Riverhounds win playoff opener, beating Hartford Athletic in PK shootout

There was a sense of anticipation in the air at Highmark Stadium on Saturday as the USL Championship playoffs kicked off in Pittsburgh with the Riverhounds hosting Hartford Athletic.

In the end, penalties were needed to decide a winner in a scoreless game. The host Riverhounds came away with a very hard-fought win, taking a 4-2 advantage in PKs to secure a ticket into the conference semifinals of the USL Championship playoffs, sending 4,932 souls home happy and earning a date with Detroit City next Saturday at Highmark.

As far as all-time series go, it has been a very much one-sided affair as the local 11 have dominated their Connecticut counterparts, winning 13 of 17 matches while only losing a pair.

But based on the events of the last month and a half, this wasn’t just about Hartford looking for a third win against a foe that has dominated them. This was also about the events of Sept. 20 and what took place between Marlon Hairston of the Athletic and Riverhounds team captain Danny Griffin.

Hairston accused Griffin of using a racial slur in the team’s Sept. 20 match, prompting Hairston to stop play and argue with the match referee. When nothing happened to satisfy Hairston, he walked off the pitch. Athletic head coach and GM Brendan Burke marched his club into the locker room shortly thereafter.

The game was deemed “abandoned” and three points were awarded to the Hounds. A league investigation found no evidence to support the claim by Hairston.

As the teams began play Saturday night along the banks of the Mon, tensions appeared to be high. Hairston played with intensity all night long. He was assessed a yellow card in the 90th minute of play as the action got more contentious between the two teams.

The first half was very active, but saw little action on net, as both teams zoomed around the pitch, trying to gain an advantage. Pittsburgh controlled the ball by a 2 to 1 ratio after 45 minutes of play.

In the second half, the intensity picked up as both teams piled up the yellow cards, with Hartford pulling down six in all, five in the second half and extra time. Burke was the recipient of one also. When asked after the game for comment on the entire match and drama, he simply stated “no” and walked away.

As for acting Riverhounds manager Rob Vincent, he was pleased with the effort the club put forth given the storylines.

“We talked about it during the week that it could be decided by penalties, and we certainly didn’t want it to go that far,” he said. “We made some really good penalties. The four guys that scored, they were under some real pressure. They stepped up and delivered.”

Those four were Bertin Jacquesson, Robbie Mertz, Augi Williams and finally Sean Suber, who delivered the final dagger to seal the 4-2 session.

“Honestly, I wasn’t too nervous because I knew we had two chances to win it,” said an elated Suber afterwards. “If I were to end up missing that, I know that Beto (Ydrach) is gonna get it in behind me, so I wasn’t too nervous.”

Riverhounds goaltender Eric Dick recorded his 13th clean sheet, his 12th in USL play. He talked about the moments leading up to the penalty round.

“I knew the guys were going to come up and make theirs,” Dick offered in his postgame scrum. “They’ve been busting their butts all game, 120 minutes. In those situations, I think about all the work they have put in. I try to do my part and save one.”

And Dick did just that, making a diving save to his left on the very first penalty taken by Hartford’s Hadji Barry. It set the tone for the rest of the shots taken, all four made by Pittsburgh to seal the win.