PITTSBURGH (June 29, 2019) – Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC (5-2-7) defeated Birmingham Legion FC (3-10-4), 4-1, Saturday night at Highmark Stadium.
Forward Steevan Dos Santos struck first for Pittsburgh, finding the back of the net in the 13th minute. Robbie Mertz added two first-half goals, burying feeds from Kevin Kerr in the 25th and 39th minute, respectively. Christian Volesky notched the fourth goal of the evening in the 75th minute.
Kyle Morton earned the win in net for the Hounds, finishing with four saves.
First Half
Riverhounds SC’s first-half performance was dynamic from the first whistle and continued through the entire half.
Dos Santos started the scoring barrage for the Hounds in the 13th minute with a chip shot over Birmingham goalkeeper Matt Van Oekel.
The Hounds continued their offensive pressure, cashing in with a second goal in the 25th minute. A beautiful cross from Kerr connected with the head of Mertz, beating the Birmingham keeper in the far-right corner of the net, extending the lead for Pittsburgh to 2-0.
With his assist to Mertz, Kerr is now the Riverhounds SC all-time leader in assists, surpassing former Riverhounds forward David Flavius. Kerr has 26 career assists with the club.
The duo of Mertz to Kerr was not done yet for the Black and Gold. Once again, Kerr sent a cross into the middle of the penalty box, this time connecting with the foot of Mertz. Mertz’s drive to the top left-hand corner of the net gave Pittsburgh a 3-0 lead.
Morton continued his hot streak in net, not allowing a goal in his fifth consecutive half for the Riverhounds, stopping the two total shots he faced. Total dominance by the Hounds’ backline consumed a majority of chances from Birmingham in the half.
Second Half
Birmingham Legion FC nearly struck gold in the 50th minute, but Joe Greenspan jumped in the way of the blast to keep the opposition off of the board.
Another dangerous opportunity arose for Birmingham in the 59th minute, when they were awarded a free kick just outside the penalty area. Legion FC striker Prosper Kasim ripped a shot on cage, but it was stymied by Morton.
The Black and Gold struck again in the 75th minute. A perfectly placed cross from Anthony Velarde found the head of Volesky, who buried the chance into the back of the net. Volesky’s header was Pittsburgh’s lone shot on target of the second half.
Birmingham finally got on the board in the 83rd minute, when a streaking Chandler Hoffman chipped a right-footed opportunity past Morton.
Morton capped off the night with a diving save in the 90th minute, which marked his final stop of the night.
Hound of the Match:
Two first-half tallies from Robbie Mertz broke open the game and created an insurmountable deficit for Birmingham. With the brace, Mertz now stands with a total of four goals on the season.
Stat of the Game: 2
Midfielder Kevin Kerr finished the evening with two assists. His first helper of the night marked the 26th of his career with the Black and Gold, giving him the all-time lead in franchise history.
What’s Next:
Riverhounds SC is to set to host a 7 p.m. Fourth of July match against Bethlehem Steel FC (5-8-4) on Thursday at Highmark Stadium. The match will be televised on Pittsburgh’s CW.
Lineups:
Riverhounds SC – Kyle Morton – Ryan James, Tobi Adewole, Joe Greenspan, Thomas Vancaeyezeele – Noah Franke, Robbie Mertz (Sammy Kahsai 79’), Kenardo Forbes, Kevin Kerr – Neco Brett (Anthony Velarde 70’), Steevan Dos Santos (Christian Volesky 60’)
Subs Not Used: Austin Pack, Uchenna Uzo, Jordan Dover, Mark Forrest
Birmingham Legion FC – Matt Van Oekel – Razak Cromwell, Kyle Fisher, Tyler Turner, Eric Avila, Doigo Kobayoshi – Mikey Lopez (Daniel Johnson 45’), Femi Hollinger-Janzen (Mathieu Laurent 45’) – Brian Wright, Chandler Hoffman (Joe Holland 83′)
Subs Not Used: Trevor Spangenberg, Marcos Ugarte, Gael Mabrala, Eddie Opohu
Scoring Summary:
PIT – Steevan Dos Santos 13’ (Neco Brett)
PIT – Robbie Mertz 25’ (Kevin Kerr)
PIT – Robbie Mertz 39’ (Kevin Kerr)
PIT – Christian Volesky 75’ (Anthony Velarde)
BHM – Chandler Hoffman 83’
Misconduct Summary:
BHM – Eric Avila 79’ (caution)
Head coach Bob Lilley
On what he saw…
“We are starting to take our chances well. The first goal was big. They have good personnel. There’s talent there. We have a good rhythm now. Overall, I think it was a solid home performance.”
