Riverhounds Draw In Rain-Soaked Louisville
RECAP PROVIDED BY THE PITTSBURGH RIVERHOUNDS
LOUISVILLE -- In a game that took well over three hours to complete, the Pittsburgh Riverhounds (0-2-2) left Louisville Slugger Stadium with a draw against Eastern Conference-leading Louisville City FC (4-1-1). The squads battled unsavory conditions all night with nearly two hours of weather delays interrupting play in both the first and second half.
The Hounds received scoring from Romeo Parkes and Corey Hertzog in the 10th and 75th minute respectively, while Louisville cashed in on goals by Chandler Hoffman in the 57th minute and Conor Shanosky in the 86th minute.
Weather delays marred much of the night's action with the first hitting at the 40-minute mark and again at 53 minutes. The Hounds a held 1-0 advantage at both times thanks to the goal by Parkes that saw Pittsburgh utilize some nifty tic-tac-toe passing result in a Stephen Okai feed to the Jamaican for his third goal in as many games.
Aside from the first tally, much of the story revolved around a stellar performance by goalkeeper Hunter Gilstrap in the first half, who saved all four of Louisville's shots on goal. He also helped in coordinating the Hounds' back four to withstand a flurry of Louisville opportunities, which were buoyed by a 6-to-0 advantage in the corner department.
Following a lengthy delay at the 53rd minute, Louisville finally found a way past Gilstrap with Mark Anthony-Kaye lobbing a ball into the box that found the head of Hoffman for the tying tally in the 57th minute. Gilstrap attempted to challenge Hoffman at the point of contact, but could not reach the ball in time, allowing for Hoffman's seventh goal in six games.
With the field essentially rendered a puddle in the middle part of the second half, especially on the Hounds' defensive end, possession remained dominated by Louisville until Hertzog broke through in the 75th minute on a penalty kick - his first on the season.
The Hounds second-straight match with a penalty tally came on an interesting sequence that saw a Louisville pass die at the feet of Willie Hunt in the waterlogged infield of Louisville Slugger Stadium. Hunt quickly relayed a through-ball to Hertzog, who took off for a clear breakaway against goalkeeper Scott Goodwin. The latter put in a last-ditch effort to stop a sure goal, taking out Hertzog on a failed challenge resulting in a red card for Goodwin and a yellow for teammate Ben Newnam for dissent.
Louisville did not relent though down a man, eventually forcing enough pressure on the Hounds defense to grind a goal past Gilstrap in the 86th minute. Shanosky cashed in on a failed clear by the Hounds in the box to even the score.
Pittsburgh ended the match with the best chance to get a go-ahead tally, as Hertzog found himself in another breakaway situation. There would be no third goal though, as Greg Ranjitsingh, filling in for the ejected Goodwin, made a stellar diving grab to dispossess Hertzog.
Now with two points on the season, the Hounds will look to snag its first win of the season in a road date against the Charleston Battery (2-1-2) on Saturday, April 30 at 7:30 p.m. Fans can catch all the action on the USL's YouTube channel.
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Line-ups:
Riverhounds - Hunter Gilstrap - Jordan Murrell, Willie Hunt, Sergio Campbell, Drew Russell - Stephen Okai, Conor Branson, Mike Green, Romeo Parkes, Lebo Moloto - Corey Hertzog
Subs not used: Mauricio Vargas, James Bissue, Isaiah Schafer, Ben Swanson, Alex Harlley, Zak Boggs, Marshall Hollingsworth
Louisville City FC - Scott Goodwin (Greg Ranjitsingh 73') - Ben Newnam, Sean Reynolds, Conor Shanosky, Enrique Montano - Paolo DelPiccolo, Guy Abend, Kadeem Dacres, Niall McCabe (Cameron Lancaster 48'), Mark-Anthony Kaye (George Davis IV 86') - Chandler Hoffman
Subs not used: Jonghyun Son, Ilija Ilic, Magnus Rasmussen, Paco Craig
Scoring Summary:
PGH - Romeo Parkes 10' (Stephen Okai)
LOU - Chandler Hoffman 57' (Mark-Anthony Kaye)
PGH - Corey Hertzog 75' (penalty kick)
LOU - Conor Shanosky 86'
Misconduct Summary:
PGH - Conor Branson (yellow card) 23'
LOU - Scott Goodwin (red card) 73'
LOU - Ben Newnam (yellow card) 73'
PGH - Jordan Murrell (yellow card) 83'