After hitting post 3 times, Riverhounds break through in 2nd half, beat New Mexico

On the Fourth of July, the word “fireworks” tends to be used in a loose and abundant manner. With USL Western Conference foe New Mexico United in town for the Pittsburgh Riverhounds’ annual Independence Day home game at Highmark Stadium, the use of “fireworks” would be understated.

New Mexico United stood at the top of the Western standings of the USL Championship, leading the league in possession time (62% per game) and with the league’s third-best goal differential. Given those numbers, the visitor might have been expected to be the aggressor.

But it was the Riverhounds who forced the action all evening, winning 1-0 on Robbie Mertz’s late-second half goal in front of a sellout crowd of 5,626 fans. Riverhounds manager Bob Lilley has spoken about his team’s inability to create space at times this season but was quick to praise Friday’s offensive effort.

“You must create space when teams are pressing,” Lilley said. “Some games, teams aren’t going to push guys. When it was too crowded, we pulled back. The quality of the balls going forward, we were able to do things with them in certain cases. We prepared well this week.”

Pittsburgh (6-6-2) pushed the action early and often in the first 45 minutes. The Riverhounds took 10 shots, with three on target, only to see Alex Tambakis turn away several point-blank shots to keep the game scoreless.

The first came in the 10th minute when a ball ricocheted back into the New Mexico zone, finding Hounds striker Augi Williams. He hesitated, then let loose with a right-footed shot that Tambakis saved.

Eleven minutes later, it was Hounds midfielder Danny Griffin’s turn on net. He found a corner ball from teammate Guillaume Vacter and clanged one off the near left post. In the 38th minute, defender Sean Suber found a free kick ball served up by Mertz and smacked it off the far-right bar, denying the host its first goal.

By halftime, the Riverhounds had the advantage in scoring opportunities but, true to form, it was New Mexico (8-5-1) that held possession of the ball for 67% of the play.

The second half was a bit slower in terms of pace. New Mexico’s best chance of the night came in the 55th minute when United forward Mukwelle Akale rifled a ball off a free kick from inside the 18-yard box to the left of Riverhounds goalie Eric Dick. Dick made a flying save with his right hand, keeping the game scoreless.

Sticking with the theme of finding iron, the Riverhounds’ third bar-ringer came in the 62nd minute when Williams found himself alone along the far wing, just inside the 18-yard box. He sent a blast past Tambakis and clipped the far post.

All the hard work paid off for Pittsburgh in the 73rd minute when a Williams shot was turned aside by Tambakis but found Mertz about 10 yards out, dead center on net. His right-footed blast found open space and nylon for the game’s first and only goal.

“I know we hit the post three times,” Mertz said. “It was a timely goal. We needed it.”

It was the club’s best effort from opening kick to the final whistle, Lilley said.

“They’re (New Mexico) a good enough team that they can score at any point. We were able to weather their storms early and in the second half,” he said. “We created solid chances, good chances with three posts. I can’t remember the last time we did that. We had to work out tails off. They made us run. I thought we did a good job of turning when we recovered the ball. It was positive. We made them to have to defend and created enough chances to get a goal.”

The win propelled Pittsburgh into fifth place in the Eastern Conference standings with 20 points, tied with Detroit City. However, the Hounds’ 2-0 win over their Motor City rivals June 7 gives them, for now, the tiebreaker in conference play.

The Riverhounds return to action at 5 p.m. July 13 when they host Loudoun United.