USL Pro: Pittsburgh Riverhounds Dictate Terms In Shutout Victory Over Charlotte

By Matt Gajtka | Jul 17, 2014

Pittsburgh Riverhounds midfielder Joseph Ngwenya (center) chases the ball in the first half July 17, 2014 at Highmark Stadium. Ngwenya earned two assists in a 2-0 victory over Charlotte. (Photo: Matt Gajtka)

PITTSBURGH – On two occasions Thursday night at Highmark Stadium, Pittsburgh Riverhounds forward Joseph Ngwenya received a pass near the opposing end line, about 20 feet to the right of goal.

Both times, the man with more than a decade of high-level pro experience delivered perfect passes to open teammates. Those twin feeds led to second-half goals that boosted the Riverhounds to a richly-deserved 2-0 victory against the Charlotte Eagles.

“When ‘Joe’ turns up, there’s no one in this league who can stop him,” said Pittsburgh midfielder Kevin Kerr, who scored the winning goal on a header in the 68th minute. “That’s why he’s played at the highest level. We see it every day in training…catch him on a good day and he’s almost unplayable.”

Ngwenya, who is now tied for the USL Pro league lead in assists with seven, trained briefly with German powerhouse Bayern Munich and has suited up for four Major League Soccer clubs since leaving his native Zimbabwe to pursue a professional career. His dish to Jose Angulo in the 81st minute sealed the Riverhounds’ third victory in four matches, and their second in as many engagements on the South Side.

“If we can keep this up over the next few weeks, we can make a real push,” Kerr said. “We have some grit about us now. Before we were playing nice football but weren’t able to grind out results. That’s obviously massive and something we couldn’t do earlier in the season.”

More from Pittsburgh Riverhounds

The Riverhounds (4-10-5, 17 points) couldn’t break through in the first half despite controlling the run of play, but they took advantage of a red card issued to veteran Charlotte midfielder Wells Thompson just before the half to pin the 10-man Eagles back following intermission. Charlotte (5-11-3, 18 points) saw Pittsburgh climb within one point of its 10th-place perch.

“I thought (Thursday) was the best performance overall this entire season,” said Riverhounds interim coach Niko Katic. “Our first half was very strong, but in the second half we had to realize they were down a man and press for the goal. After the first 10 minutes of the second half, we stopped rushing our decisions and losing balls. We settled down.”

That adjustment period proved decisive when the Hounds started stretching the width of the field to stress a Charlotte team that had enough difficulty defending with 11 players. With just 10 men at their disposal, the Eagles eventually capitulated.

“Everyone played together,” said Katic, whose record since taking over for predecessor Justin Evans improved to 4-6-2. “When you pass the ball side to side you open up the middle for those little penetrating passes. We were patient and knew it was only a matter of time.”

While Ngwenya was the lone Pittsburgh player to show up in the assist column, Angulo and Michael Green opened up space for their playmaking teammate with slick one-touch passes that unlocked the Charlotte back line. From there, it was a matter of Ngwenya finding the open man at the back door.

“With them a man down, we knew we’d get chances,” said the 33-year-old Ngwenya, who usually plays in the midfield. “Obviously as time goes on, you get a little more nervous. It was important to not panic with time running down. We kept our calm and kept our composure.

“I think for us every game is like a cup final. We have to treat it like that if we want to make the playoffs and maximize (getting) points home and away. We have the momentum now, we just have to keep it going. We know we have a lot of ground to make up.”

Pittsburgh Riverhounds midfielder Kevin Kerr (center, black jersey) looks up after colliding with a Charlotte defender July 17, 2014 at Highmark Stadium. Kerr went on to score the first goal in a 2-0 win. (Photo: Matt Gajtka)

After locking up the win – and three points in the USL Pro standings – the Hounds find themselves in a four-way tie for 11th, yet just four points out of the final playoff spots. The top eight teams in the league make the postseason, as Pittsburgh did last year with a late-summer push that overcame an 0-4-3 start.

This year, the Hounds were winless in their first nine matches (0-6-3), which led to the coaching change in late May. Katic maintained that his team’s recent improvement is a delayed result of alterations made when he took over two months ago.

“When you make a change in your life, it takes time,” he said. “If someone’s an alcoholic, it takes time to stop drinking. You can’t question yourself. My mentality has always been that we believe in these guys.

“People don’t like changes. You have to get past that uncomfortable stage and I think that’s what we’re doing. This is a great time to peak.”

The Riverhounds had to feel some level of frustration after the first half, which they dictated despite being unable to bulge the back of the net. They outshot Charlotte 15-6 over 90 minutes and continually pushed the visitors back in the attacking third, finding all kinds of room via quick combination plays.

“We had a lot of space with the ball,” Ngwenya said. “They didn’t have much going forward. We came out very well today…we were well-prepared and just tried to win every battle. It was a good start for us.”

The Hounds’ two best opportunities in the opening 45 minutes came off corner kicks. Matt Dallman’s in-swinger during the 15th minute found the head of fellow defender Anthony Arena, but the attempt clanged off the right post. Then, just before halftime, Dallman put a beautiful ball on Andrew Marshall’s head, but Charlotte’s Fred Sekyere cleared the ball off the line behind keeper Alec Kann.

As if the Eagles weren’t already struggling enough, Thompson earned a pair of yellow cards and was ejected as a result. The eight-year MLS veteran leveled Dallman with a brutal tackle in the closing minutes of the first half, subsequently getting the boot from referee Charles Murphy.

Charlotte mustered a couple offensive thrusts down a man in the second half, but didn’t get its attack in gear until it trailed by two. Riverhounds keeper Michael Lisch was aided by a couple near-misses late, although he was strong overall in grabbing crosses and limiting the Eagles’ pressure.

The Hounds hope to continue surging when they hit the road for consecutive matches to conclude the month. They’ll take on the Real Salt Lake Reserves in Utah next Friday, July 25, then head to Sacramento two days later to face Republic FC.

Home/Pittsburgh Riverhounds