(May 28, 2022) — Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC twice rallied to earn a 2-2 draw at Miami FC in a game that featured multiple delays and finished minutes into Sunday morning at Riccardo Silva Stadium in Miami, Fla.
Russell Cicerone and Alex Dixon scored for the Hounds (7-3-2), who ended a three-match road losing streak by taking a point from the game. Junior Palacios and Adonijah Reid scored for Miami (5-4-4), which took a 2-1 lead to halftime.
The start of the match was delayed by 2 hours, 51 minutes as a result of lightning and severe storms passing through the Miami-Dade County area, but the match was finally able to begin just before 10 p.m.
First half
The Hounds should have had the game’s opening goal after Cicerone made a diagonal run into the box and was taken down by Speedy Williams to win a penalty kick. Dixon stepped up to take the 17th-minute shot, but his attempt down the middle was stopped by Connor Sparrow, who held his ground rather than diving to a side.
Miami then got on the board in the 24th minute from their second corner kick of the game, as Palacios barreled into the box to meet Aedan Stanley’s delivery for his first professional goal.
The Hounds then got level in the 38th minute after Dane Kelly elevated to beat Sparrow to a high cross. Kelly’s header fell to Dixon, who ripped a shot that struck the body of Cicerone and deflected into the net.
Miami retook the lead in first-half stoppage time, however, as Joshua Pérez got behind the left side of the defense. Kevin Silva made the initial save, but Reid tapped the ball into the open net on the rebound.
Second half
The start of the second half also had a short delay of 15 minutes as the lights at Riccardo Silva Stadium switched off at 11 p.m., just as the players were retaking the field to resume play.
Once play resumed, it didn’t take long for the Hounds to pull level, as Dixon received a long, diagonal pass from Cicerone and went to work one-on-one on the left side. Dixon created space to shoot on his right foot and buried his third goal of the season in the 54th minute.
Dixon and the Hounds remained the more dangerous side after the goal, outshooting Miami by a 6-1 margin in the second half (14-10 for the match).
Kelly had two chances in stoppage time for a winner, the first on a header that went just over the bar, and the second after tracking down a long ball and exhaustedly releasing a shot that was deflected out for a corner.
Hounds Man of the Match
Alex Dixon might have missed his early penalty, but he made amends by getting an assist with his shot Cicerone redirected in and then scoring a brilliant solo goal to tie the match. He was the Hounds’ biggest threat all night, and nearly set up a winning goal with a pinpoint late cross to Kelly.
What’s next?
The Hounds will play their only home game in a five-match stretch next Saturday, June 4, when they host Detroit City FC (7-2-3) at 7 p.m. at Highmark Stadium. It will be the first return match of the season for the Hounds, who drew 1-1 with Detroit on a frigid Michigan afternoon back on March 26.
Riverhounds SC lineup (5-1-3-1) — Kevin Silva; Nate Dossantos (Toby Sims 79’), Jelani Peters, Mekeil Williams, Arturo Ordóñez, Dani Rovira (Luis Argudo 54’); Danny Griffin; Alex Dixon, Russell Cicerone (Albert Dikwa 79’), Kenardo Forbes; Dane Kelly
Miami FC lineup (3-4-3) — Connor Sparrow; Aedan Stanley, Benjamin Ofeimu, Junior Palacios; Othello Bah (Christian Sorto 64’), Speedy Williams, Florian Valot, Mark Segbers; Adonijah Reid (Bolu Akinyode 64’), Joshua Pérez (Lamar Walker 85’), Romeo Parkes (Kyle Murphy 68’)
Scoring summary
MIA — Junior Palacios 24’ (Aedan Stanley)
PIT — Russell Cicerone 38’ (Alex Dixon)
MIA — Adonijah Reid 45+2’
PIT — Alex Dixon 54’ (Russell Cicerone)
Discipline summary
MIA — Speedy Williams 16’ (caution – unsporting behavior)
PIT — Danny Griffin 41’ (caution – unsporting behavior)
MIA — Adonijah Reid 62’ (caution – unsporting behavior)
PIT — Luis Argudo 67’ (caution – unsporting behavior)
PIT — Nate Dossantos 71’ – (caution – unsporting behavior)
MIA — Kyle Murphy 90+1’ (caution – unsporting behavior)
