Pittsburgh Riverhounds 2 ventured just outside the city and came home with a point after playing to a 0-0 draw in the second meeting of the season with Steel City FC on Wednesday, June 10 at Founders Field in Indiana Township.
A scrappy affair saw both sides dole out hard fouls early into the game, but it ended level despite the Hounds 2 looking the more dangerous team throughout.
The best chance of the first half came in the 26th minute when Aldi Flowers-Gamboa beat a man and slid a sly through ball past the Steel City defenders to the foot of Nick Legendre, whose left-footed shot was saved at the near post by Josh Lane.
Hounds 2 held the territorial edge in the first half, but Steel City remained difficult to break down and withstood the persistent pressure through the first 45.
The second half was split more evenly as Steel City built into the game, creating some dangerous chances down the wing. In the 55th minute, Carter Kopay collected the ball on the wing, beat his man, and played the ball across the 6-yard box, which was deftly cut out by Ashton Miles to keep the two sides level.
Both sides remained deadlocked as both defenses looked to make any chance uncomfortable. Steel City looked like they might have a chance to grab a winner late into stoppage time, but goalkeeper Peter Morano was able to claim the ball off a free kick as the referee blew the final whistle. The result marked Morano’s first clean sheet of the season and the team’s fourth in seven games.
“I thought our rotation and our timing were really good, which is something we’ve been working on the past few weeks,” Morano said. “We were asked to keep a clean sheet, and that’s what we did. Props to the boys for doing that, it’s a tough environment for it.”
Head coach Josh Kremers echoed the team’s strong defensive efforts, contrasting it with the team’s home fixture against Steel City.
“I think in the first game, we did some good things, created some good chances, but I think we were on the back foot and didn’t bring as much energy or discipline in defensive moments as we brought tonight,” Kremers said. “We’ve worked on that a little bit, and just being comfortable in defending and with our shape, and I thought we brought that really well tonight.”
Hounds 2 returns home to F.N.B. Stadium to take on Lorain County Leviathan at 7 p.m. Wednesday, June 17, in a crucial match to stay in the USL League Two playoff picture.
