Red-hot Riverhounds keep rolling on eventful night for Arturo Ordonez

When Arturo Ordonez scored in the 22nd minute, he celebrated his goal with some emotion, like any soccer player would.

In the 62nd minute, when he cleared the ball out of the penalty area alleviating any pressure off a dangerous free kick, he gave some fist pumps and head nods, much like he did when he found the back of the net.

That’s because he was cleaning up his own situation after surrendering a free kick in a dangerous area with a foul that resulted in a yellow card.

It was all part of an eventful night for the second-year central defender, who helped preserve a 1-0 win for the Pittsburgh Riverhounds over Phoenix Rising on Saturday night at Highmark Stadium.

“You never want to be the guy who causes a foul and then the other team scores,” Ordonez said. “Obviously I was really focused on clearing that ball, and when I did that … the emotion was like celebrating a goal. I was happy that I got it out.”

With the win, the Riverhounds (6-2-5) moved into second place in the USL Championship Eastern Conference standings, two points behind Charleston Battery, who they host next Saturday. The Hounds ran their unbeaten streak to nine games and are 7-0-2 in that span.

Ordonez’s night started with the goal, which came off a header after a free kick by Kenardo Forbes.

It was his third straight league game with a goal, all of which have come off set pieces.

“I have worked a lot on my heading technique and watched film on where to go in the box and how to move myself,” Ordonez said. “(Scoring) three (games) in a row is massive. It’s not going to happen every game, but I’m happy to see the work I’m putting in paying off.”

A minute prior to his clearance after picking up the yellow card, Ordonez also had another key moment where he prevented a goal. Hounds keeper Jahmali Waite came off his line to try and go for a ball in the air, but it was headed on goal and Ordonez was there to keep the ball from crossing the line.

“When Jahmali goes for the ball, I have an instinct to cover the goal,” Ordonez said. “I saw that he was not going to get there, so I became the keeper and I just protected the goal. That’s something I’ve been doing since I was young.”

Phoenix threatened for the tying goal most of the second half, dominating possession in the process. They held 64.2% of the possession, had 15 shot attempts to the Hounds’ six, and four of those shots were deemed on target.

Waite had to make a couple of big saves to preserve the shutout.

In the 53rd minute, he punched a dangerous shot away from the foot of Eddie Monjoma.

About 15 minutes later, Monjoma had a second quality strike that was ticketed for the top right corner, but Waite leaped and with full extension knocked the ball away.

Ordonez and Trevor Zwetsloot had a block each in stoppage time, denying Phoenix’s final opportunities to tie it.

“This was the most Jahmali had been called on all year, and he made big saves,” Hounds coach Bob Lilley said. “We blocked some shots in the box. All they needed was one of those balls to find a corner or a deflection and we would’ve dropped points. I’m proud of the determination to keep them off the board when we were backed up on our goal line, but there’s a lot we can do better defensively higher up the pitch, in the middle third and even how we organize out of the back.”

The Hounds travel to FC Cincinnati on Tuesday for the U.S. Open Cup quarterfinals where they’ll try to knock off a third MLS opponent. They’ve already beaten New England Revolution and Columbus Crew in their Cup run.

The Hounds were without leading scorer Albert Dikwa on Saturday due to injury, but Lilley said he’s close to returning and could even suit up as soon as Tuesday.