Neither the Pittsburgh Riverhounds nor Crystal Palace Baltimore had any possibility of making the United Soccer Leagues Second Division playoffs, so only pride and perhaps future employment were on the line when they met Saturday night in the final match of the year for both sides at Chartiers Valley Stadium in the South Hills.  The Hounds earned a hard fought 1-0 win.  The Riverhounds finished the season in 8^th place in the nine-team USL-2 loop with a disappointing 6-10-4 record (22-points).  CP Baltimore ended its year at 6-9-5 (23-points).

Pittsburgh’s playoff hopes had been dashed a week earlier with their 3-1 home loss to Charlotte.  Baltimore was eliminated when Real Maryland defeated Harrisburg last Wednesday.  Despite that, their match drew 2,151 fans.

Pittsburgh goalkeeper Danny Waltman had to go to work early.  In the 5^th minute, CP Baltimore’s Ryan Pierce weaved his way through the Hounds’ defensive third and got off a direct shot from about 15 yards out.  The low drive was scooped up by Waltman for the first save of the match.

Hounds’ striker Bill Brindley took a shot from the left wing that forced Baltimore goalkeeper Billy Chiles to make a move to the right, and on the ensuing attack, Jeff Hughes carried the ball into the Palace area.  However Joe Zewe was not sufficiently squared to the goal and his blast careened out past the left upright in the 9^th minute.

The Hounds got the game’s lone goal on a set piece.  Jeff Hughes launched a throw-in from about 30 yards away from the left touch line.  The ball sailed tall and long to just outside of the goal box where Brindley leaped and headed the ball to the top right side of the CP Baltimore nets to take a 1-0 advantage.

Crystal Palace Baltimore had a trio of chances in the 28^th, 29^th, and 30th minutes, but Val Teixera, who took a cross from the right, could not head the ball in as Allan Brown marked him and the ball squirted to Waltman.  On a follow-up attack, Machel Millwood’s drive was off-target.  In the 31^st minute, Shintaro Harada played a ball perfectly from right to left onto the foot of Dan Lader, but his weak shot was claimed by Waltman.

On a Pittsburgh attack in the Baltimore end in the 40^th minute, Joe Zewe’s one-timer sailed over the goal.  That’s when Chiles, who was stretched out during several plays in goal, began to suffer cramps on the steamy 88 degree evening. 

Brian Rowland, who played in and started nearly all of the Palace’s games in 2009 was subbed-in in the 43^rd minute and stopped a Jeff Hughes onslaught in stoppage time.  CP Baltimore had one final attack before the whistle blew, but Millwood’s one-timer flew high and away.

Baltimore started the second half with a blazing attack lead by Brian Seabrook’s strong gallop up the right side in the 48^th minute.  Waltman was forced to speed off of his line and drive to Seabrook’s feet to stop the ball before the possibility of a strike.  Waltman went low for the grab, while Seabrook went high and flipped.  It was a brilliant save by Pittsburgh’s keeper.  Pittsburgh was close twice again as the 50^th minute approached, but Hughes, who became the Hounds’ most exciting player in the second half of the season, could not finish off two strong attacks. 

Waltman made another great save on a Val Teixera rocket in the 55^th minute, and on the counter attack, Tommy Gray was stuffed by Rowland. 

CP Baltimore just missed on a corner kick in the 59^th minute when the ball rolled off of the toe of Millwood who was spotted at the left post.

An almost out of control Hughes, stumbling on a flying breakaway, zipped a shot on goal that was slapped to the grass by Rowland in the 70^th minute.

Starting with a dozen minutes remaining, the Riverhounds had four solid attacks, but shots by Mount Lebanon native Matt Langton, Gray, and Tony Labudovski failed to hit the mark, and a cross on a fast break up the left side by Brindley failed to connect.

Desperate to get the tying goal, the Palace’s Teixera carried the ball to the right post, but Waltman smothered it.  Baltimore got another shot off, from about 25 yards out in stoppage time, but Millwood’s ball bent wide to the left, and the Riverhounds held on for a 1-0 victory. 

Along with capping the 2009 campaign, Saturday served as Fan Appreciation Night, during which those in attendance were awarded Riverhounds’ game-worn gear including the jerseys off of the players’ backs.

It was also Riverhounds’ Youth Academy Night.  All member-participants of the Academy led both sides onto the pitch before the game.  Among the Academy participants were 40 campers from the Lawrenceville section of the City of Pittsburgh.  A Lenzner bus transported them to and from the stadium courtesy of the Riverhounds and Soccer In The Community – Lawrenceville Camp Day, a program generously underwritten by Bayer USA Foundation.  Each member of the Lawrenceville contingent also received food and a special event T-shirt.  The program was created by James Meara and Mark Taylor of Soccer In The Community and proudly supported by the Bayer USA Foundation’s Dana Scarpino.

Chris Shovlin - Pittsburgh Riverhounds Director of Publicity and Media Relations   riverhounds@comcast.net