Red card, late goal doom Riverhounds at Loudoun

A red card and a tiebreaking goal late in the second half sent the Pittsburgh Riverhounds to a 2-1 loss on the road against Loudoun United FC on Saturday.

In the 75th minute, Riverhounds defender Luke Biasi caught Loudoun’s Ben Mines with a high boot as he headed down a ball on a possible scoring chance. Biasi was given a straight red card.

About six minutes later, Abdellatif Aboukoura took a pass between two defenders at the top of the 18 and sent a shot just inside the right post to make it 2-1.

The Hounds (2-3-1) have dropped two straight league matches. Loudoun (6-1-0) tops the table in the Eastern Conference.

In the 33rd minute, Loudoun took a 1-0 lead when Wesley Leggett headed in a Zach Ryan cross from the left-wing corner.

The Riverhounds tied it 1-1 in the 71st minute when Jorge Garcia, a rookie midfielder from Villanova who had come off the bench, took a pass from Biasi at the top of the 18 and sent a rocket into the top-right corner of the net for his first professional goal.

The Hounds will return to action with a USL Jagrmeister Cup match against Detroit FC on the road at 4 p.m. next Saturday. It’s the first of four group stage matches the Hounds will play in the in-season World Cup-style tournament this season. The knockout rounds will conclude with the finals on Oct. 4.