Hounds Zap Battery, 1-0
September 14, 2019 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC News Release
PITTSBURGH - Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC (14-4-9) earned a 1-0 win over the Charleston Battery (8-8-11) Saturday evening at Highmark Stadium, pushing its regular season home unbeaten streak to 23 games.
Match Report
Steevan Dos Santos scored the lone tally of the game for the Hounds, his ninth of the season.
First Half
The Hounds earned the first solid look for either side in the 9th minute after Thomas Vancaeyezeele created separation in the penalty box and fired a hard strike from 12 yards out that was swallowed up by Charleston keeper Phil Breno.
Charleston threatened in the 30th minute after a dangerous looking free kick from Jarad van Schaik sailed into the penalty area, however the effort was headed high and over the crossbar.
Kenardo Forbes nearly put the Hounds up 1-nil two minutes later after collecting a rebound just outside the penalty area, however the effort was steered aside by Breno once again.
Neither squad managed to materialize any more offense, however, and the first half ended scoreless.
Second Half
The Hounds threatened early on in the second after a nice run by Kevin Kerr down the right wing, however his cross was neatly headed away by the Charleston backline after just narrowly missing the mark.
Neco Brett nearly pulled off a highlight-reel play in the 67th minute, corralling a high cross into the box in mid-air, however his flailing header attempt sailed high.
Dos Santos finally broke the deadlock two minutes later, finding a gap in coverage and neatly slotting home his effort for a tap in after receiving a perfect pass from Forbes to put the Hounds up 1-0.
Charleston came close to leveling in stoppage time, however the effort sailed wide and the Riverhounds held on to secure three points.
Hound of the Match
Steevan Dos Santos recorded the game's only goal and finished the evening with two shots including one on target.
Stat of the Game: 79.6%
The Hounds completed 79.6 percent of their passes Saturday afternoon on a total of 598 attempts.
What's Next
The Hounds head out on the road for two straight games, taking on Nashville SC at 8 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 21 at First Tennessee Park.
Lineups:
Riverhounds SC - Kyle Morton, Thomas Vancaeyezeele, Tobi Adewole, Joe Greenspan, Jordan Dover - Kenardo Forbes, Sammy Kahsai (Ryan James 73'), Robbie Mertz (Mouhamed Dabo 90'), Kevin Kerr (Anthony Velarde 82') - Steevan Dos Santos, Neco Brett
Subs not used: Austin Pack, Noah Franke, Uchenna Uzo, Christian Volesky
Charleston Battery - Philip Breno - Arthur Paterson, Jarad van Schaik, Leland Archer (Vincenzo Candela 14'), Kyle Nelson, Nico Rittmeyer, Angelo Kelly (Kotaro Higashi 84'), Tah Anunga, Romario Piggott, Arthur Bosua, Ataulla Guerra (Dante Marini 70')
Subs not used: Joe Kuzminsky, Zeiko Lewis, Ian Svantesson
Scoring Summary:
PIT - Steevan Dos Santos 69' (Kenardo Forbes)
Misconduct Summary:
CHS - Ataulla Guerra 34' (caution)
PIT - Steevan Dos Santos 35' (caution)
PIT - Robbie Mertz 83' (caution)
QUOTES
Head coach Bob Lilley
On the crosses...
"It has (improved). We scored a lot of goals on them, maybe as much as most teams, but sometime deep teams, Charleston. St. Louis or some teams, drop pretty deep and they collapse into the box with a lot of numbers so its hard to find space, they defend with numbers well."
On plan for rosters on upcoming road trip...
"The good this is that Anthony Velarde and Kahsai, Rovira, Noah Franke, they all started and played game. It will help, we will have to rotate, we'll probably lean on our center backs a lot which we have, and we will have to rotate which will require guys to step up. They have in the past, and I think we have everything to play for."
On the teams response...
"I do want to credit our guys tonight, finding a good response after last week with a pretty disappointing in terms of our overall play. Like I said, we worked on things, I don't think we got all the way there but I definitely think we fixed some things from last week, and we're a lot closer now to know what we have to do going forward against Nashville."
Forward Steevan Dos Santos
On his goal...
"It's always good to score. When you help the team win, it feels better. Last week, I had a couple [chances] and I couldn't score. I'm happy because today I scored and helped the team get three points."
On ending the club's scoring drought...
"Charleston is fighting for playoffs as well. We knew that they would come here and try to get something today. They did defend well and gave us problems to bring them down. I'm happy because I got the end of one, and that was enough to get the three points."
On how to attack Charleston's backline...
"We knew we had to press them to make them make mistakes. They did make some mistakes. Because they were so deep defending, we knew if we were just going to sit back it would be harder for us to get three points."
Midfielder Kenardo Forbes
On how to open up chances against Charleston...
"Charleston over the years, they're hard to break down. They're a pretty good defensive team. They come in and they sit. We had to be patient in and around the box, try to wait for an opening, and try to get them on the counter. Just like that, we got the goal. That was the game plan all week."
On Charleston's heavy defensive efforts...
"It goes both ways. If they sit back, it's harder to break down. If they come at us, they get in there and get behind the defense. It's just a game of checkers. Once they move, we just try to counter their moves."
On winning another game at home...
"This is our house. This is where we practice everyday. We just try to protect it like you do at your house. You protect your house, so that's what we're trying to do."
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