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USL Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC

Hounds Roll Past Birmingham in Record-Setting Performance, 7-0

October 26, 2019 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC News Release


PITTSBURGH - No. 1 seed Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC advanced to the Eastern Conference Semifinals after taking down 10th-seeded Birmingham Legion FC, 7-0, in its first-ever playoff win at Highmark Stadium on Saturday. A record crowd of 5,627 attended the match.

Match Report

Neco Brett scored four goals while Jordan Dover and Robbie Mertz each added one of their own en route to the win, setting a new club record for most goals scored in a playoff game in the process. Kyle Morton recorded two saves to earn the clean sheet.

The Hounds tied a club single-game record with seven goals scored.

First Half

The Hounds produced the first quality scoring chance of the game in the 6th minute, earning a corner that was deftly headed away by the Birmingham defense before a dangerous looking effort into the penalty box just narrowly missed connecting with a streaking Steevan Dos Santos a few moments later.

Pittsburgh ramped up the pressure, and minutes later finally broke through to open up the scoring.

After a hard strike from the edge of the penalty box, courtesy of Mertz, struck the post, the bouncing ball was gathered by Mouhamed Dabo before he cooly slotted a pass over to a waiting Brett on the left wing, who buried the effort to put Pittsburgh up 1-0.

Just minutes later, a fortunate bounce off of Birmingham defender Kyle Fisher led to an own goal that doubled the Hounds' lead to 2-0 in the 17th minute.

The dominance from the Black and Gold remained as the Hounds continued to pour it on, enjoying nearly 70 percent possession for the remainder of the first half.

Dos Santos provided more highlight-reel material in the 27th minute, taking a pass from the right wing and threading a perfect ball into the box to Brett for a slick back-heel redirect into a yawning cage to push the lead to 3-0.

Brett would complete the first-half hat trick in the 34th minute off of a penalty kick to give the Black and Gold a commanding 4-0 lead.

Dover added a fifth for good measure in first-half stoppage time to give Pittsburgh a commanding 5-0 lead heading into the locker rooms at halftime.

Second Half

The second half picked up right where the first left off, as Pittsburgh steadily controlled the game with excellent spacing and a relentless pace that steadily wore out the Birmingham defense.

Mertz pushed it to 6-0 in the 62nd minute on another PK after Zachary Herivaux was booked for a red card in the box. The Pittsburgh native took advantage of his first-ever PK attempt for his hometown squad, slotting home a well-placed strike into the lower-left corner.

Brett continued his incredible night in 71st minute, netting his fourth tally of the game after collecting a loose ball near the top of the penalty box and pushing home a low strike past goalkeeper Matt Van Oekel.

The Black and Gold held firm for the final 20 minutes before the final whistle sounded on the first-ever playoff win at Highmark Stadium.

Hound of the Match

Neco Brett scored four times and passed David Flavius for the most career postseason goals in Hounds history. His fourth tally tied a club record for most goals in a single game.

Beyond the Stats, presented by Beyond Self Storage

The Hounds finished the night with an 86 percent conversion rate.

What's Next:

Pittsburgh will play host to No. 4 Louisville City FC at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 2 at Highmark Stadium in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. Fans can purchase tickets at ticketmaster.com.

Lineups:

Riverhounds SC - Kyle Morton; Ryan James (Uchenna Uzo 76'), Tobi Adewole (Dani Rovira 83'), Joe Greenspan, Jordan Dover, Thomas Vancaeyezeele; Kenardo Forbes, Robbie Mertz, Mouhamed Dabo; Steevan Dos Santos (Kevin Kerr 65'), Neco Brett

Subs not used: Austin Pack, Noah Franke, Mark Forrest, Anthony Velarde

Birmingham Legion FC - Matt Van Oekel; Mikey Lopez, Anderson Asiedue, Femi Hollinger-Janzen (Eric Avila 55'), Kyle Fisher, Zach Herivaux, Kyle Culbertson; JJ Williams, Prosper Kasim (Daigo Kobayashi 58') , Daniel Johnson (Benjamin Kucera 64'); Brian Wright

Subs not used: Trevor Spangenberg, Gael Mabiala, Marcos Ugarte, Akeem Ward

Scoring Summary:

PIT - Neco Brett 13' (Mouhamed Dabo)

PIT - Kyle Fisher (own goal) 17'

PIT - Neco Brett 27' (Steevan Dos Santos)

PIT - Neco Brett 34' (penalty)

PIT - Jordan Dover 45' (Ryan James)

PIT - Robbie Mertz 62' (penalty)

PIT - Neco Brett 71' (Kenardo Forbes)

Misconduct Summary:

BHM - Kyle Culbertson 31' (caution)

BHM - Mikey Lopez 41' (caution)

BHM - Zachary Herivaux 61' (ejection)

PIT - Tobi Adewole 77' (caution)

Head coach Bob Lilley

On the game...

"We knew how athletic they are, we talked about how dangerous they are, but we just wanted to keep the ball moving. Stay aggressive, get at them, get after them and make sure we're not reacting to the game. Making sure we're taking charge and dictating. It's one game but it was a really good performance."

"We did a really good job of keeping the hammer down. At 2-0 or 3-0 that game is not done. We played a really, really strong first half where we're up 5-0 at half time, and then we kind of know 'Ok, as long as we don't do anything stupid and we show up the first 15 minutes of the second, we should be able to run this thing out.'"

On Neco Brett...

"He had a great night finishing. I would never discredit any of our players, because we have a lot of good players, but I think it's the collective. It's the tireless runs from Ryan James and Dover, it's Steevan Dos Santos competing on every ball. Midfield doing their jobs and keeping us in possession. I was real happy with Neco's application tonight, and the ball fell his way tonight, but it could be someone else next week, and hopefully that is what is going to help us do really well in the playoffs. We have a lot of ways we can hurt you and we're also tough to break down."

Forward Neco Brett

On if he expected a performance like this...

"When I got in the locker room, I realized that everyone was locked in. Whenever I get in the locker room and the guys are like that, normally we bring our A game. I was looking forward to a game like this. Not this many goals, but a good game."

On channeling the intensity of a playoff game...

"For the entire week, we have been training really well and making sure we were locked in because we know that playoff games are not like regular season games. There's more energy, everyone has to focus and make sure we're locked in. That's exactly what we did, and we showed our A game today."

On if the team's familiarity with Birmingham played a role in the success...

"It was just our game plan. We knew their backline wasn't that steady. All we had to do was put on some pressure and that's exactly what we did."

Midfielder Robbie Mertz

On his emotions after the win...

"Right now I think it's just kind of elation that we were able to come out and put together a performance like that. I think everyone can agree, it's probably our best of the season, and to be doing it at this time of year is what you want and what Bob has asked of us. It's really special, but we have to re-group tomorrow, enjoy the victory but move on to the next one."

On the work of Steevan and Neco...

"The biggest thing for them is that they work so hard on both sides of the ball, and it creates a lot for us going forward. The work they do defensively enables us to get forward, but the biggest thing with them, coach demands a lot of movement, a lot of good runs, and I think you saw that with Neco when he got in a few times tonight."

On the feeling around the team currently riding a 12-game unbeaten streak...

"I think we're enjoying ourselves on the field, and when you're enjoying your performances it makes a big difference. Obviously like tonight when you're getting a lot of goals and a shutout, you're enjoying it at both sides of the ball. Just keep working hard, keep going about our business, and trying to do our jobs early in the game so that we can enjoy wins like tonight."

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