On the three goals that came from crosses…
“We know that we have good ability to get in behind with overlaps, you know our wide pieces whether it’s Dover, James, Noah, Kevin, they’re all pretty good servers of the ball and last year at times we didn’t get enough time in the box. We are always working on different ways to get behind but you know a lot of times the hardest place to get is when you get breakaways. When you get in, the service needs to be good.”
On Kevin Kerr…
“I think Kevin is just a technical genius, if you will. You know he knows where balls can go to be dangerous. He can whip a ball, he can feather a ball. He has always had an eye for that pass and there is a lot of forwards who have benefited from that pass.”
Midfielder Kevin Kerr
On breaking the club’s assist record…
“Obviously it’s not the main focus. When you turn up day to day, it’s not on your mind. It’s nice. The ball was out of play when the big picture went up on the board. It was a nice moment. You stay somewhere long enough, you hopefully rack up a record or two.”
On the club’s offensive production thus far…
“We expected better at the beginning of the year. Keeping the 10 or 11 key players from last year, we hoped it would have a positive effect. It didn’t at the start of the year. Now you’re starting to see it. The boys that have been around and the boys that have been under Bob, the last four games, we’ve looked really dangerous going forward. Obviously there’s little things on the back that we need to clean up, Kyle came up with some big saves tonight. But offensively we seem to be causing a lot of trouble.”
On the team’s mentality right now…
“It’s massive. The boys stepped out on the field today with confidence that we haven’t really had at home this year. Obviously, the last three results would’ve played that part. You could see it. Even New York, that’s a tough game. We polished them off. It wasn’t the prettiest game, but we polished them off. Tonight was the same. It wasn’t even a complete performance but the strikers especially are playing with so much confidence. What a finish from [Steevan Dos Santos] on the first goal. He’s a big man, a lot of times you just put your foot through it, but no. That doesn’t happen unless your high on confidence and you’re feeling yourself.”
Midfielder Robbie Mertz
Playing a great night tonight…
“I think the biggest thing for us was just keeping the momentum going. We talked a lot about that this week, coming off a couple wins against Atlanta and New York. We just want to make sure we are maintaining focus, executing offensively and defensively. I think everyone came in with a really good focused mindset, and that is the important part and people doing their job.”
Key against playing Birmingham tonight…
“To be honest, I got off to a rough start with a turnover or two, just trying to find my way. I am trying to do my defensively first, connecting with Kenny in the midfield. And then as for getting into the box, I see Kevin going down the line, he crosses the ball better than anyone in the league. I only saw Steevan in the box and we needed more numbers. I kind of just went and found myself in a good position, obviously Kevin put in a great ball. It wasn’t too difficult for me after that.”
Watching Kevin Kerr break the record in assists for the Hounds…
“I think it is pretty awesome. I don’t think I thought about it in the game. I will say there is a difference between him carrying the ball down the sideline and a lot of other players. Because that is what I saw and I knew he is going to put the ball in the right place. That’s why I made the run. I think it is really cool to think about all the experience and everything he has put into the club is something to look up to and try to emulate. He has been a top class all the way through. Just major congratulations to him.”
