Pittsburgh Riverhounds beat Tampa Bay to clinch playoff spot

The Pittsburgh Riverhounds soccer club withstood a late rally from VSI Tampa Bay FC to win 3-2 on a pleasant Sunday afternoon in front of a sold-out crowd at Highmark Stadium.

The victory moved the Hounds (10-7-7, 37 points) into seventh place in the USL PRO standings and clinched a berth in the playoffs. Pittsburgh has two games remaining on its 2013 schedule.

Coming out of the break, the Riverhounds got on the scoreboard first when forward Jose Angulo scored in the 53rd minute from the penalty stripe after Tampa Bay defender Josh Rife was called for handling midfielder Mike Seamon’s cross. It was Angulo’s team-leading 13th goal of the season, which ties him for second in the league.

Just seven minutes later, midfielder Robert Vincent scored his third goal of the season in the 60th minute when midfielder Alfonso “Felix” Motagalvan set the ball back for Vincent racing into the attack. Vincent blasted a shot low that tucked just inside the left post to put the Hounds up 2-0.

The game-winning goal came in the 68th minute when Jose Angulo slotted a ball towards the penalty spot for substitute forward Darren Amoo. Taking a first-time shot with his left foot, Amoo sent the ball flying past goalkeeper Alexander Horwath for his fifth score of the season.

VSI Tampa Bay (9-12-4, 31 points) recorded their first goal of the night in the 70th minute when substitute midfielder Chad Burt found the back of the net on his own rebound off sliding goalkeeper Hunter Gilstrap.

The final goal of the game came in the 85th minute when substitute forward Mauricio Salles De Allencar delivered a cross to midfielder Andriy Budnyy at the penalty spot and Budnyy passed the ball around Gilstrap to close the gap 3-2.

Pittsburgh’s Gilstrap had four saves while Tampa Bay’s Horwath had two saves on the afternoon. VSI Tampa Bay led on the scoresheet with 12 shots on goal to the Hounds’ nine.

During today’s game, with various promotions supporting the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, the Riverhounds were able to raise over $15,000 for the cause.

Up Next: The Hounds will be on the road in North Carolina on Wednesday when they take on the Wilmington Hammerheads (9-11-4, 30 points) at Legion Stadium at 7:30 p.m. Pittsburgh edged Wilmington 2-1 back on July 21.

The final regular season game will be at Highmark Stadium in Station Square on Saturday at 7 p.m. when the Riverhounds host the first-place Richmond Kickers (14-1-9, 51 points). Pittsburgh and Richmond battled to a 0-0 draw in Week 1 of the 2013 season back on April 6.