Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC (5-1-6) used a barrage of 20 shots to defeat the Richmond Kickers (3-6-1), 2-1, this past Saturday at City Stadium. With goals from Neco Brett and Romeo Parkes, the Hounds captured three points on the road and jumped up into third place in the Eastern Conference standings after Week 12 of USL action. Here’s how the Black and Gold came back after originally falling behind 1-0 in the second half.
72’ Neco Brett Assisted by Kevin Kerr
With a powerful boot from his left foot, midfielder Ben Zemanski sent a ball across the 18-yard box.
Seen above, Kevin Kerr (orange arrow) is uncovered on the opposite end of the penalty area and awaits the sphere to descend. Once it does, the attacking midfielder heads the ball toward the goalmouth near Brett (yellow arrow).
Supporting the notion that two heads are better than one, the Kingston, Jamaica native – despite being marked by the Kickers defense – headed in his sixth goal of the season and the equalizer to bring the score to 1-1.
79’ Romeo Parkes Assisted by Neco Brett
With three opponents closing on him, Kerr fed a through-ball to Brett from the middle third. Receiving the pass, the striker then took one touch to gather control before sending the sphere in Parkes’ direction.
In the above snapshot, Parkes (green arrow) begins his run as Brett (yellow arrow) obtains possession. Splitting the gap between two defenders, he presses forward into the penalty box once his teammate sends a through-ball.
No match for the straight-line speed of Parkes, the Richmond defense and goalkeeper Trevor Spangenberg were subsequently beat to the ball and watched it hit the twine, which provided the Hounds with a 2-1 lead.
The Other Side
The Kickers struggled to generate offensive pressure for the entirety of the match, but they did convert on one of their three total shots.
In the 53rd minute, attacking winger Brian Shriver led a counterattack and slid feet-first to pass a ball to teammate Luiz Fernando, who then gathered it just inside the 18-yard box. The first-half substitute then one-timed a shot by goalkeeper Dan Lynd with the inside of his left foot. The tally provided Richmond with a 1-0 lead at the time.
After this goal, the squad could only muster one additional shot for the remainder of the match – an off-target take by forward Heviel Cordovés from outside the penalty area. Due to the dearth of chances, Richmond could not keep pace once the Hounds found the back of the net.
Tale of the Tape
Outshooting its opponent 20-3, Pittsburgh dominated play on the offensive end of the pitch. Despite this aggregate, the Hounds started slow, as only one of their 10 first-half shots was on target.
