Riverhounds drop home Jagermeister Cup game to Rhode Island

With May coming to a close, the Pittsburgh Riverhounds played Rhode Island on Saturday at Highmark Stadium in a Group 4 USL Jagermeister Cup match.

The teams faced each other a week prior at the Pawtucket’s new 10,500 seat Centreville Bank Stadium. The Hounds handed Rhode Island a loss, the club’s first in its new digs.

With revenge on its mind, the road team shook off several post shots from the host during the first half in route to a 1-0 win, giving the Ocean Blue top spot in the group and sending the Hounds to last place with two games to play before the knockout stage.

Hounds manager Bob Lilley rested starting goalkeeper Eric Dick and gave second-year keeper Jacob Randolph the start. Outside of Beto Ydrach being called up to play for the Puerto Rico National team earlier in the week, the Hounds played most of their normal starters.

The pace began to pick up after 15 minutes of play when the Riverhounds had the game’s first scoring opportunity in the 17th minute.

Midfielder Robbie Mertz got free in the box and placed a header off a cross from defender Perrin Barnes off the inside of right post. It came across the mouth of the goal and rolled out of play.

Two minutes later, the Ocean Blue had the lead as midfielder Jojea Kwizera found the back of the far-right net in the 19th to give the visitors a 1-0 lead. It came off a pretty back heel pass at the top of the box from teammate Albert Dikwa, beating Randolph to his left.

The Riverhounds continued to grind in the attacking zone the rest of the first half, earning several corners, but not of those amounted to a real scoring chance.

Both teams began the second half establishing control of the the midfield, while keeping the pressure up. Augi Williams, the Hounds’ big offseason offensive acquisition, began to perk up with several shots on goal, but not got home.

Then in the 69th minute, Williams got a ball to Danny Griffin in the box, which the midfielder promptly buried to tie the score — or so it seemed. The official deemed Williams was a bit ahead of the play, calling an offside and ending a short celebration.

The home team spent the last 25 minutes of play chasing a goal that would not be found, losing in front of an announced crowd of 5,074.

For Lilley, the result wasn’t positive, but the match fell in the lower pecking order of wins this team needs to make the postseason. It was also another game with no goals, a fact that wasn’t lost on Lilley.

“The runs aren’t good enough. One man can’t beat two or three,” Lilley said. “When players have their heads turned, you have to get in a good position to score. Guys need to get into the box. There’s moments there, but we need better. We played four or five games with good effort. I was happy with how we played in Rhode Island last week. We played better in the second half tonight. We played with more urgency.”

The Hounds have a week to prepare for a big conference game vs. Detroit City at Highmark. The club from the Motor City sits five points ahead of the Riverhounds in USL Eastern Conference play.