Captain Danny Griffin’s scored the game’s lone goal off a first-half corner kick as the Pittsburgh Riverhounds secured a 1-0 victory over Columbus Crew 2 in the third round of the U.S. Open Cup on Tuesday night.
In the 28th minute, Jorge Garcia sent a corner into the box and Griffin got a head on the ball, sending it off the hands of goalkeeper Luke Pruter and into the side of the net.
Goalkeeper Jacob Randolph made three saves, all in the second half, to make the lead stand up, earning his second career shutout in his first start of the season.
The Riverhounds made seven changes to their starting lineup from Saturday’s league match against Charleston, using a lesser experienced group against Columbus Crew 2, a member of MLS Next Pro, the reserve league for the MLS.
The Riverhounds, who entered the tournament in the third round based on their USL Championship finish last year, move on to the round of 32, which is made up of the 16 third-round winners and 16 MLS teams that are being added to the field. Games will be played May 6-7. Pairings will be announced Thursday morning.
The Riverhounds will return to league play when they visit Loudoun FC at 4:30 p.m. Saturday.
