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Rough Riders Drowned by Riverhounds

July 17, 2005 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Long Island Rough Riders News Release


Uniondale, NY - The Rough Riders did little to help their playoff chances as they fell to the eighth place Pittsburgh Riverhounds 4-1 Saturday night.

With team leading scorer Moussa Sy sidelined with a pulled hamstring, the Rough Riders came out in search of an offensive leader. Long Island fans were eager to see how new additions Aboubacar Camara and Laurence Piturro, both in the starting lineup, as well as Ricardo Blanchard and Matthew DeMartini would mesh with a team that has had twelve games to build upon.

Pittsburgh would be the first of the two teams to notch a goal on the board. In the 9th minute, David Flavius took a pass from defender Matthew Mehler down the right sideline with only Rough Riders goalkeeper Paul Grafer left to beat. Flavius maintained his composure, and slid a shot just under Grafer, who had come out of the net to cut off the angle, giving the Riverhounds the early 1-0 lead.

The Rough Riders most legitimate scoring chance in the first half came in the 13th minute when Alex Tobon-Villa, sidestepping two defenders, made a cross to Shaun Higgins, who was unmarked and waiting in the box. Higgins sent a devastating header on net, beating Riverhounds keeper Chris Robinson, but the crossbar would deny the Riders in what would be a sign of things to come.

The second half began with Rough Riders fans waiting for the offensive intensity to increase, but were left instead asking themselves where the defense had disappeared to. Within moments of the opening whistle, the Riverhounds exposed the numerous holes and miscommunications in the Rough Riders defense. In the 46th minute Gregory Victor sent a well-placed shot past Grafer into the upper 90 from 30 yards out to extend the Riverhounds lead to 2-0.

Pittsburgh increased their lead when, in the 51st minute, Joseph Vidmar glanced the ball to the oncoming Evaud Thompson, who touched it past Grafer in the middle of a crowded Rough Riders box to give the Riverhounds a 3-0 lead.

Pittsburgh 's scoring finale came in the 75th minute with a little help from the Riders. Victor made a cross towards the top of the box where Chulis was waiting to clear the unwanted visitor. Unfortunately, Chulis couldn't get a solid touch, and cleared the ball to Koranteng, who easily redirected it back into the Rough Riders net, tallying his first goal of the night and increasing the lead to 4-0.

With hope far out of sight for Long Island, the only glimmer of light came in the 83rd minute from Derrick Etienne. James Hunt sent a ball into Etienne, who beat his defender to get a header on net. Often the Rough Riders foe throughout the evening, the crossbar became a twelve-man of sorts, knocking the ball downwards past Robinson and into the net to give the Rough Riders their only score of the evening and make it 4-1.

With the playoffs still in sight, Coach Wiseman is cautiously optimistic. "It's still possible to make it if other teams ahead of us start losing," he said, quickly adding, "we need to win and do it now. We just didn't play like that tonight."

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United Soccer League Championship Stories from July 17, 2005


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