Riverhounds lose first home game of season, 3-1 against Charleston

On Saturday, the Pittsburgh Riverhounds saw their unbeaten streak within the USL Championship end at 13 with a loss at Charleston.

Four days later, another notable streak went by the wayside.

The Hounds dropped their first home match of the season in a 3-1 loss to Indy Eleven on Wednesday night at Highmark Stadium.

Prior to Wednesday’s match, the Hounds had been unbeaten at Highmark Stadium in 14 consecutive matches dating to last year. They were 10-0-3 at home through the first 13 this season.

They will have a quick turnaround to get back on track as they host Memphis on Saturday.

“We’re down to the final 12 games, so we need to be ready to play,” Hounds coach Bob Lilley said. “We were so-so the first third, very good the second third and we’re in the final third now. It’s a two-game blip. It’s not the end of the world, but we need to respond.

“I thought tonight was a good time to bounce back from the Charleston result where we were poor, but I’m not sure that we figured it out yet. We have Thursday and Friday to get the legs back, figure out what everyone needs to do individually and what we need to do collectively to, hopefully, put on a strong team performance on Saturday that we can be proud of.”

Even with the recent two-game slide the Hounds (10-4-8) are still two points ahead of Charleston for first place in the Eastern Conference. Charleston has a game in hand.

Aodhan Quinn and Sebastian Guenzatti had goals in a first half that Indy dominated, carrying 62% of the possession.

Quinn’s goal came in the 13th minute from about 40 yards on a one-touch strike with Hounds keeper Jahmali Waite well out of the net. Waite had come out of the 18-yard box to clear a ball, and it went right to Quinn.

“It was a wunder-strike. … It was a great goal,” Lilley said. “I would like to think at home, especially, our response to that would be a little more emphatic. We created very little in the first half until the end, so I don’t think we responded well. It’s a goal. It happens. Let’s get on with it and get pressure and do the things we talked about before the game.”

Guenzatti’s goal came in the 35th minute on a sliding effort in front of goal after a cross from Cam Lindley.

The Hounds built some momentum early in the second half but could not find a goal and, eventually, Indy put the game on ice with a goal from Harrison Robledo in the 73rd minute.

“We’ve had a lot of shutouts recently, so to give up three goals the other night and three goals again (Wednesday) I think it caught us,” Lilley said. “We need to be able to get on with the game and change the momentum of the game with our energy.”

Tola Showunmi scored the Hounds’ lone goal in the 89th minute. Marc Ybarra assisted on the goal.

Before the match, there was a moment of silence for former Hounds coach, general manager and broadcaster Gene Klein, who died Sunday after a long battle with brain cancer. The Hounds players wore patches with Klein’s initials on their jerseys.