ROCHESTER, N.Y. (July 22, 2017) – The Pittsburgh Riverhounds (5-7-7) captured their third straight draw, scrapping to a nil-nil result against the Rochester Rhinos (6-3-8) at Capelli Sport Stadium.
Pitting two of the top defensive units in the Eastern Conference against each other, the Hounds left Rochester with at least a point for the first time since the 2014 season and only the second time since the current era of the USL began play in 2011. The clean sheet effort was also the club’s seventh on the season, the most since the 2013 squad also captured seven shutouts in 26 games played.
Despite being out possessed 57-43 percent by the Rhinos, the Hounds finished the match leading in both shots (11-7) and shots on goal (4-2). Rochester goalkeeper Tomas Gomez, last season’s Golden Glove winner, stymied the Hounds attack all night and made multiple key saves to secure his league-leading eighth shutout of the season.
After a tightly-contested first 45 minutes, play opened up a bit to start the second half with both teams sharing bouts of sustained possession within their opponent’s respective defensive thirds. However, the possession brought nothing in the way of chances, as both teams on multiple occasions were unable to connect on the final touch for a shot on frame.
The first chance of the night for the Hounds came by the way of Kay Banjo in the 54th minute – starting in his first match since returning from a knee injury on July 15. The rookie forward received a beautiful through-ball from Romeo Parkes at the top of the box, one-touching the ball down for a shot directly on Gomez, who made a quick move to his left to corral the shot.
Leveling out a bit after Banjo’s take, the waning moments of the match brought a frantic pace of play with Parkes having perhaps the best chance of the night for either side. Settling down a deflected ball at the top of the half-circle, Parkes turned to uncork a left-footed strike ticketed for the right side of the goal. Unfortunately, Gomez again was there to make his fourth and final save of the night, lunging to his left for an impressive block.
On the defensive end, the Hounds were buoyed by a strong showing from the center back duo of Jamal Jack and Tobi Adewole. Starting together for a fourth straight match, Jack and Adewole combined for 14 clearances (seven a piece), while the latter also had five interceptions.
Jack further highlighted the pair’s strong effort in the 88th minute, as he defended a potential chance for Rochester’s Jalen Brown from the ground with his head. Sliding in to stop Brown from advancing in all alone on goalkeeper Trey Mitchell, the ball got tangled between the head of Jack and Brown’s cleats with the Hounds defender not relenting from his side until the ball was cleared away for a throw-in.
With the clean sheet, the Hounds improved to 1-1-3 in their last five matches. The club is still in search of rectifying its goal-scoring woes though, with only six goals in its last 10 matches despite at least leading or tying in shots in seven of those games.
Pittsburgh now returns home to face the conference-leading Charleston Battery for a midweek tilt on the Mon on Wednesday, July 26 at Highmark Stadium. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. Tickets are still available and can be purchased by visiting www.riverhounds.com.
Lineups:
Riverhounds – Trey Mitchell – Taylor Washington (Marshall Hollingsworth 64’), Jamal Jack, Tobi Adewole, Shannon Gomez – Romeo Parkes, Stephen Okai (Danny Earls 89’), Victor Souto, Kevin Kerr – Chevaughn Walsh, Kay Banjo (Corey Hertzog 63’)
Subs not used: Keasel Broome, Gale Agbossoumonde, Mike Green, Jack Thompson
Rochester Rhinos – Tomas Gomez – Jordan Dover, Ryan Felix, Joseph Farrell, Bradley Kamdem Fewo – Wal Fall (Jalen Brown 78’) – Sofiane Tergou, Mike Garzi, Kenardo Forbes, Ryan James – Jochen Graf (Rayane Boukemia 57’ (Brandon Beresford 84’))
Subs not used: Daniel Lynd, Stefan Defregger, Raymond Lee, Todd Pratzner
Misconduct Summary:
PGH – Tobi Adewole (Caution) – 33’
PGH – Victor Souto (Caution) – 73’
