Saturday
The USL’s best team rolls into F.N.B. Stadium at 5 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 29, when the Tampa Bay Rowdies make their way to Pittsburgh’s south shore to take on the Riverhounds.
Tampa Bay leads the Eastern Division by eight points over second-place Charleston and has seven points more than the leaders of the Western Conference – New Mexico and El Paso.
The Rowdies are 13-3-5 for the season and feature leading scorers, Matt Myers with nine goals and former Hound Russell Cicerone with six. Tampa Bay defeated the Riverhounds 3-0 on March 21 in St. Petersburg.
Pittsburgh will be facing back-to-back matches against the best that USL has to offer, following its match Wednesday against El Paso.
The Riverhounds (10-9-3) fell to the EL Paso Locomotive 2-1 on a hot night in Texas, and the loss dropped them into fourth place in the Eastern Division. The first half was lacking offensive opportunities on both sides, but it was El Paso that had two good scoring chances, both thwarted by backup Riverhounds goalkeeper Mike Sheridan, who received the start.
Sheridan made two fingertip saves, one tipping the ball above the crossbar and the second a diving stop to his left, which culminated in both sides entering the break scoreless.
The Hounds came out for the second half looking to make things happen, and they did so at the 53-minute mark. A great passing sequence from Pittsburgh resulted in Charles Ahl working a give-and-go with Robbie Mertz in the Locomotive box. Mertz found himself open in front of the net and fired a shot toward the right side that easily beat goalkeeper Pedro Cruz for a 1-0 Hounds lead.
The lead was short-lived, for at the 57-minute mark, El Paso moved into the Hounds’ zone and Arturo Ortiz took a long shot from outside the box that careened off Eric Cavillo standing toward the center of the net. The change of direction was enough to allow the ball to evade Sheridan and tie the score at 1-1.
The Riverhounds held their own against one of the league leaders as the score remained tied heading into stoppage time. Pittsburgh’s best opportunity for a second goal came from Yu Tsukanome, but Cruz made a good save at the right post.
Just when it appeared the Hounds would earn a draw, El Paso’s Zyen Jones sent a high pass into the Riverhounds’ box where Noah Dollenmayer was able to head the ball past a surprised Sheridan at the 90 + 3 mark, which proved to be the game winner.
With its fifth consecutive win, El Paso moved into a tie for first place with New Mexico in the Western Conference with a record of 11-7-4. Shots on goal were in favor of the Locomotive 4-3, as was possession 64% to 36%. Pittsburgh’s leading scorer, Albert Dikwa, missed his second consecutive game with an injury.
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