Riverhounds lose to Hartford Athletic in crucial division matchup

Hartford Athletic recorded two shots on net Saturday at Highmark Stadium. It turned out they only needed one of them.

In the 36th minute, Hartford’s Alex Dixon sent a long, arching volley over the Riverhounds defense. Pittsburgh defender Patrick Bunk-Andersen got a toe on the volley that sent it rolling toward its own goal.

Hartford forward Ever Guzman beat goalie Danny Vitiello to the ball and sent a shot over his left shoulder for the only goal of the game.

“Hartford deserves credit, but I don’t think we put enough energy into the game, enough urgency into the game,” Riverhounds coach Bob Lilley said. “It’s disappointing to have such an important and not play at a good level, and it could be very fairly costly.”

Although the Riverhounds already clinched a playoff spot, a win against Hartford would have allowed them to win Group F and clinch home-field advantage for at least the first round of the USL Championship playoffs. Now, they’ll have to beat Philadelphia Union II next weekend and hope Hartford loses one of their final two contests to accomplish that feat.

“We’ll see what comes of it, but the only thing we can do is get ready for Philadelphia next week, take the three points and see where the chips fall,” Lilley said. “But it’s tough to have played so well the back end of the season and hand it all away with a sloppy performance.”

Hartford plays Philadelphia Union on Sept. 30 and New York Red Bulls on Oct. 4.

Heading into Saturday’s contest with Hartford, the Riverhounds had beat their Group F opponent twice by a combined score of 8-0. They also had won their past five games without allowing a goal, but they didn’t take advantage of the areas they are usually sharp in.

Pittsburgh tallied 13 shots but only put one shot on net. Several shots went wide, passes were intercepted in the final third and crosses into the box weren’t finished.

“It’s an execution thing from the players standpoint, but I don’t think any of us weren’t aware of the circumstances and what was at stake tonight,” midfielder Robbie Mertz said. “We knew they were going to give us a tougher game, but at the end of the day it’s a game of moments. You live and die by the sword, and I think the things that we do well a lot of the times, and on this stretch of games, we had the chances tonight they just didn’t go our way.”

Mertz created one of the best opportunities of the night for Pittsburgh in the first 10 minutes. He made a run up right wing and pulled off a nifty move in the box before letting a shot rip that went just wide.

Danny Vitiello also made his second penalty kick save of the season, which came just six minutes before Guzman’s goal.

Pittsburgh also played a man-up for 30-plus minutes after Hartford goal keeper Parfait Mandanda was ejected after a confrontation with Riverhounds forward Steevan Dos Santos. But, the Riverhounds weren’t able to capitalize late on their man-up situation.

“If you don’t compete and you don’t win loose balls and you wait for the game to happen, it never turns out good, that’s facts,” Lilley said. “They made it hard and we didn’t stand up and fight. For me if you are finding it difficult, you have to know after 10-15 minutes that you gotta start digging in and I don’t think we dug in.”

The Riverhounds will finish their regular season schedule with a matchup against Philadelphia Union II on Oct. 3.