Pittsburgh Riverhounds MatchDay: Seeking 2nd Victory In U.S. Open Cup
By Larry Snyder
Seeking a second victory, the Pittsburgh Riverhounds host RWB Adria of USASA in the third round of the 101st Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup on Wednesday night.
The U.S. Open Cup is the third-longest running open soccer tournament in the world. It will be the first tournament match for interim coach Nikola Katic, and it is set to kick off at Highmark Stadium at 7 p.m.
In a physical matchup last May in the U.S. Open Cup, the Hounds defeated RWB Adria on the South Side with a score of 1-1. The match was forced to end on penalty kicks. The first three kickers for both squads easily converted their shots from the spot.
In the fourth frame, the Riverhounds received some help from the woodwork, when Adria’s shot struck the bottom of the crossbar and ricocheted back out from the goalmouth to deny the visitors. The Hounds converted all five penalty kicks to Adria’s four kicks, resulting in a Pittsburgh victory.
Pittsburgh advanced to the third round of this year’s tournament when they downed the New York Red Bulls U23 squad 3-1 on Wednesday, May 14 at Highmark Stadium. Kevin Kerr, Jose Angulo and Rob Vincent scored for the Hounds.
RWB Adria comes to the banks of the Monongahela River by defeating Detroit City FC of the National Premier Soccer League 3-1 on penalty kicks in the first round of the tournament. They shut out the Michigan Bucks of the USL PDL 1-0 during extra time in the second round.
The Pittsburgh offense will have to solve goalkeeper Igor Dimov while forward Vlad Baciu was chosen as the best player of the first round by thecup.us. If the Hounds win, they will take the pitch against the Chicago Fire of Major League Soccer in the fourth-round at Toyota Park on Wednesday, June 18.
The Hounds (0-6-3, 3 points) are back in USL PRO action at Highmark Stadium on Sunday when they host the Harrisburg City Islanders (2-4-1, 7 points) at 6:00 p.m.