PITTSBURGH (August 23, 2019) – Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC (12-4-8) defeated Loudoun United FC (5-12-5), 1-0, Friday night at Highmark Stadium.
Steevan Dos Santos scored the lone goal of the evening in the 5th minute. Goalkeeper Kyle Morton finished the night with two saves and the clean sheet for the Hounds.
First Half
The Black and Gold wasted no time getting on the scoreboard on Friday night. Steevan Dos Santos struck gold in the 5th minute of the match to give his club a 1-0 advantage.
Just three minutes later, Kevin Kerr launched a shot from outside the 18-yard box high and left of the cage.
Morton came up with a big save in the 27th minute, shutting down a Loudoun shot from inside the penalty area. The stop was Morton’s lone save of the first half.
Kenardo Forbes nearly extended the lead in the 40th minute, but his blast nicked off the left post.
Neither side was able to get on the board in the final five minutes of the opening period, and the Hounds carried a 1-0 lead into the break.
Second Half
Loudoun found a bit of offensive rhythm in the opening minutes of the second half.
A right-footed attempt from Andrew Lubahn trickled just wide of the cage in the 51st minute.
Moments later, a shot from Loudoun’s Connor Presley was denied by Morton.
Dos Santos nearly got the Hounds back on the scoreboard in the 69th minute, but the striker sent his blast just over the crossbar.
The Hounds fought off a number of Loudoun opportunities in the match’s final minutes, but walked out of the night with a 1-0 win.
Hound of the Match
The tally from Steevan Dos Santos was all the Hounds needed to grab a win on Friday. The goal marked Dos Santos’ seventh tally of the season.
Stat of the Game: 21
With the win, the Hounds extended their regular season unbeaten streak at home to 21 games. The Black and Gold are 12-0-9 in regular season games at Highmark Stadium since July 21, 2018.
What’s Next:
Riverhounds SC will head north next weekend, taking on Ottawa Fury FC at 7 p.m. on Friday at TD Place Stadium. Ottawa and Pittsburgh played to a 2-2 draw earlier this season.
Lineups:
Riverhounds SC – Kyle Morton – Ryan James, Tobi Adewole, Joe Greenspan, Jordan Dover – Kenardo Forbes, Robbie Mertz – Anthony Velarde (Sammy Kahsai 62′), Kevin Kerr (Mouhamed Dabo 79′) – Steevan Dos Santos, Neco Brett
Subs not used: Austin Pack, Mark Forrest, Noah Franke, Dani Rovira, Christian Volesky
Loudoun United FC – Earl Edwards Jr. – Robert Dambot, Collin Verfurth, Harri Hawkins, Connor Presley – Nelson Martinez (Moses Nyeman 60′), Orlando Sinclair – Griffin Yow (Andrew Lubahn 45′), Carlos Alvarez (Christian Sorto 70′), Antonio Bustamante – Elvis Amoh
Subs not used: Calle Brown, Jacob Greene, Kyle Murphy, Shane Weidt
Scoring Summary:
PIT – Steevan Dos Santos 5′ (Neco Brett)
Misconduct Summary:
LDN – Nelson Martinez 53′ (caution)
LDN – Elvis Amoh 68′ (caution)
PIT – Jordan Dover 77′ (caution)
Head coach Bob Lilley
On his initial reaction to Friday’s match…
“I don’t think we respected the moment. It was a home game, great crowd for a Friday night. We didn’t pass the ball, we didn’t defend well as a team. We had guys playing all on different pages.”
On a young Loudoun team’s play…
“We allowed the game to get stretched. That’s on us. That wasn’t by design. We tied a game against Swope Park early in the year where the game just became a track meet. We tied the game against Bethlehem Steel early in the year when we had the lead at one point, but the game became a track meet. We could’ve lost points tonight, we were fortunate that we just defended well enough.”
On the upcoming stretch of games…
“I’m happy to get the three points as tight as it is. Our schedule stiffens significantly next week going into Ottawa. We have a lot of work to do.”
Forward Steevan Dos Santos
On the feed from Neco…
“That was a good ball from Neco. I think our connection is getting better and better every game. He saw me make the movement and it was a good pass I just had to keep the ball in the line.”
On if he thought he was offside…
“I thought I was offside because I was like this is too good to be true. But I checked the alignment and he didn’t put the flag up and I was happy.”
On service into the box…
“They have two bigs in the back as well. The way they were defending was tough for us, and the crosses weren’t good today but he just keeps working on the crosses and we get better.”
