Quick start helps Riverhounds beat Charleston, improve playoff hopes

In a match they desperately needed, the Pittsburgh Riverhounds came out on the front foot Saturday night at Highmark Stadium and took control.

And now they’ll have a compelling final two weeks of the season.

Edward Kizza scored in the second minute and Robbie Mertz added another goal 18 minutes later to help the Hounds earn a 2-0 victory over second-place Charleston Battery and, for the moment, move into a playoff spot.

The Hounds (10-10-12) jumped from ninth to seventh in the USL Championship Eastern Conference standings with the win and a Hartford Athletic win over North Carolina FC.

They’re tied with North Carolina at 42 points but hold the tiebreaker.

“It’s an important win,” Hounds coach Bob Lilley said. “It was a good start to the game with good energy and it was nice to get the two goals early.”

There will be two games of interest for the Hounds on Sunday. Loudoun United plays Rhode Island FC and Birmingham Legion plays Las Vegas Lights. Birmingham and Loudoun are one point behind the Hounds with a game in hand.

The Hounds travel to Loudoun on Saturday for what will be a critical match for both teams’ playoff hopes.

That game is of consequence because of the Hounds’ solid performance Saturday.

Kizza’s goal came off a superb pass into open space by Bertin Jacquesson. Kizza ran down the ball and chipped it over Charleston keeper Adam Grinwis.

It was Kizza’s team-leading 10th goal of the season.

“It was a great finish,” Lilley said of the goal. “It was a really good ball by Bertin. He feathered it and it didn’t run out. He put some backspin on it so it didn’t run out to the keeper, and Kizza peeled off the (defender’s) back shoulder.

“Kizza has scored in three straight games now and Bertin is chipping in. They are starting to find a partnership up there and hopefully we can generate a few more scoring chances.”

The Hounds continued to pressure after the first goal and Mertz cashed in in the 20th minute.

Mertz’s goal came off a loose ball in the box. He took a shot that deflected off a diving Charleston defender and bounced into the net.

“To get that cushion was huge for us,” Mertz said. “We had to defend most of the second half, so it’s always better to be defending at 2-0 rather than 1-0. I do believe that 2-0 is the worst lead to have in soccer, but tonight I didn’t think we gave them too many threatening chances where they were knocking on the door to make it 2-1. We felt pretty comfortable, for the most part, even though we didn’t have a ton of the ball. It was good to show that fortitude on the defensive end that we may have been lacking at times.”

Hounds keeper Eric Dick shut the door after it was 2-0. He made four saves, including a couple of diving stops late, for his 12th clean sheet of the season.

Charleston chose to rest several starters, including Nick Markanich, the USL’s leading scorer. The Battery are locked into second place regardless of their results the rest of the way.

Former Hounds defender Nate Dossantos came on for the Battery as a substitute at halftime.

The match with Loudoun is set for 6 p.m. Saturday. The teams played to a 1-1 draw at Highmark Stadium on July 27.

“We’ve had that weight on our shoulders and now we have to go to Loudoun and try to win that game and win the season series against them,” Lilley said. “If we drop that game, then (making playoffs) is completely out of our control.”