Riverhounds get something off their chest in win over Rio Grande Valley

Albert Dikwa has scored plenty of goals with his right foot in his two-plus years with the Pittsburgh Riverhounds, but Saturday he used a different area of his body.

In the 49th minute, Dikwa finished off a nice cross from Luke Biasi by using his chest to direct the ball into the net for a unique goal.

It was a relief after a scoreless first half for the Hounds, who got an insurance marker from Kenardo Forbes in a 2-0 win over Rio Grande Valley FC on Saturday night at Highmark Stadium.

The goal was the 20th with the Hounds for Dikwa and the first time he’s used something other than his head or foot to score.

“To be a perfect striker, you have to score whatever position you are in … right foot, left foot, header, you have to score,” Dikwa said. “I scored with my chest tonight. … That’s all right too.”

After being unable to find a goal in the first half, Riverhounds coach Bob Lilley was happy to see one hit the back of the goal, regardless of how it got there.

“It was a was an excellent ball from Luke (Biasi), who has had some really good outings recently,” Lilley said. “I wasn’t sure if it was his hip, his chest or his belly button, but (Dikwa) crashed in and got in front of goal.

“That was an important goal because it allowed us to breathe a little bit. The longer it goes, you worry about the crowd getting antsy and maybe the players tightening up, and we were at all costs determined to avoid that.”

The Hounds (2-1-3) were able to get a result without three of the regular members of the starting 11. Arturo Ordonez and Robbie Mertz were serving one-game suspensions for red cards received in last week’s match at Colorado Springs and Junior Etou is out with an arm injury.

They held Rio Grande Valley without a shot on target, giving starting keeper Jahmali Waite his second clean sheet of the season.

Forbes’ goal also had some uniqueness to it. It was only the second time in the Hounds captain’s long career in the USL Championship that he scored on a header.

Dani Rovira ripped in a cross from the right side and Forbes steered it home.

Forbes credited Rivera with a great cross and the coaching staff for encouraging him to make more runs into the box. He said that Lilley told the midfielders in the preseason the team needed more goal production from them this year.

“I challenged myself a little bit, because normally I don’t get in the box and score on headers,” Forbes said. “I mean it’s the second time in the USL in nine years, so that says a lot. It means a lot to me to get on the score sheet because it’s been a bit of a slow start for me and tonight was my best game so far. Hopefully I can build on this going forward.”

The Hounds travel to El Paso Locomotive FC next Saturday before returning home April 25 to play a US Open Cup third-round match against the Maryland Bobcats.