Playoff-bound Pittsburgh Riverhounds wrap up regular season this week
By Larry Snyder
On Tuesday, the Pittsburgh Riverhounds’ Rob Vincent was named to the USL PRO Team of the Week. The midfielder’s goal helped the Hounds in their 3-2 victory over VSI Tampa Bay FC on Sunday which claimed a place in the playoffs. Vincent has three goals this season.
Hounds’ forward Jose Angulo and goalkeeper Hunter Gilstrap were on the honorable mention list for the USL PRO team of the week for Week 21.
Angulo, with 13 goals this season, is tied with Luckymore Mkosana of the Harrisburg City Islanders for second most in the league. Dominic Dwyer of Orlando City leads the USL PRO with 15 goals. Gilstrap is fifth in the league with a 1.20 goals-against-average and is eighth in the league with five shutouts.
The Riverhounds are 3-1-0 in USL PRO action for the month of August. With only two games remaining on the 2013 regular season schedule, and despite struggling early in the season, Pittsburgh has come on strong, unleashing its spot in the playoffs.
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 match will be tough as the Hammerheads need a win to stay in contention with the Dayton Dutch Lions and VSI Tampa Bay FC for the final spot in the postseason. The top eight squads make the playoffs in the 13-team league.
Ending the regular season, the Riverhounds will welcome the first-place Richmond Kickers (14-1-9, 51 points) to Highmark Stadium at Station Square on Saturday at 7:00 p.m. Pittsburgh and Richmond battled to a 0-0 draw in Week 1 of the 2013 season back on April 6.
Riverhounds Reinforcements: On Sunday, in the inaugural tournament of the Pathway to the Pros Academy Challenge, an Under-13 boys event, the Riverhounds Development Academy was crowned champion in a field that included Major League Soccer Academies from the Columbus Crew, DC United, and the Philadelphia Union.
With a 3-2 come-from-behind win over the Philadelphia Union a few hours earlier, the young men from Pittsburgh raised the Academy Challenge Cup in front of a sold-out crowd at halftime of the Hounds versus VSI Tampa Bay FC match Sunday.