(Wilmington, North Carolina) … The Pittsburgh Riverhounds broke a three-game slide with a 3-1 win over the Wilmington Hammerheads in front of 3,133 fans in the United Soccer Leagues Second Division Saturday night.
Tony Labudovski scored an unassisted goal in the 9th minute of play as Pittsburgh took at 1-0 lead that held up through halftime. In the 54th minute, Randolph Jerome scored. Labudovski had the helper. Pittsburgh was up 2-0. Wilmington cut the deficit in half when Jyler Noviello tallied in the 70th minute, but Pittsburgh put it away when Tommy Gray scored in the 83rd minute. Joe Zewe served up the assist. Pittsburgh earned a 3-1 victory.
Pittsburgh outshot the Hammerheads 10-6 for the game. The Hounds needed a victory badly after losing their last three matches, including a 5-1 defeat at Charlotte on Friday night. Head Coach and General Manager Gene Klein credited three rookies for giving the club the spark it needed to get the Pittsburgh side into the win column again. "Tony Labudovski came up big with a goal and an assist. Tommy Gray got a big goal late to put us ahead by two, and Nikola Katic was solid. These three guys really gave us a boost".
The Hounds next play the Rochester Raging Rhinos in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Tournament on June 9th. They resume USL-2 play at home on June 11th against the Bermuda Hogges.
Pittsburgh is in a two-way tie for 7th place in the USL-2 standings with Charlotte. The Hounds are 2-3-2 (8-points).
