PITTSBURGH (March 17, 2018) – Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC dropped the preseason finale in a 1-0 loss against Villanova University.
Villanova would find the breakthrough late in the match. Todd Pratzner would get tangled up in the box with an attacking player, forcing the referee to award a penalty to the visitors. The following chance beat a diving Kyle Morton and would seal the Hounds’ fate.
Pittsburgh, however, was not without chances in the second half.
Shortly after the restart, Jordan Dover would thread a pass to Christiano François that gave the Haitian midfielder a good look at goal. The shot would be saved, but fell back to Dover who could not bury his chance in the back of the net.
In the 50th minute Kevin Kerr would send a looping header towards goal, after receiving a dangerous cross from François, forcing the keeper to punch the ball to safety.
Two more close calls came first in the 76th minute of play when Joseph Holland’s free kick found Hugh Roberts on the back post, but the defender could not get his head over the ball to keep it below the crossbar. Then, in the 87th minute Andrew Lubahn would receive a long cross and send his shot rocketing off the crossbar as well.
The Hounds had their last chance snuffed out in the 87th minute when Neco Brett was found offsides after the Jamaican netted a header past the Villanova keeper.
After finishing the preseason with an 8-1 record, Riverhounds SC will next look to kick off USL action in Nashvile as they take on Naschville SC at 6 p.m. on March 24 at Nissan Stadium.
Lineup:
Dan Lynd (Kyle Morton) – Raymond Lee (Andrew Lubahn), Hugh Roberts, Joe Greenspan (Tobi Adewole), Todd Pratzner (Kay Banjo) – Jordan Dover (Noah Franke), Kevin Kerr (Mouhamed Dabo), Thomas Vancaeyezeele (Bakie Goodman), Kenardo Forbes (Joseph Holland), Christiano François – Romeo Parkes (Neco Brett)
Scoring Summary:
NOV – 82’ (penalty)
