Pittsburgh Riverhounds MatchDay: Rematch With Orlando City At Highmark Stadium
By Larry Snyder
Photo: Riverhounds.com
The Pittsburgh Riverhounds will take the Highmark Stadium pitch Friday night against the defending USL Pro champion Orlando City Lions in the final leg of their home-and-home series this season.
The contest is set to kick off at 7 p.m. and for those of the Steel Army who can not make it to the South Side, it will be streamed live on the USL Pro’s YouTube channel.
After a weekend off, the Hounds (0-2-3) come into this evening’s match carrying a two-game unbeaten streak following consecutive draws against Richmond and Charleston. Pittsburgh and Orlando (5-0-2) opened the 2014 season with a 1-1 draw back on March 29 at the ESPN World Wide of Sports Stadium in central Florida.
Pittsburgh’s offense has put up seven goals in five games this season. The challenge, in part this week, is solving Lions goalkeeper Miguel Gallardo-Aparicio, who has allowed just seven goals and has 17 saves this season.
The Hounds attack should get a boost tonight with the return of forward Jose Angulo. He missed the team’s 0-0 draw against Charleston because of a death in his family. However, forward Collins John will out of the lineup as he is serving the final game of his three-game suspension and forward Jhonny Arteaga is still out with an injury.
The Riverhounds defense will have to tame Lions forward Dennis Chin and midfielder Kevin Molino as both have four goals in seven games this season. Molino also has four assists. Orlando has scored 14 goals while going 3-0-1 at home and 2-0-1 on the road.
Looking back, the team was able to maintain possession against Charleston two weeks ago by employing a 3-5-2 formation with Mike Green, Anthony Arena and Danny Earls on defense while midfielder Anthony Obodai had a solid defensive effort in the holding role at the center of the field. That type of adjustment could be key tonight in handing Orlando their first loss of the season.
The final game of the three-game homestand takes place on Saturday, May 17, when the Riverhounds host the Rochester Rhinos at 7 p.m.
Riverhounds Reinforcements: Over the last three weeks, the Houston Dynamo have recalled midfielder Brian Ownby (April 24) and forward Jason Johnson (May 3) back to Texas because of injuries to the main roster and players leaving for World Cup preparatory camps.
The Hounds U-23 squad will open their Premier Development League (PDL) schedule on the road against the Chicago Fire U-23 at Toyota Park on Friday, May 23 at 1:00 p.m. They will stay on the road to take on the Michigan Bucks at Canton Cup Independence Park at 12 noon on Saturday, May 24.
Pittsburgh is playing a 14-game schedule this season, seven home and seven away. They will play in the Central Conference’s Great Lakes Division with both the Fire and Bucks along with the Toronto Lynx, Forest City London, and K-W United FC.