USL Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC

Riverhounds Defeat OC Blues FC 1-0 at Highmark Stadium

Published on August 8, 2014 under United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC News Release


The Pittsburgh Riverhounds continued their late season surge, defeating the OC Blues FC, 1-0, at Highmark Stadium on Friday night for their sixth win in their last eight USL PRO league matches.

Mike Green's goal in the 54th minute, coupled with a solid team defensive performance, helped the Riverhounds remain in the thick of the USL PRO league playoff picture.

Goalkeeper Mike Lisch posted his third shutout of the year, with four saves, and consistently came off his line to thwart numerous crosses and corners to keep the Blues off the scoresheet.

Lisch came up big numerous times, but none bigger than on the last sequence of the match, with time ticking down in stoppage time.

The Blues' Stephen Okai and Dersu Abolfathi hooked up on a give-and-go pass, which Okai had a clear path on the right side of the goal. Lisch reacted quickly, coming out to take away Okai's shooting angle to get the ball, and to preserve the win.

"I kept saying to myself, stay focused. I know I am going to have come up big at some point. They're going to stack it on us at the end," said Lisch.

"I made myself as big as possible, came out, cut the angle, and came up with the save. That's what you're there for."

Lisch credited the group in front of him, as the Riverhounds limited the Blues attack throughout the evening.

"Everyone played their role tonight. It starts at the top with our forwards, through the middle. The guys in the back line though, they killed it tonight. They were there when they needed to be. Sticking with their man. It gave us a chance," said Lisch.

After a scoreless first half, the Riverhounds and interim head coach, Niko Katic didn't panic.

"Soccer is a wonderful game. Tonight, it was a chess game. We told the guys in the locker room. It will come. We remained patient, and, it came. We scored a great goal. We showed what we're made of tonight," said Katic.

The Hounds capitalized in the 54th minute, as Danny Earls collected a deflected ball on the right side of the box, and played the ball back to Green, who came through to send a right footed blast past Blues goalkeeper Aaron Perez for the game winning goal.

It was Green's third goal of the season. Not bad for a versatile player who's played numerous positions throughout the course of this year's campaign.

"What can I say about Mike Green. Unbelievable. He showed what he can do. On the ball, off the ball. Closing defenders down. Taking guys on, one-on-one. And he scored a wonderful goal," said Katic.

The Riverhounds kept adding pressure, and in the 78th minute, Seth C'deBaca had two fantastic opportunities to double the lead. After receiving a nice pass from Kevin Kerr, C'deBaca lined up a shot from the right side that was deflected, and bounced off the post.

In the next sequence, C'deBaca had a clear shot from just inside the box that hit the crossbar, and bounced downward, and away from danger.

The Blues mounted some late pressure, including four corner kicks in the final ten minutes as the Blues made a furious effort to end their five game losing streak.

The Riverhounds held the edge in shots (13-8), but the Blues had more corner kicks (7-4).

Riverhounds starting eleven was the same for the second straight game, included Mike Lisch (GK), Matt Dallman, Andrew Marshall, Anthony Arena, Sterling Flunder, Rob Vincent, Kevin Kerr, Danny Earls, Mike Green, Jason Johnson and Joseph Ngwenya.

Seth C'deBaca replaced Johnson in the 56th minute. Mackenzie Pridham came in for Ngwenya in the 89th and Andrew Ribeiro for Marshall.

Marshall was booked in the 70th minute for hard, sliding tackle.

The win temporarily pulls the Hounds (7-11-6, 26 points) into a three-way tie for 8th place in USL PRO league standings with Wilmington and Charleston.

"How the other results (in league play) will go, we are not worried about," said Katic.

"Credit to all of the guys. They've been training hard. This was a payoff. But we got to keep it going."

The Riverhounds next match will be next Saturday, August 16, at Arizona United SC, at 10:30 p.m. The Hounds return home on Saturday, August 24 to take on FC Dallas Reserves at 3 p.m.

Check out the Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



United Soccer League Championship Stories from August 8, 2014


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central