Riverhounds Host Top-Ranked Richmond Kickers Friday
June 2, 2006 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC News Release
The Riverhounds (1-1-4) look to grab their second home win of the 2006 season by settling the score against the Richmond Kickers Friday night. The first-place Kickers, who lead the United Soccer League's second division with a 4-1-1 record, narrowly defeated the Riverhounds 1-0 in Richmond on May 20.
An early second-half goal by Forward Robert Ssejjemba and assisted by midfielder Chris Carrieri proved to be just enough for the Kickers who outshot the Riverhounds 9-5. The impressive defense Richmond showed against the Riverhounds has contributed to the team's first-place play as the Kickers have only yielded five goals in six matches.
"Richmond is certainly demonstrating that they're the top team in the league, and it will be an exciting challenge for us," said Riverhounds Coach Gene Klein. "The Kickers are very well coached and organized; it will be difficult to break them down, but I think both teams will try to attack, and it should be a good game."
The Riverhounds have also limited their opponents scoring, surrendering only four goals in six games and have played to 0-0 ties in two of their last three contests. That strong defense was on display in the 1-0 loss on May 20 match against the Kickers, who lead the league with 15 goals.
In other news, the Riverhounds FC have qualified for the 2006 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Tournament, U.S. Soccer Federation officials announced on Thursday.
The Riverhounds will meet the Michigan Bucks of the Premier Development League (PDL) on June 14 at 7:30 p.m. The match will be played at Rochester Adams High School in Rochester Hills, Michigan.
The 42-team tournament consists of eight teams from the PDL, 14 teams from the United Soccer League's First and Second Divisions, 12 teams from Major League Soccer (MLS) and eight teams from the United States Adult Soccer Association (USASA).
The HOUNDS® currently have a 1-1-3 record in the USL Second Division while Michigan sits atop the Great Lakes Division of the PDL with a record of 4-0.
The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, the U.S. Soccer Federation's National Championship, is an annual competition open to all amateur and professional soccer teams affiliated with U.S. Soccer. The tournament origins date back to 1914, making it the oldest annual team tournament in U.S. sports history and among the oldest soccer tournaments of its type in the world. In 1999, the competition was renamed to honor long-time soccer pioneer Lamar Hunt.
United Soccer League Championship Stories from June 2, 2006
- Riverhounds and Kickers Battle To 1-1 Halftime Tie - Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC
- Cincinnati Kings Game Saturday 7:00 p.m. - Cincinnati Kings
- Kickers weekend update - Richmond Kickers
- Riverhounds Host Top-Ranked Richmond Kickers Friday - Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC
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