Match info
Riverhounds (3-3-2) at FC Tulsa (2-2-3)
Date: Saturday, May 11
Time: 8:30 p.m.
Location: ONEOK Field, Tulsa, Okla.
Odds: Hounds +145 / Draw +230 / Tulsa +160
TV: SportsNet Pittsburgh
Streaming: ESPN+
Live statistics: USL Championship Match Center
Live updates: @RiverhoundsSC on Twitter
Match hashtags: #TULvPIT and #HOUNDTAHN
(May 9, 2024) — The Hounds might be out of this year’s U.S. Open Cup, but they can still claim a three-match winning streak in league play that they will put on the line facing FC Tulsa for the second time in five days Saturday in Oklahoma.
A fully rotated 11 took the field for the Hounds in Tuesday’s cup match, and the outcome could have gone either way until Phillip Goodrum scored in the 88th minute for Tulsa. As disappointing as the result was, it gives coach Bob Lilley a full compliment of fresh legs for Saturday’s game; most of the Hounds’ squad played 90 minutes or less between the past two matches — last Saturday vs. Miami and Tuesday vs. Tulsa — with Bradley Sample logging the most time at 135 minutes.
For the Hounds, that means players like Kenardo Forbes and the center back trio of Pat Hogan, Luke Biasi and Illal Osumanu are on a normal match schedule, and all are likely to factor into the rematch with points in the USL Championship standings on the line.
Tulsa also took the chance to rest some players, but they did sprinkle in regulars such as Patrick Seagrist and Justin Portillo to their starting 11. But rotation is not uncommon for their side, as Tulsa has just seven players who have played more than 60 percent of the available minutes through their first seven league matches.
The cup loss was the Hounds’ first against Tulsa, having gone 3-0-1 against them in the past two seasons. Before the cup draw paired the two, Saturday’s match was to be the lone meeting this season with Tulsa having been shifted to the Western Conference. Road trips against Western teams have not been easy for the Hounds the past two seasons, but the team is 1-0-1 at ONEOK Field and snapped its winless streak in Western road games by winning 3-1 at Phoenix on April 20 in their last cross-country trip.
Saturday’s match will be shown live on SportsNet Pittsburgh after coverage of the Pirates-Cubs game, and fans can stream the game on ESPN+. SportsNet Pittsburgh will also show re-airings of the game Sunday at 3 a.m. and 5:30 p.m.
