PITTSBURGH, PA -- The Pittsburgh Riverhounds lost 2-0 to the Richmond Kickers at Chartiers Valley Stadium last night, despite putting forth a solid effort. Richmond took a 1-0 advantage when kickers forward Matt Delicate broke past the left side of Pittsburgh’s defensive third to score in the 45th minute of play. The Kickers doubled their lead in the 71st minute when midfielder John Diraimondo blasted a shot past Danny Waltman. Pittsburgh had a number of chances to score in both halves, but could not get the ball past Richmond keeper Ronnie Pascale.
The night began with a pre-game tournament between U8-9 youth clubs from the Riverhounds Academy, the West Allegheny Super Strikers, and the South Fayette Green Monkeys. The Riverhounds Youth Academy team won, with the Green Monkeys as the runner-up.
The Pittsburgh Honor Guard made an appearance at the pre-game ceremony honoring the three Pittsburgh Police Officers, Eric Kelly, Paul Sciullo, and Stephen Mayhle, who were killed in the line of duty on April 4th. A moment of silence was held in their memory, and officer Ron Hough from the Pittsburgh Police Department’s Special Deployment Unit performed the national anthem.
In the first half, the Kickers threatened early but were held off by keeper Danny Waltman. The Hounds had chances in the first half as well, including a free kick taken by forward Tommy Gray in the 17th minute that was blocked, and another taken in the 43rd minute that missed the net. Danny Waltman made a great save on Richmond midfielder Ben Hunter. Waltman blocked the first shot and the Kickers were not able to corral the rebound.
Despite great chances on both sides, it appeared that the game would remain tied going in halftime before Delicate’s goal in stoppage time. He was assisted by midfielder Sascha Gorres.
The Hounds continued putting pressure on the Kickers in the second half but were unable to tie it. Jason Kutney had an excellent opportunity to tie the game in the 66th minute when he placed a shot in the upper left corner of the goal that was stuff by Pascale. Richmond made it 2-0 after Diraimondo, assisted by Luke Vercollone, scored just minutes later.
With the loss, Pittsburgh falls to 3-4-2 (11-points) in the United Soccer Leagues Second Division. Richmond picked up three points for the victory and improved to 4-2-4 (16-points). The Kickers moved into fourth place in the USL-2 standings. The match was the only one played in USL-2 Sunday night.
Pittsburgh visits Western Mass next Saturday night then plays Richmond again on Friday, June 26th at Edinboro University of Pennsylvania. The match will be played on the first night of a huge soccer weekend featuring 198 traveling teams in the PA West Open Tournament.
ATTENDANCE: 1,289
WEATHER: Sunny, 70 degrees
REFEREES: Dino Sorbara, David Potter, Joseph A. Martin, John Groff
ROSTERS:
Pittsburgh: Danny Waltman, Nathan Salsi, Ed Hayden, Cody Bragg, Tenywa Bonseu, Niko Katic, Justin Evans, Tony Labudovski, Jason Kutney, Tommy Gray, Randolph Jerome; Substitutes: Eric Barnes, Allan Brown, Joe Zewe, Scott Gibson, Matt Langton, Sean Bucknor, Jeff Hughes
Richmond: Ronnie Pascale, William Yomby, Kelvin Jones, Sascha Gorres, Henry Kalungi, Anthony Peters, Luke Vercollone, Ben Hunter, John Diraimondo, Matt Delicate, Dave Bullow; Substitutes: Mark Murphy, Evan Harding, Kenny Cutler, Gerson DeSantos, Russ MacKenzie, Adrian Bumbut
SHOTS:
Pittsburgh: 14
Richmond: 12
SAVES:
Pittsburgh: 5
Richmond: 5
FOULS:
Pittsburgh: 9
Richmond: 10
CAUTIONS:
Pittsburgh: 0
Richmond: 1 (Kalungi, 56’)
