Pittsburgh Riverhounds MatchDay: Hounds Host Wilmington Hammerheads In Home Opener

The Riverhounds topped the Hammerheads at Highmark Stadium last season. The home team seeks its first win of 2014 in Pittsburgh tonight. (Photo: Riverhounds.com)

The Pittsburgh Riverhounds are seeking to unleash their first victory of the season along the banks of the Monongahela River as they host the Wilmington (N.C.) Hammerheads in their home opener Saturday night.

The match is set to kick off at Highmark Stadium at 7 p.m. and for those who can not make to the game, it will be streamed live on the USL Pro’s YouTube channel. City of Champions’ Matt Gajtka will have live coverage tonight, including real-time tweets at the CoC account.

Last Saturday, the Hounds (0-1-1) lost on the road to the Richmond Kickers 3-1. Pittsburgh scored in the second half at the 82nd minute when midfielder Joseph Ngwenya got the ball on the left side of the box, about 20 yards out. He served a cross through the box and found forward Collins John at the far post, who fired the ball past Kickers’ goalkeeper Ryan Taylor. It was John’s first goal of the season.

With starting goalkeeper Hunter Gilstrap still out due to injury, will Hounds coach Justin Evans stay with Greg Blum, who had five saves against Richmond? Or will Evans give the nod this week to Michael Lisch, who is on loan to Pittsburgh from its Major League Soccer affiliate, the Houston Dynamo?

The Hammerheads (0-0-1) are coming off a 0-0 draw last week in their home opener at Legion Stadium against the Harrisburg City Islanders. Saturday night will be the first road match of the 2014 season for Wilmington. This season, they are the USL Pro affiliate of MLS franchise Toronto FC.

Wilmington starting goalkeeper Quillan Roberts, who is on loan from Toronto, did his part in keeping Harrisburg off the scoreboard. It will be interesting to see if the Hounds offense can fare better this week against him.

In 2013, Pittsburgh and Wilmington each won on their home field against the other. The Hounds defeated the Hammerheads 2-1 on July 21 at Highmark Stadium. Wilmington turned around and put up a 4-1 victory over Pittsburgh on their home turf Aug. 14.

The Riverhounds will load up the team bus next Saturday for a rematch with the Richmond Kickers (1-0-1) in Virginia.

Riverhounds Reinforcements: The Hounds’ John and Ngwenya both earned honorable mentions for the USL Pro Team of the Week for Week 3.

All fans at the match with Wilmington will receive a commemorative home opener scarf. After the match there will be fireworks to light up the Pittsburgh skyline. Following the fireworks display, the fans are invited to come out onto the field for an autograph session with the Hounds’ players and coaches.