Pittsburgh Riverhounds Defeat Tampa Bay Rowdies In U.S. Open Cup Match
By Larry Snyder
Riverhounds midfielder Lebo Moloto dribbles upfield during a 1-0 victory over Tamp Bay on Wednesday night at Highmark Stadium. (Credit: Nick Milliron)
The Pittsburgh Riverhounds got a stoppage-time goal from Rob Vincent Wednesday night to defeat the North American Soccer League’s Tampa Bay Rowdies 1-0 at Highmark Stadium in third round action of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.
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The 5-foot-10, 175-pound midfielder got the Hounds on the scoreboard after receiving a pass from defender Tyler Pasher at midfield and slicing through the Rowdies defense.
The 24-year-old Vincent delivered a right-footed shot from 25 yards that made it past Tampa Bay goalkeeper Matt Pickens into the bottom left corner of the net. The Liverpool, England native has contributed a goal in both of this season’s U.S. Open Cup games.
City Of Champions co-editor Matt Gajtka had the call on Vincent’s game winner…
What a night on the South Side. Here's the decisive moment courtesy of @RV__17. https://t.co/UHIettgm2i #PGHvTBR #USOC2015
— Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC (@RiverhoundsSC) May 28, 2015
The Hounds owned a 17-11 edge in total shots and had the upper hand in corner kicks, 11-4, on the evening. It was the second shutout for third-year goalie Ryan Hulings in the tournament as Pittsburgh downed the PDL’s West Virginia Chaos 3-0 Wednesday, May 20 at Highmark Stadium.
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“You’ve got to give Pittsburgh a lot of credit,” Rowdies head coach Thomas Rongen said on his team’s web site. “They clearly deserved to win. It’s pretty startling to me that we can play such a great game against Fort Lauderdale with the same (starting lineup) and such a mediocre game here. We’re extremely disappointed, but we have to move on and learn from this.”
With the victory, the fourth round of the tournament comes to Highmark Stadium Wednesday, June 17 when the Riverhounds host Major League Soccer’s D.C. United. It marks the fifth time that Pittsburgh has met an MLS squad, but it is just the second time for the match to be at home, and the first at Highmark Stadium. The contest will get underway at 7 p.m. on the South Side.
“It will be a great experience facing an MLS side,” Vincent said on the team’s web site. “Everyone wants to play against the best opposition and hopefully we can win again.”
Here’s a post-game video of Hounds coach Mark Steffens recorded by Gajtka:
Up Next: The Riverhounds (3-3-3, 12 points) take the pitch against the Harrisburg City Islanders (4-2-1, 13 points) Saturday in USL competition at Highmark Stadium. The match will get underway at 7 p.m.
It is the middle meeting of the three-game Keystone Derby Cup series. The City Islanders are in fifth place in the Eastern Conference standings of the USL, just above the Hounds, who are in sixth place.
Next: Pirates: When the 'Burgh had the All Star Game