Pittsburgh Riverhounds Shut Out By Sacramento Republic FC

The Pittsburgh Riverhounds completed the second leg of their weekend road trip by falling to Sacramento Republic FC, 5-0, late Sunday night, before a sellout crowd at Bonney Field that set the USL PRO single-season attendance record.

It was a tough night all around for the Rivehrounds, as they suffered the loss of their leading scorer, and reigning USL PRO MVP, Jose Angulo, at the very beginning of the match. Angulo had to be helped off the field with an undisclosed leg injury, giving way to Jhonny Arteaga.

Things only got worse from there for Pittsburgh, as Sacramento’s Tommy Stewart and Rodrigo Lopez each scored a pair of goals to lead the home side to their most impressive win in their first season in USL PRO.

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In the 7th minute, Sacramento opened their scoring as Stewart’s header finished off consecutive passes in the air. Stewart scored again in 32nd minute, just inside the left side of the box, as he chipped a ball over Riverhounds goalkeeper Lisch for the 2-0 lead.

Nearly 30 seconds after Stewart’s potential third goal, another chip over Lisch was nullified due to being offside, Lopez drilled a shot from 17 yards to give Sacramento the 3-0 advantage.

The Hounds had a few decent opportunities to cut the lead in half in the early stages of the second half, but failed to convert on an indirect kick from the six yard mark and then on a few decent crosses by Matt Dallman — one that Seth C’deBaca nearly poked into the near post side in the 57th minute.

In the very late stages, Sacramento continued to mount pressure on Lisch, and it paid off with back-to-back goals in the 82nd and 84th minutes, as Adam Jahn converted on a redirected corner kick, and another blast from Lopez.

Head coach Niko Katic’s starting lineup included Mike Lisch, Matt Dallman, Andrew Marshall, Anthony Obodai, Sterling Flunder, Rob Vincent, Danny Earls, Kevin Kerr, Joseph Ngwenya, Mike Green and Jose Angulo.

In addition to the early, unexpected appearance by Arteaga, Alfonso Motagalvan, Brian Fekete, Seth C’deBaca along with the newly acquired Mackenzie Pridham made second half appearances for Pittsburgh.

Republic FC’s sellout crowd broke the previous USL PRO record of 112,748 set by Orlando City SC in 2013. With the win, Sacramento (11-6-3) continue to hold a firm grip on fourth place in the league standings, six points clear of Rochester.

The Riverhounds (5-11-5, 20 points) look to keep their playoff hopes alive when they return to Highmark Stadium on Saturday, August 2 to take on another top USL PRO side, the third place LA Galaxy II. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m.

Game Report Courtesy Of The Pittsburgh Riverhounds