Short-handed Riveters defeated in inaugural playoff game

Piper Coffield would have loved to have six of her teammates alongside her during the Pittsburgh Riveters USL W Central Conference semifinal playoff game Friday at Highmark Stadium. But the Mars graduate knows how things work in the summer at the pre-professional level.

As the summer gets later, players have to return to college and have other commitments. Playing without six starters, the Riveters lost their first playoff game to No. 1 seed Minnesota Aurora FC, 2-0.

“The harsh reality of playing for a summer team like this is that people are going to be in and out,” Coffield said. “You know, I was in and out. Tessa (Dellarose) was in and out. It’s hard, especially when you build up chemistry, to lose some people.”

Pittsburgh (6-1-3) was missing the team’s leading scorers, Tanum Nelson and Olivia Damico, who returned to college. Starting goalkeeper Pauline Nelle had to return to Germany for an issue with her visa.

Tessa Dellarose was out with a quad injury.

Riveters coach Scott Gibson said the team learned a lot during its first season. A major approach next season will be to home in on players’ availability, because there is a lot of gray area.

“We had two 15-year-olds that were on the field at the end,” Gibson said. “We also had a 17-year-old goalkeeper and center back. The experience those players got will be tremendous in the long term for their development.”

Minnesota (11-0-2) took advantage of the Riveters missing key pieces to dominate the ball. The Aurora controlled possession throughout the first half but had some trouble finding their breakthrough moment.

Minnesota coach Jen Larrick said she was proud of how they stayed confident with their attack.

“For me, soccer is an intellectual puzzle,” Larrick said. “We just had to break it down as often as we can and create as many opportunities as we can. I’m a believer that we try to create chances instead of harping on that we should have put that one away.”

Saige Wimes broke the deadlock for Minnesota in the 43rd minute. Minnesota’s Charly Boone played a long ball into the box after the Riveters had cleared a ball to the midfield following a corner kick. Boone’s ball found a wide-open Catherine Rapp, who headed the ball down to Wimes.

Wimes then pushed a shot into the bottom-­right corner of the net.

On Wimes’ goal, Gibson and his players thought she was offside.

“It was a huge call,” Gibson said. “I mean, I’m not here to moan about referees. I don’t wanna do that. It was 0-0 in a really high-level game. We were getting towards halftime where we were gonna just reshuffle a couple of things and have a strong second half, which I think we kind of did actually. That was just a little bit of a dagger for us.”

Minnesota added a second goal in the 71st minute. Natalie Tavana delivered with a free kick from outside the penalty area.

Pittsburgh was the Great Forest Division champion. Coffield, who plans to be back next season, felt the passion surrounding the team’s first season.

“This has kind of been a dream,” Coffield said. “Obviously, we’re kind of at the pre-professional level, but it’s given me a glimpse of how much soccer means to people and how much it can be bigger than a sport. It’s been incredible to play for my city, and it has been the biggest honor of my entire life.”